Off the Deaton Path

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Stan Deaton is the Senior Historian and The Dr. Elaine B. Andrews Distinguished Historian at the Georgia Historical Society, and the Emmy-winning writer and host of Today in Georgia History. The Off the Deaton Path podcast includes Stan's thoughts on books, sports, movies, people, beer, and more, es…

Stan Deaton


    • May 23, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • every other week NEW EPISODES
    • 76 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Off the Deaton Path

    S8E21 Podcast: The Fate of the Day: Rick Atkinson and the Revolution Trilogy

    Play Episode Listen Later May 23, 2025


    Stan's guest this week is Pulitzer-Prize winner Rick Atkinson discussing his new book, The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780, Volume 2 of his Revolution Trilogy, published on April 29 by Crown. Rick discusses the crucial events and people—including the Siege of Savannah, Lafayette, Hamilton and Benedict Arnold—covered ...Continue Reading »

    S8E20 Podcast: Remember Us: American Sacrifice, Dutch Freedom, and a Forever Promise Forged in World War II

    Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2025


    May 8, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of V-E Day, the Allied victory in Europe over Nazi Germany. Stan's guest this week is acclaimed author Robert Edsel, talking about his new book, Remember Us, the extraordinary story of the liberation of the Dutch people and the creation of the American Netherlands Cemetery. It is a ...Continue Reading »

    S8E19 Podcast: Last Seen: The Enduring Search By Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2025


    Stan's guest this week is historian Judith Giesberg, discussing her riveting new book, Last Seen: The Enduring Search By Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families, published in February by Simon and Schuster. Slavery broke many families apart, and Giesberg's book details the fascinating and often heartbreaking search for lost children, parents, and other ...Continue Reading »

    S8E18 Podcast: On Air: The Triumph and Tumult of NPR, National Public Radio

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2025


    Stan's guest is award-winning author and GHS Dooley Distinguished Fellow Steve Oney, discussing his new book On Air (published by Avid Reader Press) on the history of National Public Radio. From “All Things Considered” to “Car Talk” and “This American Life,” from Bob Edwards to Anne Garrels to Cokie Roberts and Ira Glass, Steve covers ...Continue Reading »

    S8E17 Podcast: Shots Heard Round the World: The American Revolution and John Ferling

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2025


    Stan's guest this week is renowned historian John Ferling, who talks about his new (and perhaps final) book on the American Revolution, published just in time for the event's 250th anniversary. Ferling reflects on his life and his remarkable 50-year career as one of America's leading historians of the Founding era.

    S8E16 Podcast: The Most Powerful Court in the World: A History of the Supreme Court

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 13, 2025


    Will abortion be legal? Should people of the same sex be allowed to marry? Stan's guest is UCLA law professor Stuart Banner, discussing his latest and very timely book, The Most Powerful Court in the World: A History of the Supreme Court of the United States, published in November by Oxford University Press.

    S8E15 Podcast: “Savage, Barbarian, Civilized”: The Invention of Prehistory and Our Obsession With Human Origins

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 27, 2025


    Do we study the deep past only to justify our present actions toward those we deem less “civilized”? Are humans fundamentally good and altruistic or mean and self-serving? Is “human nature” warlike or peaceful? Stan's guest this week is author and historian Stefanos Geroulanos of New York University, discussing all of these issues from his ...Continue Reading »

    S8E14 Podcast: The Driving Machine: Why Our Cars Look The Way They Do

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2025


    Stan's guest this week is renowned architect Witold Rybczynski, who discusses his new book, The Driving Machine: A Design History of the Car, published by W.W. Norton. In this wide-ranging discussion, the author reflects on why cars are reflections of our national character, from the Model T to the Range Rover, and how automotive legends ...Continue Reading »

    S8E13 Podcast: Is Technology Changing What it Means to Be Human?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 30, 2025


    Do people prefer texting to face-to-face encounters? Will handwriting become obsolete? Have we lost the mental capacity for patience and boredom? And if we have, does it matter? Stan's guest this week is author and historian Christine Rosen of the American Enterprise Institute, who tackles the impact of technology on what it means to be ...Continue Reading »

    S8E12 Podcast: Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman's March Revisited

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2025


    Stan's guest this week is historian Bennett Parten, talking about his new book, Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman's March and the Story of America's Largest Emancipation, published by Simon & Schuster on January 21, 2025. Sherman's March has remained controversial to this day, and this book is a major new interpretation of the March and its ...Continue Reading »

    S8E11 Podcast: Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2025


    This week Stan talks to Christopher Cox, Senior Scholar in Residence at the University of California, Irvine, about his new book, Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn, published in 2024 by Simon & Schuster. Cox's focus is on Wilson's role in the movements for women's suffrage and racial equality, and his open hostility to both. This ...Continue Reading »

