Thecuriousmanspodcast

Today's guest has lived through war, incarceration, addiction, trauma, and some of the most difficult chapters of American history—and yet his life has become a powerful testament to the possibility of transformation. Greg Payton was a young African-American soldier drafted into the Vietnam War. His experience included time in a military stockade in Vietnam, where racial injustice, harsh conditions, and mounting tensions ultimately erupted into a devastating prison riot in 1968. But Greg's story did not end with the war. After returning home, he faced PTSD, addiction, homelessness, and the difficult task of finding his way back to himself. Through recovery and his connections with Vietnam Veterans Against the War and other peace activists, he discovered a new purpose. He became an international peacemaker, traveling to places including Belfast, South Africa, Bosnia, and Vietnam, standing alongside people who were working to confront violence and injustice. His memoir, Peace Warrior: How I Escaped the Prison of Anger, is not simply a story about surviving war. It is a story about what happens when a person decides that anger, pain, and the past will no longer dictate the future. Today, we'll talk about the Vietnam War, racism in the military, the hidden costs of trauma, addiction and recovery, forgiveness, and the lifelong journey from being a warrior shaped by conflict to becoming a warrior for peace.

What happens when a republic doesn't fall all at once—but gives away its power piece by piece? More than 2,000 years ago, Rome faced a political crisis that would transform the Western world. Civil war, political violence, concentrated power, exhausted citizens, and ambitious leaders created the conditions for a republic to become an empire. And at the center of that transformation was a man most of us know far less about than the dictator he helped create. His name was Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Agrippa was the brilliant general, strategist, builder, and indispensable right-hand man of Octavius—the man who would become Augustus, Rome's first emperor. Now internationally bestselling author Robert Harris brings Agrippa's story to life in his new historical thriller, Agrippa. Told through the eyes of the man closest to Augustus, the novel explores not only how Rome descended into dictatorship, but what it meant to stand beside the person responsible for that transformation. Robert Harris is the author of sixteen bestselling novels, including the celebrated Cicero trilogy and Conclave, which became an Oscar-winning film. Today, we're talking about Ancient Rome, political power, loyalty, ambition, dictatorship—and why a story that happened two millennia ago can feel remarkably contemporary. Robert Harris, welcome to the podcast. Cold Open A republic rarely dies with a single dramatic blow. Sometimes it happens when citizens become exhausted by chaos. Sometimes when political violence becomes normal. Sometimes when a legislature slowly surrenders its authority to a powerful leader. And sometimes it happens because the right person—the brilliant general, strategist, and loyal friend—is willing to make that leader's ambitions possible. Two thousand years ago, that man was Agrippa. He helped turn Octavius into Augustus—and helped turn Rome's Republic into an empire. But here's the question: What does it feel like to be standing beside a dictator as he takes power? That's the question Robert Harris explores in Agrippa.

There is a version of fatherhood we rarely talk about. We talk about the sleepless nights, the diapers, the exhaustion, and the joy. We talk about the transformation that comes with becoming a parent. But what happens when a father isn't feeling joy at all? What happens when the person everyone expects to be strong, capable, and in control is quietly falling apart? My guest today knows that experience from both sides—as a physician who understands medicine and as a father who discovered that medical knowledge doesn't necessarily protect you from your own suffering. Dr. Christopher G. Choukalas is an anesthesiologist and intensive care physician and the author of Even the Darkest Night, a deeply personal memoir about paternal depression, fatherhood, marriage, trauma, and recovery. After the traumatic birth of his twin daughters nearly claimed his wife's life, Christopher found himself spiraling. He withdrew from his family, spent long evenings alone in his garage, struggled with anxiety, panic attacks and sleeplessness, and couldn't understand why he wasn't experiencing the happiness he believed he was supposed to feel. The turning point came when his wife confronted him and urged him to seek help. Through therapy, medication, the support of other fathers, and a painful examination of his own childhood, Christopher began the long process of finding his way back to his family—and to himself. Today we're going to talk about paternal depression, the pressures men place on themselves, why even doctors can miss the warning signs, and what it takes to ask for help when you're accustomed to being the person everyone else depends on. This is Dr. Christopher G. Choukalas, and his memoir is Even the Darkest Night.

What if the biggest problem with American elections isn't that election manipulation is something new—but that we've forgotten just how long it has been part of our history? From the disputed presidential election of 1876 to contested elections involving Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter, from voter suppression and gerrymandering to Bush v. Gore and the modern battles over election legitimacy, American history contains a long record of political actors fighting over who gets to vote, how votes are counted, and who ultimately gets to decide who won. My guest today has spent more than five decades on the front lines of those battles. David F. Walbert is a constitutional and voting-rights attorney who has litigated election cases at every level, including before the United States Supreme Court. His new book, Stealing Elections, American Style, examines the history of election manipulation and voting restrictions in America—and the recurring patterns that connect those historical episodes to the debates we're having today. The book isn't simply a history of famous disputed elections. It examines the machinery behind them: voter suppression, gerrymandering, voter purges, election administration, court decisions, and the ways political actors can attempt to shape an election before a single ballot is cast. As the country heads into the 2026 midterm elections, we're going to look backward in order to understand what election disputes have looked like throughout American history—and what voters, journalists, lawyers, and citizens should understand about the system today.

My thoughts on the 25th Anniversary of September 11th, 2001.

