Hampton Sides and Beto O'Rourke

Hampton Sides and Beto O'Rourke

From Great Podversations by Louisville Public Media

May 29, 2026 · 59 min

About this episode

Hampton Sides discusses his book on Captain James Cook with Beto O'Rourke at the Kentucky Author Forum.

This conversation features New York Times bestselling author Hampton Sides, interviewed by former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke. They discuss Sides’ book “The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook,” before a live audience at the Kentucky Author Forum. This conversation was recorded on May 7th, 2026, at the Kentucky Center in Louisville. Hampton Sides is the author of many acclaimed and bestselling narrative histories. His most recent work, “The Wide Wide Sea,” is an adventure on the high seas and an examination of the complexities of the Age of Exploration. It was a New York Times Ten Best Books of the Year and Barack Obama featured it on his coveted Summer Reading List. Hampton Sides has contributed to many publications, such as The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. He has won the PEN USA Award for nonfiction, and his journalistic work has been twice nominated for National Magazine Awards for feature writing. Beto O'Rourke is a former Texas congressman who was a member of both the Veterans' Affairs and Armed Services Committees. In 2019, O’Rourke founded Powered by the People, a voting…

People in this episode

Host: Beto O'Rourke

Guest: Hampton Sides

Topics covered

  • literature
  • exploration
  • history
  • voting rights
  • author interview

Keywords

  • Hampton Sides
  • Beto O'Rourke
  • Captain James Cook
  • The Wide Wide Sea
  • Kentucky Author Forum
  • Age of Exploration
  • voting rights

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Kentucky Author Forum

Books & works: The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook

Places: Kentucky

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