    S8E10 Podcast: The 2024 Reading Year in Review

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 19, 2024


    This week Stan reviews his reading in 2024: how many books and pages, fiction and non-fiction, and offers tips on age-old reading problems, including: how to get more reading into your life, should you write in your books, reading in a distracted age, suffering from book guilt and how to conquer it, and more. Plus ...Continue Reading »

    S8E9 Podcast: The Fascinating But Forgotten Founder

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 5, 2024


    Stan's guest is historian Jane Calvert, author of Penman of the Founding: A Biography of John Dickinson, published in October by Oxford University Press. Dickinson was at the forefront of the Revolutionary movement but refused to sign the Declaration of Independence and has been largely forgotten. Calvert argues in her new book that without John ...Continue Reading »

    S8E8 Podcast: John Lewis: A Life

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2024


    Stan's guest this week is historian and journalist David Greenberg of Rutgers University, talking about his new tour-de-force biography of Civil Rights icon and longtime Georgia Congressman, John Lewis: A Life, published by Simon & Schuster. Greenberg interviewed Lewis and 275 others, including Presidents Clinton and Obama, about Lewis's rise from Alabama poverty to Bloody ...Continue Reading »

    S8E7 Podcast: A Southern Underground Railroad

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 7, 2024


    Stan's guest this week is historian Paul Pressly, discussing his new book, A Southern Underground Railroad: Black Georgians and the Promise of Spanish Florida and Indian Country, published by the University of Georgia Press. It's a tale of how enslaved men and women found freedom and human dignity outside the expanding boundaries of the United ...Continue Reading »

    S8E6 Podcast: “That's Not Who We Are”—Or is it? An Interview with Pulitzer Prize Winner Steven Hahn

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2024


    Stan interviews Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Steven Hahn about his latest book, Illiberal America: A History, which argues that what happened on January 6, 2021, was not an aberration but has deep roots in the American past.

    S8E5 Podcast: The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2024


    Stan's guest this week is historian Evan Friss, author of the bestselling new release, The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore, which has been getting rave reviews in national publications. The story begins with Benjamin Franklin's first bookstore in Philadelphia and takes us to a range of booksellers including the Strand in New York, ...Continue Reading »

    S8E4 Podcast: New York Times Reporter Adam Nagourney

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 26, 2024


    Stan interviews veteran New York Times reporter Adam Nagourney about his recent book, The Times: How the Newspaper of Record Survived Scandal, Scorn, and the Transformation of Journalism, a sweeping behind-the-scenes look at the last four turbulent decades of “the paper of record,” as it confronted world-changing events, internal scandals, and the existential threat of ...Continue Reading »

    Podcast S8E3: How the British Empire Ended in Georgia: Governor James Wright

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2024


    Stan's guest this week is historian Greg Brooking, discussing his new book From Empire to Revolution: Sir James Wright and the Price of Loyalty in Georgia, published on July 15 by the University of Georgia Press.

    S8E2: Pulitzer Prize Winner Jacqueline Jones

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 29, 2024


    Stan talks to historian Jacqueline Jones about her book, No Right to An Honest Living: The Struggles of Boston’s Black Workers in the Civil War Era, winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in History.

    S8E1 Podcast: Back to School! Plus, A Secret Tunnel Behind Lincoln's Head on Mt. Rushmore?

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2024


    Join Stan as he launches a new season of Off the Deaton Path with a recap of one of the most momentous weeks in American political history, plus a deep dive into Fun Facts Known By Few (a tunnel behind Lincoln's head on Mt. Rushmore? Are you living in a nuclear sponge? What is the ...Continue Reading »

    Podcast S7E15: Liberty Street: A Savannah Family, Its Golden Boy, and the Civil War

    Play Episode Listen Later May 23, 2024


    Stan interviews author Jason Friedman about his new book, Liberty Street. Jason and his husband bought a townhouse on Liberty Street in his hometown of Savannah. But that was just the beginning of a remarkable journey: “It's a house that came with a story: the rise and fall of a Southern Jewish family and a ...Continue Reading »

    Podcast S7E14: Michael Thurmond on James Oglethorpe

    Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2024


    Stan's guest this week is DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, who talks about his new book, James Oglethorpe, Father of Georgia: A Founder's Journey From Slave Trader to Abolitionist, published by the University of Georgia Press. Michael argues that Oglethorpe has never gotten credit for his pathbreaking efforts to keep slavery out of the Georgia ...Continue Reading »

    Podcast S7E13: Georgia's Big Cat: The Life of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2024


    Stan's guest this week is Jerry Grillo, author of Big Cat: The Life of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize. Mize was born in Demorest, Georgia, and played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball and won 5 World Series.