America spends more on health care than any other wealthy nation—and yet millions of Americans struggle to afford care, medical debt remains widespread, and our health outcomes often lag behind those of countries spending far less. So what happened? Did American health care simply become too complicated? Did insurance companies become too powerful? Did hospitals become too corporate? Did politicians fail us? Or did something much bigger happen? Something changed in American political and economic thinking beginning in the early 1980s—and according to Harvard health-policy professor and former Massachusetts legislator John E. McDonough, that transformation fundamentally reshaped American health care. His new book, America's Wrong Turn, argues that the rise of neoliberalism, deregulation, consolidation, and shareholder-driven economics created a health-care system that increasingly rewards financial performance rather than human health. Today, we're going back to the moment when America took that wrong turn—and asking the most important question of all: Can we find our way back?

Imagine parachuting into Nazi-occupied France with no guarantee that you'll survive the night. Your mission: arm the Resistance, sabotage the enemy, gather intelligence, and rescue Allied airmen. Now imagine doing it while sometimes posing as a fashion designer or a Vichy official—and then surrendering to more than 100 German soldiers because you've negotiated to save an entire French village. This isn't the plot of a Hollywood spy thriller. It's the story of Pierre "Peter" Ortiz, one of the most decorated members of America's Office of Strategic Services, the wartime organization that became a forerunner of the CIA and modern American special operations. And one of the Allied airmen Ortiz rescued was the grandfather of today's guest. Years later, journalist Katie Sanders discovered a 1949 recording of her grandfather describing his experience—and began a journey into the extraordinary life of a man she'd never heard of. Today we're going behind the classified history of World War II, into occupied France, the French Resistance, the OSS, and the remarkable story of the man who saved her grandfather's life.

1985. A small Oregon town. A teenage girl named Lou Miller is preparing to graduate high school when her father makes an unexpected announcement: a coworker named Jim—and his two Pomeranians—are moving into the family home. But there's something Lou doesn't know. Jim has AIDS. At a time when fear, misinformation, and stigma surrounded the disease, one teenager's decision to look beyond the diagnosis and see the person underneath it would create a friendship neither of them would ever forget. Award-winning artist Emil Wilson brings that true story to life in his forthcoming graphic novel, The Nightingales—a moving, funny, and ultimately heartbreaking story about friendship, queer history, mortality, and the extraordinary power of simply choosing to care. Today, Emil Wilson joins us to talk about the real people behind the story, the AIDS crisis that shaped it, and why a friendship between a teenager and a dying man still has something important to teach us four decades later.

What do you do when your father leaves behind an unfinished novel—and your father happens to be one of the most beloved and prolific storytellers in American literature? Do you finish it? And if you do, how do you make it his story while also making it your own? That's the fascinating challenge Beau L'Amour faced with Skyring Water, a new novel based on a partial manuscript by his late father, legendary author Louis L'Amour. The story takes us to 1961, when the Cold War is reaching a dangerous point. The Berlin Wall is dividing East and West. Nuclear tensions are escalating. Empires are crumbling. And then, in Barcelona, a rogue East German STASI officer sets off a chain of events involving struggling arms dealers, organized crime, intelligence agencies—and 30 tons of stolen gold hidden in an icebound wilderness at the end of the world. At the center are Mike Fowler, a former Navy salvage diver and OSS assassin, and Anton Voss, an expatriate German scientist whose mysterious past becomes increasingly dangerous. Once enemies, they've become inseparable friends. But when Mike discovers Anton standing over a midnight visitor with a gun, everything changes. Soon they're running from gangsters, the CIA, Israeli intelligence, and a mysterious organization intent on building an invisible empire. The trail stretches from Marseille to Caracas to Patagonia—and eventually leads straight into Anton's Nazi past. Today, I'm joined by Beau L'Amour to talk about Skyring Water, the extraordinary process of completing a story his father began, and what it means to collaborate with a writer who has been gone for years—but whose voice remains unmistakable.

What does God have to do with the American story? The answer, as you'll discover in today's conversation, is complicated. For four centuries, Americans have argued, preached, written, protested, prayed, rebelled, questioned, and sometimes fought over the meaning of the divine. Puritan ministers, enslaved poets, abolitionists, presidents, transcendentalists, scientists, civil-rights leaders, comedians, LGBTQ+ writers, atheists, and pop stars have all wrestled with the same enormous questions: Who—or what—is God? What does God demand of us? And perhaps most importantly, what happens when a nation invokes God while profoundly disagreeing about what God supposedly wants? My guest is acclaimed editor and writer Ilan Stavans, whose extraordinary new anthology, A Nation Wrestles with God: American Prophets, Philosophers, and Firebrands, brings together more than 400 years of American writing about the divine. The collection includes more than 100 voices and an astonishing range of forms—from sermons, letters, essays, and speeches to poems, newspaper columns, comic strips, and song lyrics. And these aren't voices that all agree. Far from it. The anthology moves across the ideological, religious, racial, cultural, and political spectrum—from Thomas Jefferson to Oliver Sacks, from abolitionists to atheists, and from historical prophets to contemporary cultural figures such as Lana Del Rey. At a moment when millions of Americans describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated, while belief in some form of higher power remains remarkably widespread, Stavans asks a fascinating question. Not "Does God exist?" But: "What have Americans done with the idea of God—and what has that idea done to America?"

For decades, Africa has too often been viewed through the narrow lenses of crisis, conflict, and poverty. But today's guest has spent a lifetime making the case that the continent is far more accurately understood as a place of extraordinary opportunity, innovation, diplomacy, and global importance. Joining me is Witney Schneidman—former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during the Clinton Administration, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, founder of an Africa-focused consulting practice, board member of the Corporate Council on Africa, and advisory board member of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art. In his new memoir, This Africa Idea: A Memoir of Discovery, Diplomacy, and Opportunity, Schneidman reflects on a career that placed him at the center of pivotal moments in modern African history—from South Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy and the peace process in Angola to the creation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, one of the most significant U.S.-Africa trade initiatives in history. Today we'll discuss diplomacy, economic development, leadership, entrepreneurship, and why Africa's future matters more than ever—not only to Africans, but to the entire world.

