Podcasts about Andrew Johnson

Max BootBook: Reagan: His Life and Legend Part One (Hour One) explores Ronald Reagan's early life, from a nomadic childhood shaped by an alcoholic father and an optimistic mother, to his success as a lifeguard, sports broadcaster, and Hollywood B-movie actor. It details his marriage to Jane Wyman and his leadership of the Screen Actors Guild during the anti-communist red hunts. Part Two (Hour Two) traces Reagan's presidency, beginning with his campaigns and the 1981 assassination attempt. It analyzes his supply-side domestic economics, foreign relations ending the Cold War with Mikhail Gorbachev, and the damaging Iran-Contra scandal. Alan TaylorBook: American Civil Wars: A Continental History, 1850 to 1873 Part One (Hour One) examines the ideological and geopolitical conflicts of mid-19th-century North America. It profiles figures like expansionist Jane McManis Cazneau, abolitionist Jane Swisshelm, and Black leaders Frederick Douglass and Martin Delany. It details the pre-war political struggles over slavery's expansion, including the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Part Two (Hour Two) covers post-1865 developments across the continent, focusing on Canadian confederation under John A. Macdonald, the French imperial intervention in Mexico against Benito Juárez, and the violent realities of Reconstruction under Andrew Johnson. It also outlines the brutal assimilation and subjugation of Native Americans in both the U.S. and Canada. Dennis SewellBook: Cromwell's Spy: From the American Colonies to the English Civil War Part One (Hour One) introduces George Downing, a brilliant Harvard graduate who rose to become Oliver Cromwell's scoutmaster general during the English Civil Wars. It explores his ideological training, his ruthless perspective on slavery, his intelligence victories in Scotland, and his facilitation of selling Scottish prisoners of war into colonial servitude. Part Two (Hour Two) details Downing's secret diplomacy with Cardinal Mazarin, followed by his opportunistic defection to Charles II upon Cromwell's death. To secure his position under the restored monarchy, Downing orchestrated the capture and rendition of his former regicide allies. David SheddBook: The Great Heist: China's Epic Campaign to Steal America's SecretsShedd analyzes China's multi-decade campaign of intellectual property and data theft against the United States, costing up to $600 billion annually. He explains how admitting China to the WTO in 2001 failed to foster democratization and details the massive scale of the Ministry of State Security. Using corporate examples like Apple and Google to illustrate this threat, he warns of America's vulnerabilities and advocates for defensive reforms, including a partial economic decoupling, modernized legal deterrence, and the establishment of a National Economic Security Council to better protect critical domestic industries and safeguard the nation's technological crown jewels.David K. RandallBook: The Monsters Bones: The Discovery of T-Rex and How It Shook Our WorldRandall recounts the historic discovery of the Tyrannosaurus Rex by pioneering paleontologist Barnum Brown. The narrative traces Brown's journey from a Kansas farm to his recruitment by Henry Fairfield Osborn for the American Museum of Natural History. Driven by Gilded Age competition funded by wealthy industrialists, Brown used geological expertise and dynamite in 1902 to unearth the first T-Rex fossils in Hell Creek, Montana. Despite facing devastating personal tragedy, Brown's efforts culminated in the legendary 1915 public mounting of the apex predator in New York, forever transforming the public's understanding of prehistoric life.

Alan Taylor, Part Two: Taylor covers post-1865 developments across the continent, focusing on Canadian confederation under John A. Macdonald, the French imperial intervention in Mexico against Benito Juárez, and the violent realities of Reconstruction under Andrew Johnson. He also outlines the brutal assimilation and subjugation of Native Americans in both the U.S. and Canada. (2)

Reconstruction promised freedom but delivered a brutal fight over who would truly count as an American. This episode begins with the 1866 New Orleans Massacre, then plunges into President Andrew Johnson's war with Radical Republicans, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, and the first presidential impeachment. Along the way, William H. Seward gambles on Alaska, Theodore Judah's impossible railroad dream binds the continent, and Ulysses S. Grant takes on racial terror from the White House. It's a story of violence, vision, corruption, courage, and the unfinished struggle to turn emancipation into equal citizenship during one of the nation's most turbulent eras. GLENN'S SPONSORS: Chapter: When it comes to Medicare, Chapter puts you first. Dial #250 and say the key word "Chapter". Real Estate Agents I Trust: When you're buying or selling a home, you need a real estate agent you can trust. Visit https://realestateagentsitrust.com/ to find the top-selling real estate agents in your area. Jase Medical: Get your personalized emergency medical kit today. Visit https://jase.com/ and enter code “BECK” at checkout for a discount on your order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