    Podcast S7E12: It Doesn't Feel Like Thursday: The Week, A History of the Unnatural Rhythms That Made Us Who We Are

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2024


    Why do the days of the week have their own particular feeling, and how did that happen? This week Stan's guest is historian and author David Henkin from the University of California, Berkeley, discussing his book, The Week: A History of the Unnatural Rhythms that Made Us Who We Are. We take the seven-day week ...Continue Reading »

    Podcast S7E11: David Blight on Yale and Slavery, History and Memory

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2024


    How do we hold institutions accountable for the sins of the past? In this podcast, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Blight of Yale University talks with Stan about his latest book, Yale and Slavery: A History, and how he and a team of researchers uncovered Yale's historical involvement with slavery, the slave trade, abolition, and Jim ...Continue Reading »

    Podcast S7E10: Bigfoot and Baseball

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2024


    This week Stan discusses a new book on an old legend—Bigfoot—and the hope that springs eternal with the return of the Beloved Braves and Major League Baseball.

    Podcast S7E9: Loserville: How Professional Sports Remade Atlanta—and How Atlanta Remade Professional Sports

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2024


    Stan's guest this week is Clayton Trutor, talking about his recent book Loserville, the winner of the Georgia Historical Society's 2023 Bell Award for the best book in Georgia history published in 2022. Clayton discusses how Atlanta's quest for professional sports franchises—the Braves, Falcons, Hawks, and Flames—re-shaped Atlanta and Georgia in the second half of ...Continue Reading »

    Podcast S7E8: Elizabeth Varon on General James Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied the South

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 22, 2024


    This week Stan's guest is historian and author Elizabeth Varon from the University of Virginia discussing her latest book, Longstreet: The Confederate General Who Defied The South. She talks about the life and career of this most controversial Georgian, from whether “Longstreet was late” at Gettysburg, and how his post-war decision to support Radical Reconstruction, ...Continue Reading »

    S7E7 Podcast: What Do You See? An Interview with Author Jeryn Alise Turner

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2023


    Stan's guest this week is best-selling author Jeryn Turner, who discusses her writing life, her upbringing, books, and the inspiration behind her fulfilling life.  

    Podcast S7E6: Pass the Crying Towel: The 2023 College Football Season

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 7, 2023


    Stan brings out his over-used crying towel and reviews the inglorious end to the Dogs' season, reviews the College Football Playoff mess, and looks ahead to next season.

    S7E5 Podcast: John Shelton Reed on Barbecue, the South, and Geezerhood

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 30, 2023


    Stan's guest this week is renowned (and recovering) sociologist John Shelton Reed, who discusses his career, what's still southern about the South, the Campaign for Real Barbecue, and writing country music lyrics.

    S7E4 Podcast: What the #@%& Happened to the Braves?

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2023


    In this episode Stan brings out the crying towel and reviews the quick end to a glorious Braves season, offers his take on how to “fix” the playoffs, and looks ahead to next season.

    S7E3 Podcast: History, Memory, and Monuments: A Conversation with Kevin Levin

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 5, 2023


    This week Stan's guest is Kevin Levin, author of the Civil War Memory Substack blog and one of the country's foremost experts on the history and memory of the Civil War era, including the ongoing controversy surrounding Confederate monuments and debates concerning the teaching of slavery and race in the classroom.

    S7E2 Podcast: C. Vann Woodward: America's Historian

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 28, 2023


    Stan's guest this week is Dr. Jim Cobb of the University of Georgia, talking about his new biography of historian C. Vann Woodward, one of the most distinguished and important historians of the 20th century.

    Podcast S7E1: What Happened to the Vital Center in Politics?

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2023


    Stan's guest this week is political scientist Sidney Milkis of the University of Virginia, who discusses his new book, What Happened to the Vital Center? Presidentialism, Populist Revolt, and the Fracturing of America. This is a wide-ranging discussion about American political history and the US Constitution.

    Podcast S6E5: A Vow of Silence and the Mongolian Rhapsody

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 29, 2023


    In this podcast Stan discusses the newly available Ed Jackson Collection at GHS, Freddie Mercury's handwritten lyrics to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Ed Ames' tomahawk throw, and college students giving up their cellphones to take a vow of silence.