What does a mother do when survival means making impossible choices? And what happens when a thirteen-year-old girl is forced to grow up in a world where childhood can disappear overnight? Pauline Steinhorn's new book, Dreaming of the River: A Mother and Daughter's Fight for Survival During the Holocaust, tells the extraordinary true story of her mother, Bronia Feldman, and grandmother, Hajuta. In September 1942, Bronia is torn away from her family and sent into the brutal forced-labor system of the HASAG munitions factory in occupied Poland. But instead of thinking only about her own survival, Bronia becomes part of an underground medical lifeline, finding ways to help other prisoners survive. Meanwhile, her husband and two young daughters have been left behind in the Skarzysko-Kamienna ghetto. Thirteen-year-old Hajuta is sent to a nearby labor site. When Bronia finds an opportunity to escape and reach her daughter, she faces an impossible choice: run into the forest and join the partisans—or return to the place she had just escaped. Months later, mother and daughter are reunited. But Hajuta is no longer the child Bronia remembers. Their ordeal will eventually take them to Bergen-Belsen, where they continue to survive through extraordinary courage, sabotage, daring escapes, near-death rescues, and unexpected acts of humanity. At the center of the story is the River Kamienna—the place where Bronia and Hajuta once danced, played music, and imagined a future. The river becomes more than a memory. It becomes a promise. Today, I'm joined by Pauline Steinhorn to talk about Dreaming of the River, the journals left behind by her mother and grandmother, and the extraordinary process of reconstructing a family's story of survival, resistance, love, and hope.

What can the collapse of an ancient republic tell us about the health of the American republic today? More than two thousand years ago, Rome was a functioning republic. It had elections, political institutions, a powerful Senate, ambitious leaders, and citizens who believed their system could endure. It didn't. The Roman Republic was ultimately replaced by autocracy—but, importantly, its collapse wasn't inevitable. And that's the argument at the heart of Michelle Berenfeld's new book, Lessons from a Lost Republic: What Ancient Rome Can Teach Us About This American Moment. Berenfeld is a professor of classics at Pitzer College and an archaeologist who has spent her career studying Rome's rise, transformation, and fall. Her warning is striking: the forces that undermined the Roman Republic—concentrated wealth and power, endless warfare, political violence, and a legislature that gradually surrendered its own authority—can sound remarkably familiar today. And there's another important connection. The American Founders knew Roman history. They deliberately called our legislature the Senate. They built a Capitol. And they were deeply concerned about what happened when a republic surrendered too much power to a single leader. As America approaches its 250th anniversary and the 2026 midterm elections, Berenfeld argues that the past isn't simply something to commemorate. It may be a warning. Today, we'll talk about what Rome can—and cannot—teach us about this American moment, why Congress may be the most important institution to watch, and whether a republic can recognize the warning signs before it's too late.

What happens when a political party loses the trust of the people it says it represents? And perhaps even more importantly: how does it earn that trust back? My guest today has some unusually direct answers. Joe Cunningham made political history in 2018 when he became the first Democrat in nearly four decades to win South Carolina's 1st Congressional District. He went on to serve in Congress, where he developed a reputation for bipartisan work, before later running for governor of South Carolina. Now Cunningham has written Life of the Party: How Democrats Lost America's Trust—and How They Can Win It Back, a candid examination of what he believes went wrong with his party. He argues that Democrats have become disconnected from ordinary voters, that affordability and economic security have been overshadowed by culture-war battles, and that the party has too often substituted messaging for listening. And Cunningham isn't approaching this as a Washington pundit looking in from the outside. He won where Democrats weren't supposed to win.

What if science finally proved that there really is an afterlife? And what if it also proved that not everyone gets to experience it? That's the provocative premise behind Don Schechter's debut novel, Ascendants. Set in 2060, the novel imagines a world transformed by a scientific discovery: certain people are genetically destined to experience an afterlife, while everyone else—the so-called "biomasses"—is condemned to oblivion. Suddenly, the oldest human questions aren't questions of faith anymore. They're questions of genetics. Who gets to live forever? Who gets left behind? And what happens to a society when scientists can determine which people are destined for eternity? At the center of Ascendants is a powerful research institute pushing the boundaries of consciousness and morality, along with three very different people caught in its web: the visionary scientist who began it all, a grieving husband whose beliefs are being tested, and a young woman struggling to understand the world she's inherited. Today, Don Schechter joins us to talk about Ascendants, the future of humanity, the ethics of scientific discovery, and perhaps the most terrifying question of all: If you knew who was destined for an afterlife—and who wasn't—would that knowledge bring humanity together, or tear it apart?

What does a place do to you when you leave it behind—but it never really leaves you? In 1990, a young journalist named Earl Swift set out to hike the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia. More than 2,000 miles later, he emerged changed: more disciplined, more resourceful, and deeply connected to the outdoors. But Swift also carried something else home. Early in his journey, he met two fellow hikers—friendly, capable, seemingly ordinary people who were doing everything right. Weeks later, those two hikers were murdered at a mountaintop campsite in Pennsylvania. The killer never adequately explained why. For decades, Swift carried questions about what happened. Why them? What had happened at that campsite? Could the tragedy have happened to any of them? And how can a place renowned for its beauty and relative safety suddenly become the setting for unimaginable violence? More than thirty years later, Swift returned to the Appalachian Trail. This time, he was in his sixties, testing himself against the trail once again—and also trying to understand a mystery that had followed him for half his life. His new book, Up on Cove Mountain: Adventure, Tragedy, and a Quest for Meaning on the Appalachian Trail, is part adventure story, part true-crime investigation, and part meditation on memory, mortality, risk, and the strange hold that wild places can have on us. Today, Earl Swift takes us back onto the Appalachian Trail.

