For the Ages: A History Podcast

One hundred and fifty years before the events of January 7, 2021, the 1872 Louisiana gubernatorial election—arguably the most contentious in American history, with both parties claiming corruption and neither candidate conceding—led to racial violence across the state and the deaths of at least 150 Black men in the Colfax Massacre. CNN’s Dana Bash and author David Fisher join David M. Rubenstein to discuss the little-known story of this violent moment in America’s history. Recorded on May 1, ...

Few people know Abraham Lincoln as intimately as Harold Holzer. The author, co-author, or editor of over 50 books on Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War era, Holzer has explored everything from Lincoln’s election to his assassination, his views on immigration to his role as a father. In this conversation, Holzer joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss the life and times of America’s 16th president. Recorded on May 2, 2025

By winter 1777, the Continental Army was exhausted, having barely escaped annihilation by the world’s most formidable fighting force. Two years into the war, King George, determined as ever to bring the rebellious American colonies to heel, faced a desperate set of foes in Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, to say nothing of rising wartime expenses and the threat of additional international rivals. Celebrated historian Rick Atkinson discusses this story, the subject of the second volume...

Mark Twain was America’s first literary celebrity, a master of his craft whose legacy hangs over our literary tradition. Twain’s words captured the nation’s imagination because the life he led touched on so many aspects of the American experience. He wrote about racism, war, and the country’s western frontier as well as its growing urban centers because he witnessed firsthand the growth and turmoil of the United States in the 19th century. Acclaimed biographer Ron Chernow sits down with David...

It’s been said that if you remember the ‘60s, you weren’t really there, but when Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and her late husband, Dick, started to go through his papers from his time as one of the men behind JFK’s New Frontier, co-designer of LBJ’s Great Society, and RFK’s close advisor, that revolutionary decade became as tangible to the couple as it was 60 years ago. Goodwin, who also worked for Johnson, joins David M. Rubenstein for a conversation on historical r...

Born in wartime Shanghai and brought to the United States at age eleven with no knowledge of English, financier and philanthropist Oscar Tang reflects on a life shaped by displacement, ambition, and civic responsibility. In conversation with David M. Rubenstein, Tang recounts his journey from a small town in Vermont to Yale and Harvard, before building a successful career on Wall Street. He also discusses the experiences that shaped his philanthropic commitments—from supporting cultural insti...

At the beginning of 1776, virtually no one in the colonies was advocating independence. What changed over the course of one year? From Thomas Paine’s Common Sense in January to the Continental Congress that first grounded the idea of independence, historian Edward Larson, in conversation with David M. Rubenstein, traces a narrative path that reminds us why, as we approach the 250th anniversary of American independence, 1776 matters. Recorded on January 26, 2026

The American Revolution was three wars rolled into one: a fight for independence, a civil conflict, and a struggle between nations. In this conversation with David M. Rubenstein, bestselling author Geoffrey Ward examines the many sides of the war through the stories of not just the Founding Fathers, but the soldiers, women, Loyalists, and others whose lives—and country—were forever changed by the movement. Recorded on December 12, 2025

History may be written by the victors, but it is illustrated by its painters, and perhaps few so famously or evocatively as John Trumbull—American Revolution army officer, spy, artist. In this conversation with David M. Rubenstein, Richard Brookhiser, Trumbull biographer and senior editor at National Review, delves into Trumbull’s tumultuous life. Recorded on November 14, 2025

Some of the most significant moments in American history have occurred over meals, as US presidents broke bread to strengthen alliances, diffuse tensions, and broker peace: Thomas Jefferson’s nation-building receptions; Richard Nixon’s practiced use of chopsticks to pry open China; Jimmy Carter’s cakes and pies that fueled a détente between Israel and Egypt at Camp David. Author Alex Prud’homme joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss the political power wielded by the White House kitchen. Record...

In addition to being America’s first vice president and second president, Founding Father John Adams was a diplomat, the father of another president, and an avid diarist. In this conversation with David M. Rubenstein, Gordon S. Wood, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian of the Revolutionary era, tackles this multifaceted figure, from his role in the birth of our nation to the precedents he set for all those who followed him. Recorded on September 4, 2025

If ever there was proof that opposites attract, it was the friendship between the personally and politically conservative Edmund Burke and the liberal-leaning libertine Charles Fox, who formed a united front in 18-century British politics for a quarter of a century. Biographer James Grant joins David M. Rubenstein to demonstrate how, despite their many differences, Fox and Burke remained friends and political allies through the American Revolution and the dramatic impeachment of East India Co...

Irrevocably tied to the tragedy of the Vietnam War, President Lyndon Johnson’s political legacy is also marked by his radical push to reimagine American life. Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Caro, author of The Power Broker and The Years of Lyndon Johnson, explores how Johnson pushed Congress to establish Medicare, Medicaid, and historic civil rights and reform legislation. Recorded on April 6, 2024