    S6E4: If Your Phone's Not Ringing, It's Me

    Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2023


    Do unexpected calls on your smart phone send you into panic mode? Should people text before calling? Do you hate text messages too? Is AI the end of the world as we know it? Stan discusses these pressing issues and more, including this year's Pulitzer Prize winners, the travails of our beloved Braves, and the ...Continue Reading »

    Podcast S3E6: The Fate of the Top Nazis after World War II

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 17, 2023


    In this episode, Stan looks at what happened to Hitler and his top henchmen—Goebbels, Himmler, Goring, Bormann, and others. How do we know so much about the Nazis despite the lack of physical remains, monuments and statues?

    Podcast S6E2: Johann Neem: History and Democracy

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2022


    In this episode Stan interviews Dr. Johann Neem, historian and author, whose research focuses on the history of American democracy. They discuss history in the public realm, why history has become so controversial in recent years, and where it's all headed.

    Podcast S6E1: Star Trek, Horrifying Cliches, & Goodbye Georgy Girl

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 2, 2022


    This week Stan looks back at one of the most popular TV shows ever, a Mad magazine cartoonist who left his mark on the holidays, a critical day in the American Civil War, a milestone birthday of a legendary football coach, one of the most momentous days in Olympic history, Travis McGee novels, and much ...Continue Reading »

    Podcast S5E2: Dayton Duncan

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 15, 2022


    Dayton Duncan has worked with Ken Burns for more than 30 years writing and producing some of the most important and critically acclaimed documentaries in history. In this podcast he talks about his career with Burns and Florentine Films, living part-time in Georgia, and what comes next.

    S5E1: Happy Halloween

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2021


    Once again this year, in celebration of the spooky season Stan reads a favorite ghost story, “Rats” by the master of the genre, M.R. James, first published in 1929. Also, this week in history and a dark day in Mayberry. Draw near the fire, dim the lights, and enjoy…..

    Podcast S4 E10: We Salute You, and Farewell

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 17, 2021


    This week Stan remembers the birth and death of two iconic musicians from the 20th century, and the recent deaths of five historians whose work over the past 60 years helped redefine several eras of American history.

    Podcast S4E9: Elvis, Napoleon, and the Bakersfield Sound

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2021


    This week Stan revisits the death of the King, the birth of the phonograph, Buck Owens, the Aztec empire, Alfred Hitchcock, Napoleon, Margaret Mitchell, and one of the darkest episodes in Georgia history. He also remembers Rosalyn Carter's birthday, a hero from Iwo Jima, and shares new additions to the Off the Deaton Path bookshelf.

    Podcast S4E8: 1776

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2021


    For Independence Day, Stan talks about This Week in History (including Elvis, the CDC, the Beatles, Sherlock Holmes, Thomas Jefferson & John Adams), notes the birthday of a celebrated historian, remembers a segregationist southern governor from the Civil Rights Movement, highlights new additions to the Off the Deaton Path bookshelf, and revisits one of his ...Continue Reading »

    Podcast S4E7: Item! Stan Lee and the Golden Age of Comics

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 4, 2021


    Stan talks about This Week in History (including King George III, AIDS, RFK, Mount Everest, & Charles Dickens), remembers a record-breaking baseball player, highlights new additions to the Off the Deaton Path bookshelf, and spotlights an incredible and historic collection of golden-age comic books about to hit the auction block–and the influence of comics in ...Continue Reading »

    Podcast S4E6: The Stamp Act, Houdini, & Spike Lee

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 18, 2021


    Stan talks about This Week in History (the Stamp Act, James Jackson, Spike Lee, the first Black graduate of West Point, the Masters, Tomochichi, & Houdini), says goodbye to a pathbreaking historian and actor, spotlights new additions to the Off the Deaton Path bookshelf, and welcomes the opening of Major League Baseball.

    Podcast S4E5: To the Best of My Ability: Presidential Inaugurations, from Washington to Biden

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 14, 2021


    Stan looks at the history of this quadrennial event that goes back 232 years, from the Bible Washington used to the only inauguration held on an airplane, the only president sworn in by a woman, two inaugurals almost cancelled by cold weather, and why there have been 9 "non-scheduled extraordinary" inaugurations.

    Podcast S4E4: Georgia Politics, Past and Future: An Interview with Keith Mason

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 12, 2020


    This week’s guest is Keith Mason, a Gwinnett County native who served as Governor Zell Miller’s Chief of Staff and in President Bill Clinton’s administration. He was instrumental in the passage of the Georgia Lottery and the Hope Scholarship. Keith discusses political figures past and future, including Zell Miller, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, James Carville, ...Continue Reading »

    S4E3: Halloween Podcast: Vanished From the Face of the Earth

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2020


    For Halloween, Stan tells four of his favorite stories of people who simply vanished into thin air: The story of one of our Founding Fathers who vanished while mailing a letter; the most famous maritime missing persons mystery ever; the story of a man who literally was there one minute and gone the next; and finally ...Continue Reading »

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