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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.
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Listening to America with Clay Jenkinson
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Now displaying: Page 4
Oct 18, 2022

This week on the Thomas Jefferson Hour, President Jefferson returns to discuss the famous letter he wrote in 1802 to the Danbury Baptists association saying it was not the duty of government to do anything that might be interpreted as the establishment of religion. In this letter, he used the famous phrase "wall of separation between church and state.” Jefferson explains that the first amendment of the Constitution states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Oct 11, 2022

This week, David speaks with President Thomas Jefferson as portrayed by humanities scholar Clay S. Jenkinson. Jefferson responds to listener questions about banning books, as well as citizens' rights and responsibilities.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Clay will be performing as Theodore Roosevelt in Downers Grove, IL on October 22nd.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Oct 4, 2022

Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky and Clay Jenkinson discuss Jefferson's daughters. Thomas Jefferson was highly expectant of their behavior and let them know it through a series of letters. When he died in bankruptcy, his daughter Martha was left nearly penniless and had to deal with the aftermath of Jefferson's poor money management.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Clay will be performing as Theodore Roosevelt in Downers Grove, IL on October 22nd.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Sep 27, 2022

This week, we discuss Clay Jenkinson's upcoming cultural tour through Thomas Jefferson’s France stopping in Paris, to Nice along the Cote d’Azur, the French Alps to the village of Saorge and continue in Jefferson’s footsteps with stops in Orange, Pont du Gard, and finally Nimes and the Maison Carrée, which Jefferson called “the most precious morsel of antiguity.” Jefferson said every man’s first country is of course his own, but every rational man’s second country must be France.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Clay will be performing as Theodore Roosevelt in Downers Grove, IL on October 22nd.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Sep 20, 2022

In August, President Biden met with a group of historians at the White House who, for nearly two hours, provided historical perspectives as well as their concerns about the dangerous state of democracy in the United States and the world. Clay Jenkinson and Lindsay Chervinsky discuss this meeting and share some of the things they would have said to the President.

Clay will be performing as Theodore Roosevelt in Downers Grove, IL on October 22nd.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Sep 13, 2022

We're joined by longtime contributor to the show, author Joseph Ellis. He and Clay Jenkinson discuss the passing of the noted historian David McCullough. They also discuss the Constitution and what might happen if it is ever re-written.

Clay will be performing as Theodore Roosevelt in Downers Grove, IL on October 22nd.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Sep 6, 2022

Clay Jenkinson speaks with David Swenson about the ethnomusicologist Frances Densmore and her work with the Lakota in the Dakotas beginning in 1911. David has spent the last year working on The Densmore Repatriation Project, recataloging and restoring her wax cylinder recordings.

Subscribe to The Densmore Repatriation Project on YouTube to hear the songs and interviews.

At Standing Rock in 1911, Frances Densmore met with dozens of tribal elders and recorded traditional songs on wax cylinder. Densmore documented this work in her book Teton Sioux Music which became a touchstone for learning about Lakota/Dakota culture. The Densmore Repatriation Project reintroduces the songs with new recordings made by contemporary Native singers.

Clay will be performing as Theodore Roosevelt in Downers Grove, IL on October 22nd.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Aug 30, 2022

Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky and Clay Jenkinson discuss the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Clay will be performing as Theodore Roosevelt in Downers Grove, IL on October 22nd.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Aug 23, 2022

Clay Jenkinson speaks with Beau Breslin, author of A Constitution for the Living: Imagining How Five Generations of Americans Would Rewrite the Nation's Fundamental Law. The book examines an idea that Jefferson shared with James Madison in 1789: "What would America's Constitutions have looked like if each generation wrote its own?"

Books mentioned on this episode.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Aug 16, 2022

Clay Jenkinson and David Nicandri discuss the Enlightenment and Jefferson's many inconsistencies.

Nicandri is the author of River of Promise: Lewis and Clark on the Columbia and Captain Cook Rediscovered: Voyaging to the Icy Latitudes.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Aug 9, 2022

Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky and Clay Jenkinson discuss the Bill of Rights.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Aug 2, 2022

Clay Jenkinson welcomes back David Nicandri for a discussion about Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton, the explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. They also talk about Thomas Jefferson's influence on exploration. Nicandri is the author of River of Promise: Lewis and Clark on the Columbia and Captain Cook Rediscovered: Voyaging to the Icy Latitudes.