August 21, 2026On August 21, 1831, Nat Turner led 70 enslaved and free Black Americans in a violent rebellion intended to awaken his white neighbors to the brutality of slaveholding, Responding to fears that educating slaves was dangerous, states across the South made it a crime to teach enslaved Americans to read and write, Denial of access to education read them out of society, The fledgling Republican Party passed the Land Grant College act that funded public universities, Andrew Johnson vetoed the bill, In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled that separate schools were inherently unequal and unconstitutional, When Ronald Reagan was elected he vowed to work for abolishing the Department of Education and to push tax dollars from public schools to private academies, Donald Trump's education secretary pushed to expand voucher programs, The claim was that vouchers would save money, but Arizona's biggest voucher program in the nation blew a hole in the state budget, In Texas a voucher program was passed into law, which will leave public schools across the state underfunded and closing, In Arizona the state supreme court ruled that opponents to a voucher program won't get a ballot measure in front of voters this fall, In 2026 it seems the intent is to exclude certain Americans from participation in the Enlightenment principles on which the nation was founded.  Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ-Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribeYou can also find me:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

There's a nearly year-and-a-half difference between the date we learned in history class and the day President Andrew Johnson declared the Civil War over. And Tennessee's most prominent figures had end dates of their own. Plus the local news for August 20, 2026 and more from WPLN and ProPublica's latest investigation into youth detention facilities in Tennessee. Credits: This is a production of Nashville Public RadioHost/producer: Nina CardonaEditor: LaTonya TurnerAdditional support: Mack Linebaugh, Tony Gonzalez, Megan Jones and the staff of WPLN and WNXP