What if one of the central assumptions about cancer is wrong? For more than half a century, cancer research has largely focused on the idea that cancer begins with mutations in genes that disrupt the normal controls on cell growth. But what if the fundamental problem isn't primarily genetic mutation? What if cancer is instead rooted in something more basic: a breakdown in the organization and balance of chromosomes inside the cell? That's the provocative argument at the heart of The Outsider: A Personal Odyssey into the Essence of Cancer, by biochemist Dr. David William Rasnick. Rasnick takes readers on a journey through more than a century of cancer research, revisiting scientists whose ideas, he argues, were pushed aside as the field increasingly embraced the gene-mutation model. At the center of that history is Theodor Boveri, whose early twentieth-century work connected abnormal chromosomes with cancer long before modern molecular biology made it possible to investigate the genome in detail. But The Outsider is also a very personal story. It's about what happens when a scientist challenges an established paradigm—and discovers that scientific disagreements aren't always settled simply by evidence. Today, Dr. David Rasnick joins us to talk about cancer, chromosomes, scientific orthodoxy, the history of biomedical research, and the complicated question of what happens when an outsider believes he's seeing something the establishment has missed.

Conspiracy theories can feel like a uniquely modern phenomenon. QAnon. Pizzagate. The "Big Lie." The Epstein Files. False claims about vaccines, medicines, elections, and political opponents. But what if conspiracy theories aren't a new disease infecting American politics? What if they've been part of the American political tradition from the very beginning? In his new book, Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency, political historian Stephen F. Knott argues that some of the most powerful people in American history have not merely responded to conspiracy theories—they have helped create, amplify, and weaponize them. From the Founding era through the modern presidency, Knott examines presidents and political leaders who portrayed their opponents as members of secret plots, shadowy cabals, or existential threats to the nation. And that raises some uncomfortable questions. Why are presidents so susceptible to conspiratorial thinking? When does legitimate political suspicion become conspiracy theory? Why do conspiracy theories become so politically powerful? And what happens to democracy when the person occupying the Oval Office becomes, as Knott puts it, "Conspirator in Chief"? Today, Stephen Knott joins us to explore the long, strange, and sometimes disturbing history of conspiracy theories in the American presidency.

Rock 'n' roll has always had a dark side. Behind the music, the fame, the drugs, the excess, and the mythology are stories of mysterious deaths, unexplained events, strange symbols, secretive organizations, and rumors that have refused to die. Was that simply the inevitable mythology that grows around enormously famous musicians? Or are there stories hiding beneath the official versions of events that deserve another look? Author and podcast host Richard Syreet explores those questions in Tales from The Rock & Roll Twilight Zone: Eerie Enigmas and Supernatural Secrets from Rock's Darkest Corners. Syreet takes readers into some of the most mysterious episodes in rock history, revisiting stories surrounding artists including The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Elvis Presley, and others. His investigation explores alleged cover-ups, unexplained deaths, intelligence connections, occult symbolism, numerology, corporate influence, and the persistent idea that popular music has sometimes been used for purposes extending far beyond entertainment. But perhaps the most interesting question is not simply "Is the conspiracy true?" It's "How do we determine what is actually evidence—and what is mythology?" Today, Richard Syreet joins us to explore the strange, unsettling, and sometimes downright bizarre corners of rock history.

Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Superman has become one of the most recognizable fictional characters in the world. But behind the cape, the shield, and the mythology is another story—one involving two young creators, a publishing industry, enormous sums of money, and a decades-long battle over who actually owned the character they created. In his new book, The Superman Wars: A Battle for Truth, Justice and an American Icon, author William Bernhardt goes behind the legend to tell the complicated story of Superman's creation and the extraordinary legal and personal battles that followed. Who really created Superman? What did Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster actually receive for their creation? How did a couple of teenagers from Cleveland create a character that would become a multibillion-dollar cultural phenomenon? And why did the fight over Superman's ownership continue for generations? Today, William Bernhardt joins us to talk about the history behind the superhero, the business of comics, the meaning of creative ownership, and the uncomfortable question at the heart of the Superman story: Who gets to own an idea once it becomes bigger than the people who created it?

What happens when ambition becomes more important than humanity? In the late 1800s, America is undergoing a dramatic transformation. Coal mines are expanding, fortunes are being built, industrialists are becoming powerful, and entire communities are being reshaped by the machinery of the Industrial Age. But beneath the booming industry is another story—one about the people living in its shadow. In Dr. James Gregory's new novel, Ghost Town, we meet Sammy Murphy, a young man growing up in the isolated coal-mining town of Sulphur Creek. His world is one of solitude, shadowy tunnels, and secrets. And then there's Barry Bacon, an ambitious industrialist who dreams of becoming a titan like Andrew Carnegie. Bacon believes power and success are within his grasp—but his unchecked ambition may ultimately threaten everything he's built. As Sammy discovers love and begins to emerge from his isolation, and Bacon watches his empire begin to unravel, the two men are forced to confront very different questions about power, connection, and what it means to truly belong. Today, Dr. James Gregory joins us to talk about Ghost Town, America's industrial past, the psychology of ambition, the meaning of love, and why a story set in the coal fields of the nineteenth century may have something surprisingly urgent to say about our lives today.

