Info

Listening to America with Clay Jenkinson

Listening to America aims to “light out for the territories,” traveling less visited byways and taking time to see this immense, extraordinary country with fresh eyes while listening to the many voices of America’s past, present, and future. Led by noted historian and humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson, Listening to America travels the country’s less visited byways, from national parks and forests to historic sites to countless under-recognized rural and urban places. Through this exploration, Clay and team find and tell the overlooked historical and contemporary stories that shape America’s people and places.
RSS Feed
Listening to America with Clay Jenkinson
2024
March
February
January


2023
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2022
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2021
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2020
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2019
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2018
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2017
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2016
December
November
October
September
August
July


All Episodes
Archives
Now displaying: Page 16
Aug 14, 2017

"Of all of the people of this era, there is one and only one huge paradox, and it's Thomas Jefferson."

— Clay S. Jenkinson

Clay shares his first impressions of John B. Boles' new book, Jefferson: Architect of American Liberty.

Find this episode, along with recommended reading, on the blog.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Aug 7, 2017

"The bureaucracy can actually serve a really valuable purpose."

— Beau Wright, Director of Operations at United to Protect Democracy

In an out-of-character program, Clay reports on this year's Lewis & Clark cultural tour. Later, we're joined by Beau Wright who reports on his recent visits to Jefferson’s Poplar Forest home and the Natural Bridge in Rockbridge County, Virginia.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jul 31, 2017

“This thing of darkness, I acknowledge mine.” — Prospero, The Tempest

This week Clay Jenkinson speaks about Thomas Jefferson and slavery.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jul 24, 2017

"The Founding Fathers intended a free nation in which you could choose your religion."

— Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson

After a short discussion about weather, President Jefferson addresses a question about his ownership of a copy of the Quran. Jefferson goes on to explain his views on the importance of religious freedom. In the out-of-character portion of the show, Clay and David are joined by Brad Crisler.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jul 18, 2017

"Really? You don't think Jefferson has a geopolitical plan here?"

— Clay S. Jenkinson

This week, we return to the Jefferson 101 series and discuss Jefferson’s first term as President. In particular, we discuss the Barbary pirates, the Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis & Clark expedition.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jul 11, 2017

"You can object to anybody's politics, but I firmly believe that you can't object to President Obama's character."

— Beau Wright

President Thomas Jefferson speaks about the White House — during his time and ours — with this week's special guest, Beau Wright. Wright spent over five years serving in the White House, nearly two years of that time as Senior Deputy Director of White House Operations and Director for Finance.

Beau Wright is currently Director of Operations for United to Protect Democracy.

Find this episode on the blog.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jul 3, 2017

We speak with President Jefferson this week in our annual 4th of July Show. Jefferson shares his thoughts on why the holiday is so important to Americans and recalls how it was celebrated during his time. We also speak to Gaye Wilson, the Shannon Senior Historian at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies and Pat Brodowski, specialty gardener at Monticello who tell us about the celebrations being held at Monticello.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jun 27, 2017

"I think that's what Jefferson's attitude was: 'I'd rather not, but I'm probably the best person to do it.'"

— Clay

We return to our Jefferson 101 series this week with an episode about Jefferson’s road to the White House. Over the past few months, we've carried Jefferson from his birth in Virginia in 1743 right up to the brink of the time when he became the third president of the United States. We take for granted how our elections work. Back then, they didn't really have a blueprint: no conventions, no caucuses, no primaries, no debates. It was an informal system and we try to sort out how a reluctant person like Jefferson winds up being the president.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jun 20, 2017

"The question then became: Is a national bank constitutional? Did the Founding Fathers contemplate a national bank?"

— Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson

This week, we discuss the argument between Alexander Hamilton and Jefferson over the creation of a national bank of the United States. Hamilton believed a central banking system was essential to America's standing in the world. Jefferson disagreed, arguing that to take a single step beyond the powers of the constitution is to enter a field of boundless abuse. We speak with Jefferson about President Washington's support of Hamilton’s plan, a decision with ramifications that affect Americans to this day.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jun 13, 2017

"I never like to be rude, but sometimes one has to set the precedent for a society that will shock the world."

— Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson

This week, we discuss diplomacy and presidential decorum. When the British Ambassador Anthony Merry came to the White House, Jefferson went out of his way to be rude: to make it clear that the Revolution was won by us, not them.