Books mentioned on this episode.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jul 26, 2022

Clay Jenkinson and Lindsay Chervinsky respond questions from a listener about the paradoxes and inconsistencies of Thomas Jefferson’s life, including his ownership of enslaved people.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jul 19, 2022

In June, Clay Jenkinson was invited to give an endowed lecture on the humanities at the Library Company of Philadelphia, America's first successful lending library and oldest cultural institution. It was founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin. We discuss that lecture and Alexander von Humboldt, as well as the amazing artifacts Clay saw while in Philadelphia.

Mentioned on this episode.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jul 12, 2022

Lindsay Chervinsky and Clay Jenkinson discuss current events including recent Supreme Court decisions and the Second Amendment.

Mentioned on this episode.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jul 5, 2022

Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky and Clay Jenkinson present ten things about the Supreme Court.

Mentioned on this episode.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jun 28, 2022

We are joined this week by three friends and contributors to The Thomas Jefferson Hour: Brad Crisler, Lindsay Chervinsky and Joseph Ellis for a rousing conversation about Independence Day.

Mentioned on this episode.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jun 21, 2022

Recently the Thomas Jefferson Hour was contacted by long term listener Vince DiPiazza, the city manager of Uvalde, Texas. Vince wrote, “My community is broken, and we have to figure out now how to come together, pick up the pieces, and try to make some good come out of this terrible event.” Clay Jenkinson invited Vince to join us in conversation and speak about the character of the community of Uvalde and his thoughts about what can be done to avoid tragedies like this in the future.

Mentioned on this episode.

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jun 14, 2022

Clay Jenkinson and Joe Ellis discuss the Enlightenment, a European intellectual movement that happened between 1680 and 1840 that believed in rationality, science, the rights of man and the possibility that humans could govern themselves. Joseph Ellis says that the very basis of the Enlightenment was truth and truth seeking.

Mentioned on this episode: PBS: The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, PBS: Ben Franklin

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

Jun 7, 2022

David Swenson speaks with President Jefferson about the cost of the American Revolutionary War, the aid France provided to America, and Jefferson's position on aiding other nations in their struggles for freedom and liberty.

Mentioned on this episode.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

May 31, 2022

In the second of two shows devoted to Theodore Roosevelt, Clay Jenkinson and Lindsay Chervinsky discuss Roosevelt’s accomplishments and his shortcomings, including his collection of White House pets, his children, and how much the press enjoyed covering his presidency.

Mentioned on this episode: The Best and Worst Presidential Cabinets in U.S. History by Lindsay M. Chervinsky for The Great Courses

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch

Subscribe to the Thomas Jefferson Hour on YouTube.

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

May 24, 2022

Clay Jenkinson and Lindsay Chervinsky discuss Theodore Roosevelt’s accomplishments and his shortcomings, including his great contributions to conservation and government reforms as well as the fact that he was considered a jingoist, an imperialist and at times a eugenicist and racist.

Mentioned on this episodeThe Roosevelt Country

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch.

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

May 17, 2022

David speaks with President Jefferson about the "original argument" between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton concerning whether or not the United States should have a national bank. Jefferson felt this was in a sense unconstitutional and Hamilton believed we needed a flexible constitution.

This program originally aired in June of 2017.

Mentioned on this episode.

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch.

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

May 10, 2022

Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky and Clay Jenkinson discuss John Jay, the American statesman, patriot, diplomat, Founding Father, abolitionist, and signatory of the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Jay was a proponent of strong, centralized government, which at times put him at odds with Thomas Jefferson. Jay worked to ratify the United States Constitution in New York in 1788 and was a co-author of The Federalist Papers along with Alexander Hamilton and James Madison.

Clay will be performing live as Thomas Jefferson on May 14th in Newport News, Virginia at the Ferguson Center for the Arts.

Mentioned on this episode: PBS: Benjamin Franklin by Ken Burns

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch.

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

May 3, 2022

David Swenson speaks with President Jefferson about Plato’s Republic and American democracy. This program originally aired in 2016. 

Clay will be performing live as Thomas Jefferson on May 14th in Newport News, Virginia at the Ferguson Center for the Arts.

Mentioned on this episode: "Democracies End When They Are Too Democratic" by Andrew Sullivan

Support the show by joining the 1776 Club or by donating to the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Inc. You can learn more about Clay's cultural tours and retreats at jeffersonhour.com/tours. Check out our merch.

You can find Clay's books on our website, along with a list of his favorite books on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, and other topics. Thomas Jefferson is interpreted by Clay S. Jenkinson.

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