The Olympics are supposed to represent something bigger than politics. Athletes from around the world gather in one place, nations compete peacefully, and the entire planet watches. But what happens when the world's greatest sporting spectacle becomes the target of an extraordinary act of terror? In Joe Battaglia's new novel, Beneath the Rings, the Doha 2040 Summer Olympics begin with dreams of gold medals and global unity—and quickly descend into an international nightmare. Twelve Israeli and Lebanese athletes disappear. A shadowy organization called The Obsidian Hand claims responsibility. And then comes the impossible demand: a $500 billion ransom. At the center of the story is veteran journalist Nova Mendelsohn, who finds herself following an ancient Arabic note and an enigmatic local merchant into a conspiracy that stretches from the glittering Olympic Village into the darkest corners of Doha and ultimately into the desert. What begins as a kidnapping becomes something much bigger: a centuries-old grievance threatening to explode into a modern catastrophe. Today, Joe Battaglia joins us to talk about Beneath the Rings, the challenges of writing geopolitical thrillers, the intersection of journalism and fiction, and why the most compelling thrillers often begin with one question.

What was it actually like to be a gladiator in ancient Rome? Not the Hollywood version. Not the sanitized version. And not simply the image of two muscular men entering an arena with swords. What did a gladiator eat? Where did he sleep? What happened before a fight? How were gladiators trained, disciplined, rewarded—and sometimes exploited? What did freedom mean to someone who was technically enslaved but could become famous, wealthy, and even beloved by the Roman public? Today, we're stepping inside that world with historian and author Harry Sidebottom, whose new book, Those Who Are About to Die: A Day in the Life of a Roman Gladiator, reconstructs an entire twenty-four hours in the life of a gladiator. Drawing on archaeology, ancient texts, sculptures, art, and modern scholarship, Harry takes us behind the spectacle to explore not only gladiatorial combat, but the Roman ideas surrounding freedom and slavery, sex and desire, status and honor, crime and punishment, civilization and barbarity, and humanity's relationship with the gods. And along the way, he proves that ancient history can be both serious scholarship and enormous fun.

What happens after the revolution? The battles have been won. Independence has been declared. A new nation has been born. But then comes the hard part: building a country. Bestselling historical fiction author Sharon Virts explores that fascinating—and often overlooked—period in her new novel, Bargains of Fate, the second book in her Fields of Honor series. The series focuses on America's "Second Generation"—the men and women who inherited the enormous responsibility of building a nation after the founding generation had passed from the scene. Virts draws on her own extraordinary connection to early American history. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, has five ancestors who fought for American independence, and even has a Hessian ancestor who fought on the British side. And then there's Selma, the historic Virginia home Sharon rescued and restored—a house whose history and former inhabitants have found their way into her fiction. As America approaches its 250th anniversary, Sharon Virts offers a fascinating question: What happened after the Founders? And what can the struggles, compromises, ambitions, romances, betrayals, and bargains of that next generation teach us about the country we're still becoming?

What if getting older doesn't mean slowing down—but opening yourself up to entirely new possibilities? At 82, author RW Fields is offering readers a wonderfully timely reminder that creativity, friendship, humor, and reinvention don't have an expiration date. His book, Mullet Man, is a heartfelt and often funny story about two people from very different generations and socioeconomic worlds who form an unexpected friendship. One is older, shaped by a very different era and accustomed to doing things his own way. The other is younger and navigating a very different social and financial reality. What begins as an unlikely connection becomes something much deeper—a story about dignity, friendship, class, aging, understanding, and the surprising ways other people can change our lives. Today, RW Fields joins us to talk about Mullet Man, the art of reinvention, and why sometimes the most interesting chapters of life are the ones you never planned.

Why do political movements that promote authoritarian ideas often gain support from people who feel ignored, frustrated, or left behind? That question sits at the center of today's conversation. Joining me is David Ost, political scientist and author of Red Pill Politics: Demystifying Today's Far Right, a timely examination of the rise of right-wing populism, authoritarian movements, and the political strategies that allow them to attract support. Drawing on historical research and contemporary examples from around the world, Ost argues that modern far-right movements share important characteristics with earlier authoritarian movements: opposition to pluralism, intolerance toward marginalized groups, rigid social hierarchies, and a rejection of democratic norms. At the same time, he examines how these movements gain traction through anti-elite messaging and by presenting themselves as voices for those who feel abandoned by existing institutions. Today we'll discuss the history of authoritarian politics, the appeal of populist rhetoric, the relationship between economic and cultural grievances, the challenges facing democratic societies, and what lessons history can offer us about the present moment.

How do we recognize racism? How do we measure it? And what happens when the way we define a problem makes it harder to solve? Today's guest argues that the frameworks we have used to understand racism for decades may be limiting our ability to effectively confront it. Ainsley LeSure is the author of Locating Racism In The World, a provocative examination of how society talks about racism after the Civil Rights era—and why those conversations may have unintentionally weakened our ability to identify and challenge racial inequality. LeSure argues that by focusing primarily on racism as an internal belief system—something located in individual thoughts, feelings, or intentions—we have created a situation where people can deny racist behavior by denying racist intent. She offers a different framework centered on what she calls racial common sense: the everyday assumptions and ideas about racially marginalized groups that circulate through society and influence interactions, institutions, and political movements. Today we'll discuss how racism is understood, why language and frameworks matter, the relationship between everyday behavior and larger political movements, and what a more effective approach to confronting racism might look like.