In 1792, Jefferson wrote to George Washington: "No government ought to be without censors: and where the press is free, no one ever will. If virtuous, it need not fear the fair operation of attack and defence. Nature has given to man no other means of sifting out the truth either in religion, law, or politics."

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn more about Odyssey Tours and the summer 2017 Lewis & Clark adventure on odytours.net. There, you can also find the Lochsa Lodge retreats: one on Walden and another on Shakespeare.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jun 6, 2017

"I was always happiest when I could direct the reading of a promising young man."

— Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson

Here at the Jefferson Hour, we love our listener mail. We try to answer as many letters as possible because they help us to open up new avenues of discourse. This week, we devote another episode to answering listener questions. Subjects covered include civil discourse, the virtues of France, Jefferson’s suggested reading of the classics and John Adam’s midnight appointments.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn more about Odyssey Tours and the summer 2017 Lewis & Clark adventure on odytours.net. There, you can also find the Lochsa Lodge retreats: one on Walden and another on Shakespeare.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

May 30, 2017

"Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people, whose breasts he has made his peculiar deposit for substantial and genuine virtue. It is the focus in which he keeps alive that sacred fire, which otherwise might escape from the face of the earth."

— Thomas Jefferson

This week, the entire episode — well, almost the entire episode — is devoted to answering letters from listeners. Questions received include the story of Jefferson’s many talents, whether or not Jefferson had a bust of Alexander Hamilton at Monticello, and how to re-create experiments from Jefferson’s age.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn more about Odyssey Tours and the summer 2017 Lewis & Clark adventure on odytours.net. There, you can also find the Lochsa Lodge retreats: one on Walden and another on Shakespeare.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

May 23, 2017

"We have now a goodly field before us, & I have no wish superior to that of seeing it judiciously cultivated; that every Man, especially those who have labored to prepare it, may reap a fruitful Harvest”

— George Washington, 1784

Nearly 50 years later, Alexis de Tocqueville wrote that, “As one digs deeper into the national character of the Americans, one sees that they have sought the value of everything in this world only in the answer to this single question: how much money will it bring in?”

This week we discuss the American character with President Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson believed that the American character would be the best in the history of the world: because of our agrarianism, our distance from the havoc of the Old World, our public education, and our resourcefulness that we needed to develop because there were no outside experts. While Adams felt that without a strong American character, "the strongest Cords of our Constitution [would be broken] as a Whale goes through a Net." John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were dear friends; they disagreed about many things. One thing they agreed upon was that this experiment would only work if we had unique character.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn more about Odyssey Tours and the summer 2017 Lewis & Clark adventure on odytours.net. There, you can also find the Lochsa Lodge retreats: one on Walden and another on Shakespeare.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

May 16, 2017

"[Thomas Jefferson] could calculate an eclipse, survey an estate, tie an artery, plan an edifice, try a cause, break a horse, dance a minuet, and play a violin." — James Parton, 1874

This week, we ask President Jefferson to confirm or deny these reported talents.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn more about Odyssey Tours and the summer 2017 Lewis & Clark adventure on odytours.net. There, you can also find the Lochsa Lodge retreats: one on Walden and another on Shakespeare.

Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson

May 9, 2017

"Somewhere in Jefferson, something happened where the European mindset turned and started looking to the west. He started looking toward possibility in a different way." — Kent Nerburn

We welcome two special guests to the Thomas Jefferson Hour this week for an out-of-character discussion about Jefferson’s policies towards Native Americans. Joining us are the independent filmmaker Steven Lewis Simpson and author Kent Nerburn. We talk about Simpson's recent film adaptation of Nerburn’s book, “Neither Wolf nor Dog”, and about Jefferson’s long shadow when it comes to the United States' conduct regarding American Indians.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn more about Odyssey Tours and the summer 2017 Lewis & Clark adventure on odytours.net. There, you can also find the Lochsa Lodge retreats: one on Walden and another on Shakespeare.

Steven Lewis Simpson, at 18, was the youngest fully-qualified stockbroker and trader in Britain. By 22, Simpson had moved to Los Angeles to work in the film industry.  He is now a writer, producer, and director, as well as the owner of Roaring Fire Films. You can read his full bio here. Visit Roaring Fire Films to sign up for the Neither Wolf nor Dog movie mailing list.

