Patriarchs: Jefferson, Adams, and the Moral Reckoning to Found a Nation
About this episode
The episode explores the friendship between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, highlighting the moral complexities of America's founding era.
From the producers of The Jim Wallis Podcast , here is Patriarchs — a six-part audio drama about the most consequential friendship in American history, the one between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. As we emerge from the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Patriarchs invites listeners into the founding era with dramatic force, historical depth, and moral honesty, asking not only how America began, but who paid the price and what kind of republic it became. Written by award-winning playwright Jim McGrath and featuring Stacy Keach as Thomas Jefferson and Edward Gero as John Adams, the series opens in Philadelphia in 1776 and concludes on Independence Day in 1826. Every scene is drawn from real letters, speeches, and memoirs, bringing to life the friendship, rivalry, animosity, and reconciliation that shaped the early United States. Along the way, Patriarchs also gives voice to Abigail Adams, whose letters cut through ego and ideology, and centers Sally Hemings not as rumor but as a speaking, thinking presence whose life illuminates the brutal realities of slavery and sexual exploitation in the founding generation. This is history as drama, but it is also history…
People in this episode
Host: Jim Wallis
Topics covered
- American history
- founding era
- friendship
- slavery
- moral reckoning
- politics
- drama
Keywords
- Jefferson
- Adams
- Abigail Adams
- Sally Hemings
- Declaration of Independence
- American history
- moral reckoning
- drama
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: District Productive
More episodes of The Jim Wallis Podcast
- Pastor Mike McBride on Freedom Summer Revivals, Black Church Power, and Justice
- Eddie Glaude on America’s Divided Soul and the 250th Anniversary
- Obama Presidential Center, Faith, and the Future of Democracy
- NBA Coach Ron Adams on Sports, Unity, and the Moral Meaning of Competition
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