What is the American Dream—and what happens when a nation begins to question whether that dream is still within reach? For generations, the American Dream has represented opportunity, freedom, equality, and the belief that individuals can shape their own futures. But it has also been a promise that requires constant reflection, participation, and protection. Today's guest invites us to examine that promise through a deeper moral and philosophical lens. John Roth is the author of Saving the American Dream: Meditations for Dark Times, a thoughtful exploration of the American Dream as an ethical ideal and a guiding principle rooted in the Constitution. Through a series of meditations, Roth asks difficult but necessary questions: What matters most for America today? Are we living up to our highest ideals? And how can citizens respond when democratic values face serious challenges? Drawing from the wisdom of American philosophers, historians, novelists, poets, essayists, and religious thinkers, Roth argues that preserving the American Dream requires more than nostalgia—it requires awareness, engagement, and action. Today we'll discuss democracy, civic responsibility, constitutional values, moral courage, and why reflection itself can become a form of resistance and renewal.

What if one of the most important skills we could develop today isn't having more answers—but becoming better at asking questions? In a world filled with constant information, instant solutions, and endless distractions, curiosity can sometimes feel like a lost practice. But today's guest believes curiosity is not just a personality trait—it is something we can cultivate through awareness, attention, and the way we experience our own bodies. Joining me is Beverly Atkins, creator of Pauseture, an app built around the Feldenkrais Method, a movement and awareness practice designed to help people reconnect with themselves through exploration rather than correction. Beverly's journey began with a personal struggle: debilitating back pain that conventional approaches weren't resolving. A single Feldenkrais lesson changed everything, leading her to ask deeper questions about movement, awareness, and how the brain learns. That curiosity eventually led her to complete a four-year Feldenkrais certification program, develop a private practice, and create Pauseture to bring these lessons to a wider audience. Today we'll discuss why questions matter, how awareness changes the way we move through the world, what happens when we slow down enough to notice ourselves, and why curiosity may be one of the most important skills we can strengthen.

Fifty years ago, a door opened that had been closed for generations. On June 28, 1976, the United States Air Force Academy welcomed its first class of women cadets. These 157 pioneers stepped onto the Academy grounds and into a military culture that had never been designed with them in mind. They faced skepticism, resistance, inadequate resources, and the message—sometimes openly—that they did not belong. But they persisted. Over the next five decades, thousands of women followed their path, transforming not only the military academies but the armed forces and American society itself. Today's guest tells that remarkable story. Eileen Isola is the author of Necessary Turbulence: Fifty Years, One Unbreakable Sisterhood Forged in the Crucible of the Air Force Academy, a powerful collection built from the experiences of 108 women whose journeys span generations—from the earliest female cadets to leaders who served in combat zones, challenged military policies, and rose to the highest levels of military and civilian service. We'll discuss the courage it took to enter an institution that wasn't ready for them, the bonds created through shared adversity, the evolution of women's roles in the military, and the enduring legacy of those who refused to accept limitations placed upon them.

Summer is often remembered as a season of freedom, adventure, and discovery. But for some children, it's also a time when they first encounter the complicated realities of the adult world—where courage is tested, innocence is challenged, and growing up happens much faster than expected. Today's guest explores that emotional landscape in his debut novel, Into the Night Woods. Author E. Davis Enloe transports readers to the North Carolina Appalachian Mountains, where twelve-year-old Boyd is sent to spend the summer on his grandfather's farm after getting into trouble at school. What begins as an unwanted punishment soon becomes an unforgettable coming-of-age journey filled with friendship, family conflict, hidden dangers, and difficult moral choices. Alongside his best friend Roger, Boyd navigates abusive adults, corruption, the wilderness, and the frightening realization that sometimes children must find the courage adults cannot. Today we'll talk about the inspiration behind the novel, creating authentic young characters, the Appalachian setting, themes of friendship and resilience, and why stories about growing up continue to resonate with readers of all ages.

Every industry has its digital revolution. Music had MP3s. Film had streaming. Newspapers faced the internet. But one of the most fascinating—and least understood—transformations happened in publishing. For more than 500 years, books remained remarkably unchanged. Authors wrote, publishers printed, bookstores sold, and readers turned physical pages. Then, seemingly overnight, everything changed. E-books emerged, Amazon transformed bookselling, self-publishing exploded, and the entire publishing ecosystem was forced to reinvent itself. Today's guest didn't just witness that revolution—he helped lead it. Richard Curtis is a legendary literary agent, entrepreneur, and founder of one of the world's first e-book publishing companies. In his new book, Digital Inc.: From Print to E-Book—Inside the Transformation of the Book Industry, he tells the remarkable inside story of how publishing entered the digital age and how those changes continue to shape the way we write, publish, sell, and read books today. We'll talk about the early days of e-books, the resistance from traditional publishing, Amazon's disruptive influence, the rise of digital authors, and what the future of books may look like.

The United States is approaching the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—a milestone that invites both celebration and reflection. At the same time, the nation finds itself wrestling with profound questions about democracy, the rule of law, political polarization, economic opportunity, executive power, and the rapid rise of transformative technologies like artificial intelligence. Today's guest believes this is precisely the moment to ask difficult questions about who we are as a nation and where we're headed. Joining me is Alexandra Natapoff, the Lee S. Kreindler Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, an award-winning criminal justice scholar, and co-editor, with Guy-Uriel Charles, of America Unfinished: 250 Years of Law and Governance. Bringing together more than sixty Harvard Law School faculty members, this remarkable collection examines the enduring experiment in American democracy that began in 1776 and continues to evolve today. We'll discuss why America's constitutional project remains unfinished, how law both reflects and shapes our society, and what challenges—and opportunities—lie ahead as the nation enters its next quarter millennium.

