One Nation Under God: A History of Religion in America (RE-RELEASE)
Please enjoy this re-release of a past episode of For the Ages. New episodes will return Fall 2025. Enshrined in our Constitution and etched into our currency, religion is inextricable from the fabric of American political and social life. The ubiquity of religion in our national history has also made it an elusive, at times contradictory, force in this country’s growth—one that is associated with freedom and tolerance as often as it is with censure and control. Catherine Brekus, professor of American religious history at Harvard Divinity School, joins David Rubenstein to discuss the complex and fascinating role religious practice and expression has played in shaping the United States. Recorded on November 20, 2020
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America’s Ongoing Reconstruction
Lasting from 1865 to 1877, Reconstruction in the American South was an aspirational endeavor that brought with it newly enshrined rights for Black Americans, including Black male suffrage, birthright citizenship, and equal protection under the law, as well as the hope of national reconciliation. Despite early progress in education and government, lack of support and Southern resistance led to setbacks. In this conversation, Selwyn Vickers joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss how challenges to justice, citizenship, and equality persist. Recorded on January 30, 2024
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American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
As the man who led the effort to create the most violent weapon in the history of mankind with the invention of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer is a divisive figure in American history. From his childhood in New York City to his career as a physicist through World War II and the Cold War, Kai Bird offers a riveting account of Oppenheimer’s life and how he weighed the complex moral implications of his life’s work. Recorded on April 3, 2024
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Justice by Means of Democracy
John F. Kennedy advised Americans to ask not what their country could do for them, but what they could do for their country. Scholar Danielle Allen argues that civic engagement such as Kennedy was suggesting is the only true path to a just society—a framework she refers to as “power-sharing liberalism.” While liberalism more generally is the idea that a government should be based on rights that both protect and empower individuals, Allen’s proposed framework calls for a country in which no single group has a monopoly on political, economic, or social power—a society that can only be achieved if the people stand up and speak and the government listens. Recorded on February 28, 2024
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The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams
Samuel Adams was called “the most elegant writer, the most sagacious politician, and celebrated patriot” by John Adams, his second cousin, and was applauded by other colleagues such as Thomas Jefferson. A mastermind behind the Boston Tea Party who helped mobilize the colonies to revolution, he is nonetheless an often overlooked figure amongst the Founding Fathers. Historian Stacy Schiff examines his transformation from the listless, failing son of a wealthy family into the tireless, silver-tongued revolutionary who rallied the likes of John Hancock and John Adams behind him. Recorded on November 28, 2023
Explore the rich and complex history of the United States and beyond. Produced by The New York Historical, host David M. Rubenstein engages the nation’s foremost historians and creative thinkers on a wide range of topics, including presidential biography, the nation’s founding, and the people who have shaped the American story. Learn more at nyhistory.org.
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