#34 - Joseph Ellis on 'Founding Brothers'

#34 - Joseph Ellis on 'Founding Brothers'

From What We Were by Dan

February 10, 2026 · 58 min

About this episode

Joseph Ellis discusses his book 'Founding Brothers' and the paradoxes of the American founding.

Joseph Ellis is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Founding Brothers , about the collaboration of America's greatest political generation, which is the focus of this conversation. In his latest book The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding , Ellis confronts what he calls the central paradox of the American founding: the same generation that articulated the most powerful case for human equality and natural rights in modern history also built a republic that abided the scourge of slavery. Ellis is also the author of American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson (National Book Award), Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams , His Excellency: George Washington , After the Revolution , American Creation, First Family: Abigail and John Adams , Revolutionary Summer , The Quartet , American Dialogue , What Would the Founders Do? , and The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773–1783 . Follow him at josephellishistorian.com

People in this episode

Host: Dan

Guest: Joseph Ellis

Topics covered

  • American founding
  • political history
  • slavery
  • human equality
  • Joseph Ellis

Keywords

  • Joseph Ellis
  • Founding Brothers
  • American founding
  • slavery
  • human rights
  • political history

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Founding Brothers, The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding, American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams, His Excellency: George Washington, After the Revolution, American Creation, First Family: Abigail and John Adams, Revolutionary Summer, The Quartet

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