What if everything you thought you knew about the story of human civilization was only part of the picture? For generations, we've been taught a familiar narrative: humans evolved from small bands of hunter-gatherers into farmers, then cities emerged, kingdoms rose, civilizations flourished, and history marched steadily toward the modern world. It's a neat story—but according to today's guest, it isn't nearly that simple. Patrick Wyman is a historian, journalist, and creator of the acclaimed Tides of History podcast. In his fascinating new book, Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World, he draws on the latest archaeological discoveries and scientific research to reveal a far messier—and far more interesting—history. It's a story of countless experiments, collapsed societies, forgotten cultures, unexpected innovations, and remarkable resilience. Today we'll explore why so many ancient societies disappeared, how failure shaped human progress, what archaeology is revealing that textbooks often miss, and why understanding these "lost worlds" changes the way we see ourselves today. Patrick Wyman, welcome to the podcast.

On September 11th, most people were running away. Michael Dorian ran toward the smoke. Toward the destruction. Toward the uncertainty. He wasn't seeking recognition. He wasn't chasing glory. He simply saw people who needed help. And that decision became part of a lifetime defined by service, sacrifice, and extraordinary humanity. Today, we're telling the story of a hero many people have never heard of—but won't soon forget.

Imagine fighting the American Revolution... In Gibraltar. In the jungles of the Yucatán. On an island in the English Channel. Or inside a palace in India. The American Revolution wasn't just America's war. It was a world war. And without allies from across the globe, the United States might never have existed. Today, we're uncovering one of history's most overlooked stories.

Birds are everywhere. They soar above our cities, sing outside our windows, and migrate across continents. Yet every sparrow, eagle, penguin, and hummingbird carries an astonishing secret: They're dinosaurs. In this episode, I'm joined by renowned paleontologist, Jurassic World science advisor, and bestselling author Steve Brusatte to discuss his fascinating new book, The Story of Birds: A New History from Their Dinosaur Origins to the Present. Steve takes us on an epic journey spanning more than 150 million years, revealing how certain dinosaurs evolved feathers, wings, beaks, advanced brains, and the remarkable adaptations that eventually allowed birds to survive the asteroid impact that wiped out all other dinosaurs. From terrifying raptors to tiny songbirds, this is the incredible story of Earth's last living dinosaurs—and what they can teach us about evolution, extinction, and survival.

More than a century after the guns of World War I fell silent, the scars of that conflict still stretch across Europe—in fields, forests, cemeteries, and quiet villages that once stood at the center of history. After years of pandemic isolation, historian, photographer, and author Briana Gervat set out on an extraordinary journey: to walk the entire Western Front Way alone. Carrying only a backpack, she traveled more than 500 miles in 36 days, tracing the battlefields where millions fought, suffered, and died during the Great War. Her memoir, There Will Come Soft Rains: A Journey Along the Western Front, is part travel narrative, part historical reflection, and part personal pilgrimage. It's a story about memory, resilience, solitude, and what we can learn when we literally walk through history.

What happens when the hardest question you'll ever face is one you ask yourself? For veteran and author Devin Fish, that question was both devastating and life-changing: "Do I want to die?" In his deeply personal memoir Answering the Hard Questions, Devin chronicles his journey through military service, depression, suicidal ideation, hospitalization, poverty, self-hatred, and trauma—and the difficult but ultimately transformative path toward healing and purpose. This is not simply a story about surviving crisis. It's a story about confronting painful truths, breaking generational cycles, finding meaning after despair, and helping others discover hope when life feels impossible. Today's conversation explores resilience, mental health, personal accountability, recovery, and what it truly means to earn a second chance.

What do we inherit from the people we lose too soon? Author Hilary Plattner joins the show to discuss her memoir The Momma Puzzle, a poignant story of grief, discovery, and family history. After her mother's death by suicide, Hilary spent decades carrying unanswered questions. Eventually, she began piecing together her mother's life through personal artifacts, family interviews, and historical research—including her mother's experiences working for the Foreign Service in Saigon during the 1950s. We discuss memory, loss, mental health, family secrets, intergenerational healing, and the ways storytelling can help us understand both those we've lost and ourselves.

What happens when you leave everything familiar behind and start over in a place where you can't read the signs, speak the language, or even confidently order lunch? For many people, immigration is not an abstract political topic—it's a daily reality filled with uncertainty, adaptation, frustration, discovery, and growth. In this episode, I'm joined by award-winning author and educator Janet Flaugher to discuss her acclaimed memoir Two Bottles of Water. The book chronicles the three years Janet and her husband spent living in Beijing after she accepted a position as superintendent of an international school in 2002. Through humor, honesty, and sharp observation, she explores culture shock, language barriers, identity, belonging, unconscious bias, and the surprising lessons Americans can learn from Chinese culture. This is a fascinating conversation about what it truly means to become a stranger in a foreign land—and how that experience can fundamentally change the way you see the world.

The Holocaust is often told through statistics—millions murdered, thousands of communities destroyed, entire cultures erased. But history is ultimately made up of individual lives, individual families, and individual acts of courage. In this episode, I'm joined by journalist and author Keith Morgan to discuss his powerful book Ruta's Closet. The book tells the remarkable true story of Ruth Kron Sigal and her family, who endured the horrors of the Shavl Ghetto in Lithuania during World War II. Through years of research and firsthand testimony, Morgan brings to life a Jewish community that has often been overlooked in Holocaust history and explores the resilience, courage, and humanity that survived amid unimaginable brutality. This is a conversation about memory, survival, storytelling, and why preserving these histories remains so important today.

