The Founding Fathers | The O.G.'s | 2

About this episode

The episode explores the transformation of key figures during the American Revolution, focusing on Benjamin Franklin and James Madison's contributions to the founding of the United States.

What turned America's most famous British loyalist into its most dangerous revolutionary? What does a public humiliation in a Whitehall chamber have to do with the Declaration of Independence? And, if the man who designed the American constitution believed men were angels, would he have bothered? Peter and Afua trace how a candle-maker's son who pulled lightning from the sky and a sickly scholar obsessed with the fall of Rome built the architecture of the most powerful republic in history. 0:00 Franklin: the 18th century's global multimedia superstar 6:10 Poor Richard's Almanac and the art of building a platform from scratch 9:45 From kite and key to the Royal Society — Franklin's lightning moment 13:20 A proud Briton in London: the comfortable life that couldn't last 16:00 The Hutchinson letters, a Whitehall ambush, and an hour of public savaging 18:30 The moment Franklin stopped thinking of himself as British 21:00 Enter James Madison: the smallest man in public life and the biggest thinker 24:30 Two thousand years of history as a laboratory of political failure 28:00 Taxation without representation, the Intolerable Acts, and the radicalisation of Madison 31:30 'If men were…

People in this episode

Hosts: Peter, Afua

Topics covered

• American Revolution
• Founding Fathers
• Political Philosophy
• Benjamin Franklin
• James Madison
• Historical Events

Keywords

• Founding Fathers
• Benjamin Franklin
• James Madison
• Declaration of Independence
• American Revolution
• Political Philosophy

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Royal Society, Poor Richard's Almanac

Books & works: Hutchinson letters

Places: America, London

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