Kent Nerburn is the author of more than a dozen books, including Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder. He was born, raised and resides in Minnesota. You can learn more about him here, or read his bibliography which includes links to purchase his books.

May 2, 2017

"Jefferson embodies — in many respects, not in all of them — the world that I want to live in. I want to live in Thomas Jefferson's America." — Clay

This week, we discuss listener questions about architecture, Sally Hemings, revolutionary war, Jefferson as a scientist, recommended books and how Clay's life has been affected by performing as Thomas Jefferson.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Clay will be taking part in a Conversation at Bismarck State College with BSC President Larry Skogen on May 7th at 3 p.m. They'll be discussing the topic: "The Quincentennial of the Protestant Reformation: A Reevaluation of the Reformation (1517-1650)". You can learn more at bismarckstate.edu.

Learn more about Odyssey Tours and the summer 2017 Lewis & Clark adventure on odytours.net.

Apr 25, 2017

This week, we speak with Pat Brodowski, head gardener at Jefferson’s Monticello. Pat shares her knowledge about how and why Jefferson grew the plants he did, the experimental nature of the household gardens and what is being done to maintain the gardens during our time. It’s a fascinating conversation which provides some real insight on Jefferson the gardener.

Find this episode, along with photos of Pat Brodowski and the gardens of Monticello, on the blog.

Clay will be taking part in a Conversation at Bismarck State College with BSC President Larry Skogen on May 7th at 3 p.m. They'll be discussing the topic: "The Quincentennial of the Protestant Reformation: A Reevaluation of the Reformation (1517-1650)". You can learn more at bismarckstate.edu.

Learn more about Odyssey Tours and the summer 2017 Lewis & Clark adventure on odytours.net.

Apr 18, 2017

"The constitution ... is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist, and shape into any form they please." — Thomas Jefferson to Spencer Roane, 1819

Thomas Jefferson had a unique and slightly odd view of the proper place of the judicial branch in America. He thought of judicial independence as both a strength and a weakness of our system: you want judges that are independent of popular factionalism but you want them to be accountable to the sovereign, to the American people. Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson, discusses his concept of judicial balance, his lifelong displeasure with the Supreme Court, and some of the changes that he thinks should be made. He said of life-tenured judges, 'Few die and none resign.'

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Read Clay's Jefferson Watch essay, "Good News for America".

Clay will be performing as Thomas Jefferson at the Ferguson Center for the Arts in Newport News, VA on April 19th. Find more info and buy tickets here.

Learn more about Odyssey Tours and the summer 2017 Lewis & Clark adventure on odytours.net.

Apr 11, 2017

"The Vice Presidency turned out to be just what Jefferson had predicted: 'philosophic evenings in winter' and summers at his beloved Monticello." — Clay

This week on the Thomas Jefferson Hour, we return to "Jefferson 101", our biographical series. Reluctantly, Jefferson came out of retirement to serve as vice president for four years under his old friend John Adams. They were of different political persuasions and they, in a sense, became the heads of different political parties. Adams & Jefferson were friends when Jefferson's vice presidency began but there was a long period afterwards when they couldn't really abide each other; in the end, in 1812, their friendship was restored and it became one of the great reconciliations of American history. During his vice presidency, Jefferson contributed a rule book to the Senate: A Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of the United States.

Jefferson meant it: He preferred the happiness of Monticello to the burdens of power — but he loved this country more than he loved his own happiness.

This is Jefferson 118.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Read Clay's Jefferson Watch essay, "A Cul-de-Sac and a Bucket of Piss".

Clay will be performing as Thomas Jefferson at the Ferguson Center for the Arts in Newport News, VA on April 19th. Find more info and buy tickets here.

Learn more about Odyssey Tours and the summer 2017 Lewis & Clark adventure on odytours.net.

Apr 4, 2017

"Jefferson regarded the national debt as a national disgrace."

This week, President Jefferson (as portrayed by humanities scholar Clay S. Jenkinson) explains his reasoning behind his federal budget and why he felt it was essential to pay down the national debt that he inherited. We also learn about some of the people who helped Jefferson develop the budget, including Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.