In this episode, I'm joined by historian, national security intelligence veteran, and author Ralph DeFalco to discuss his new novel The Counterfeit. Set in a chilling near future, the novel imagines an America defeated in a Pacific war, politically fractured, economically broken, and increasingly authoritarian. At its center is a daring intelligence operation involving identity, deception, resistance, and the fight to preserve freedom from within. Drawing upon a five-decade career in intelligence and national security, DeFalco blends geopolitical realism with thriller pacing to explore questions that feel increasingly relevant in today's uncertain world.

In this episode, I'm joined by global health advocate, founder and CEO of the Initiative for Medicines, Access, and Knowledge (I-MAK), and author Tahir Amin to discuss his groundbreaking book Pharma Monopoly: The Battle for the Future of Medicines. Drawing on decades of work challenging pharmaceutical patents and advocating for equitable access to medicine, Amin argues that the modern drug system is shaped not only by science, but by law, politics, economics, and monopoly power. From insulin and cancer drugs to the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic, this conversation explores who controls medicine, who profits from it, and what a more just global health system could look like.

Monaco is often seen as a playground for the rich and famous—a tiny kingdom of casinos, superyachts, and royalty. But according to veteran intelligence operative and author Robert Eringer, beneath the glamour lies a far more complicated world of espionage, organized crime, money laundering, and political intrigue. In this episode, we discuss his explosive memoir The Spymaster of Monte Carlo, the story of how he says he was recruited by Albert II, Prince of Monaco to build a modern intelligence service for the Principality of **Monaco>. Part spy thriller, part political memoir, and part insider account of palace politics, this conversation explores the murky intersection of power, privilege, intelligence work, and the personal cost of pursuing uncomfortable truths.

Family stories are often built on cherished memories, treasured photographs, and carefully preserved traditions. But sometimes, buried beneath those stories are secrets, tragedies, and wounds that ripple across generations. In this episode, I'm joined by Phyllis Karas, New York Times bestselling author, professor of journalism at Boston University, and longtime journalist, to discuss her powerful book Curse of the Blumenthals. Part true crime investigation, part family memoir, and part exploration of generational trauma, the book traces the extraordinary saga of the Blumenthal family—from immigration and Prohibition-era bootlegging to devastating tragedy, murder, family estrangement, and ultimately the search for healing. This is a conversation about family secrets, memory, resilience, journalism, and how understanding the past can help us break cycles that span generations.

In this episode, I'm joined by acclaimed anthropologist and longtime ethnographer of political movements Ida Susser to discuss her book The Yellow Vests and the Battle for Democracy. When the Yellow Vest movement erupted across France in 2018, it confounded observers. It drew support from across the political spectrum, united people from different classes and backgrounds, and challenged conventional ideas about protest and political identity. By embedding herself within the movement, interviewing participants, and observing its evolution firsthand, Susser offers a rare look inside one of the most important grassroots political movements of the 21st century. We discuss democracy, populism, economic inequality, social movements, and what the Yellow Vests reveal about the future of politics around the world.

Why do some founders thrive under pressure while others burn out trying to scale? In this episode, I'm joined by entrepreneur, investor, and five-time CEO Patrick J. Sweeney II to discuss his book The Founder's Creed. Drawing from neuroscience, high-stakes leadership, and decades spent building companies and investing in startups, Sweeney argues that hyper-growth isn't driven by strategy alone—it begins with belief. In the book, he introduces the "BOODA Doctrine," a framework that inserts belief ahead of the traditional OODA loop to help leaders move faster, act with conviction, and avoid the chaos that destroys so many founders. This conversation explores entrepreneurship, decision-making, neuroscience, burnout, resilience, and what it really takes to lead under extreme uncertainty.

Some memoirs tell the story of a life. Others tell the story of survival, identity, and the invisible emotional currents that shape generations. In this episode, I'm joined by physician, healthcare leader, and author Mai Pham to discuss her debut memoir Bridge from Saigon. As a child refugee fleeing Saigon, Mai's journey carried her from war and displacement to institutions like Harvard and Johns Hopkins, eventually leading to influential work shaping Medicare and Medicaid policy. But beneath those achievements lies a deeply personal story about family history, psychological struggle, healing, and the search for belonging. This conversation explores immigration, trauma, medicine, resilience, identity, and what it means to build a bridge between past and present.

What happens when professional expertise collides with deeply personal experience? In this episode, I'm joined by psychiatrist and advocate Ellen Bassuk and her son Daniel Schoonover to discuss their powerful memoir Between Two Worlds: A Psychiatrist and Her Son's Quest for Compassionate Mental Health Care. For decades, Dr. Bassuk worked inside the mental health system while simultaneously navigating it as the mother of a son living with serious mental illness, including schizophrenia. Together, they tell a deeply human story about family, caregiving, advocacy, stigma, resilience, and the painful gaps within America's mental health and educational systems. This conversation explores compassion, recovery, parenting, identity, and what truly humane mental health care could look like.

What if animals aren't just surviving in nature… but building civilizations of their own? In this episode, I'm joined by journalist and author Ryan Huling to discuss his fascinating book The Hidden Nation of Animals. Part travelogue, part ecological detective story, the book explores how animals create infrastructure, maintain highways, negotiate territory, construct cities, and adapt to the human-altered world with astonishing sophistication. This conversation challenges how we think about intelligence, ecosystems, and humanity's relationship with the natural world.