Jefferson dedicated his administration to reducing the national debt as severely as possible. As always, there are parallels between Jefferson's time and ours. He wanted to cut taxes and the size of the federal government, but he also wanted to cut the size of the Army and Navy; you don't hear that kind of talk much in our time. In this case, Jefferson was an idealogue about fiscal responsibility.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Read Clay's Jefferson Watch essay, "The Most Jeffersonian Thing in America".

Clay will be performing as Thomas Jefferson at the Ferguson Center for the Arts in Newport News, VA on April 19th. Find more info and buy tickets here.

Learn more about Odyssey Tours and the summer 2017 Lewis & Clark adventure on odytours.net.

Mar 28, 2017

"[Meriwether Lewis] kept promising copy and he never sent a single page. We don't know what, if anything, became of his manuscript. We have nothing. He wouldn't communicate with us."

— Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson

President Jefferson talks about the Lewis & Clark expedition and America's role as an “Empire of liberty". Jefferson, that Type A keeper of records, was disappointed that Meriwether Lewis failed to complete his book about the journey. Lewis was Jefferson's neighbor, his protégé, his private secretary in the White House, and he led the most successful expedition in American history — a voyage Clay & David have spent many years discussing, and one that Clay revisits by foot and by canoe each summer with Odyssey Tours.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Clay will be performing as Thomas Jefferson at the Ferguson Center for the Arts in Newport News, VA on April 19th. Find more info and buy tickets here.

Learn more about Odyssey Tours and the summer 2017 Lewis & Clark adventure on odytours.net.

Mar 21, 2017

"You can't understand Jefferson without understanding slavery; you can't understand the paradox of his life and the words that he wrote in the Declaration of Independence without understanding this historical connection with Sally Hemings and with the enslaved people in general at Monticello."

— Niya Bates, Public Historian of Slavery and African American Life at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation

A variety of subjects are covered on the Thomas Jefferson Hour this week, including a discussion about Benjamin Franklin Bache's newspaper the Philadelphia Aurora, the effect negative press had on politicians during Jefferson’s time and an interview with Niya Bates about restoration work ongoing at Monticello.

You can find a full transcript of our conversation with Niya Bates here.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn more about Odyssey Tours and the summer 2017 Lewis & Clark adventure on odytours.net.

Mar 14, 2017

Our conversation this week is with the scholar, Charles Slack. Slack is the author of Liberty's First Crisis: Adams, Jefferson, and the Misfits Who Saved Free Speech. His book chronicles the tumultuous early years of the United States when dissent was so feared that those who dared to criticize the government were put in prison or deported through the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Our discussion focuses on three individuals: Matthew Lyon, the congressman from Vermont; Benjamin Franklin Bache, the grandson of the famous Dr. Franklin; and James Thomson Callender, the notorious Scottish journalist who helped break the Sally Hemings story in 1802. Once again, we find out how little some things have changed over the years. Sometimes the less-than-wholly-respectable journalists wind up doing a very important service to democracy.

Find this episode, along with further recommended reading, on the blog.

Read Clay's essay, "Ranking American Presidents."

Learn more about Odyssey Tours and the summer 2017 Lewis & Clark adventure on odytours.net.

Mar 7, 2017

 

Today, listeners call us and ask questions directly to President Jefferson. The inquiries cover a broad collection of topics: Jefferson's relationship with the press, postage costs during his time, President Andrew Jackson, patents, banking, and a request for advice on getting involved with local government.

Interested in appearing on a future call-in episode? Please submit your questions!

Find this episode, and further recommended reading, on the blog.

Learn more about Odyssey Tours and the summer 2017 Lewis & Clark adventure on odytours.net.

Feb 28, 2017

President Thomas Jefferson explains the Logan Act's origin, its possible uses and its connection to Alexander Hamilton.

George Logan was a Quaker, doctor, farmer and state legislator from Pennsylvania who undertook, as a private citizen and at his own expense, a diplomatic mission to France in 1798 — and what was his reward? The Federalists and the Congress of the United States passed the Logan Act, prohibiting that from ever happening again. Despite Logan's good intentions, and his good results, his name is associated with an act that prohibits private citizens from meddling in the foreign policy of the United States.

Find this episode, Clay's Jefferson Watch essay, and further recommended reading, on the blog.

1 « Previous 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Next » 18