This Day in Legal History: Andrew Johnson Suspends Secretary StantonOn August 12, 1867, President Andrew Johnson suspended Edwin Stanton, his Secretary of War, and installed General Ulysses S. Grant to run the department temporarily. It was a quiet-sounding personnel move that lit the fuse on one of the great constitutional confrontations in American history—and it turned on a question we still argue about: how much control a president has over the officials who serve beneath him.The context was Reconstruction. Stanton was a close ally of the Radical Republicans in Congress, and as Secretary of War he controlled the Army's presence across the defeated South, including the Freedmen's Bureau—making him essential to Congress's plans to remake the region and protect the newly freed. Johnson, who bitterly opposed that agenda, wanted Stanton gone. But Congress had anticipated exactly this: it had passed the Tenure of Office Act, which barred the president from removing a Senate-confirmed cabinet officer without the Senate's consent. Johnson, trying to thread the needle while Congress was in recess, suspended Stanton rather than firing him outright. When the Senate later refused to concur and Johnson removed Stanton anyway in early 1868, the House impeached him—and he survived removal in the Senate by a single vote.The significance of August 12, 1867 reaches all the way to the present. The Tenure of Office Act was eventually repealed and, decades later, the Supreme Court in Myers v. United States suggested it had been unconstitutional all along, endorsing a robust presidential removal power—the same removal-power debate that traces back to the very first Congress and runs through today's fights over the independence of agencies and prosecutors. Johnson's clash with Stanton is the original American showdown over whether a president can be checked in the control of his own executive branch. And on a day when we've got a story about the White House leaning on the Justice Department, that 159-year-old question feels remarkably current.A federal appeals court has thrown out the government formula at the heart of the law meant to protect patients from surprise medical bills—handing a significant win to doctors and hospitals over insurers. Sitting en banc, all seventeen judges of the Fifth Circuit issued an unsigned opinion mostly siding with physicians and air-ambulance companies, and invalidating a federal rule as going beyond what Congress actually authorized in the No Surprises Act. Here's how this works, because it's less about patients than it sounds. The No Surprises Act protects you, the patient—if you get care from an out-of-network provider in an emergency, you only owe your normal in-network cost-sharing. The fight is over who pays the rest: the insurer or the provider. That gets decided in arbitration, and the key benchmark is something called the “qualifying payment amount,” or QPA. Whoever controls how the QPA is calculated basically controls who wins. The court found that federal agencies had let insurers game that number—by baking in so-called “ghost rates,” contracted amounts for services that providers never actually deliver, which dragged the benchmark down in insurers' favor—and by improperly excluding bonus and incentive payments. The significance is twofold. Substantively, it rebalances a high-stakes payment fight away from insurers and toward providers. But the deeper theme is administrative law: this is a court holding that agencies rewrote a statute to favor one side beyond what Congress wrote—exactly the kind of post-Chevron scrutiny of agency rulemaking we've been tracking all summer. The patient protections stay; the multibillion-dollar question of who pays just got sent back to the drawing board. US appeals court voids formula used to avert surprise medical bills | ReutersAmerican Medical Association · Bloomberg LawA federal judge has blocked the U.S. Postal Service nationwide from enforcing the mail-in voting restrictions in President Trump's executive order—and if this story sounds familiar to longtime listeners, it should. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston expanded an order she first issued in June, which had covered 23 states, into a nationwide injunction. Under the executive order, the Postal Service was supposed to gather state lists of eligible voters and deliver absentee ballots only to people on those lists; Talwani's ruling bars USPS from refusing to deliver mail ballots based on those new federal verification requirements. Her reasoning is the same principle we keep coming back to: the executive branch, she wrote, has no authority to regulate elections—that power belongs to the states under the Constitution. And she stressed the timing, noting it's now less than 90 days before the November 3 midterms, which makes it especially important not to let the federal government change election rules on the eve of the vote. This connects to the entire voting-rights arc we've followed—the administration's 0-and-21 losing streak on voter rolls, the Supreme Court emergency application, the Voting Rights Act anniversary. The significance is that the courts continue to hold a firm, near-unbroken line: however much the administration wants federal control over how Americans cast and count ballots, judges keep ruling that elections are run by the states, and the closer we get to November, the more urgently they're saying it. Judge blocks US Postal Service from restricting mail-in voting | ReutersNPR · US NewsThe White House has reportedly asked the Justice Department to explore bringing new charges against David Hearn—the former Olympian in the Reflecting Pool case—just over a week after the department dropped the case because its own evidence showed he didn't do it. Recall the sequence: Hearn was indicted on a felony for allegedly damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, but prosecutors then moved to dismiss, telling the court that newly disclosed documents showed the damage came from a botched renovation, not vandalism. According to sources, President Trump was furious at U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro for dismissing the case, and the White House has since asked the department to examine whether there's a basis for a new charge—possibly a misdemeanor. The talks are described as preliminary, with no decision made, and Congressman Jamie Raskin has already launched a probe into the whole affair. Here's why this is legally striking. The decision to drop the case wasn't a technicality—it was the government concluding, on the evidence, that the underlying premise was false. To now go looking for new charges against the same person, at the White House's urging and reportedly out of the president's personal anger, raises the specter of vindictive prosecution—using the charging power not to pursue justice but to punish. The significance goes to the core of prosecutorial independence, the theme running through the Blanche confirmation fight and beyond: charging decisions are supposed to be driven by evidence and law, not by a president's displeasure that a case was dropped. It's a live test of whether that line still holds. Trump White House asked DOJ to explore new Reflecting Pool charges, sources say | ReutersUS News · MS NOWAnd finally, the law graduates who suffered through California's disastrous 2025 bar exam have reached a settlement in their class action against the company that administered it. You may remember the debacle: the February 2025 California bar exam, run by the vendor Meazure Learning, collapsed into login failures, software crashes, frozen screens, and lost answers, throwing thousands of aspiring lawyers into chaos on the single most important test of their careers. That fiasco spawned multiple lawsuits—the test-takers' claims were consolidated into a class action in federal court—as well as a state audit and a legislative inquiry. This settlement resolves the graduates' own case, and it's distinct from the separate deal the State Bar itself reached with Meazure last month, in which the vendor agreed to pay the Bar $5.25 million and forgive $1.36 million in unpaid invoices. The significance connects directly to a story we covered a couple of weeks ago—the meltdown of the new NextGen exam in Washington State. Two different states, two different vendors and formats, the same underlying failure: the high-stakes gateway to the legal profession buckling under basic technology problems, and leaving the people trying to enter the profession to pick up the pieces. These settlements put a price on that failure—but they also intensify a growing question about whether the bar exam, as currently built and administered, is a reliable way to license lawyers at all. Law grads reach settlement in class action over botched California bar exam | ReutersBloomberg Law · ICLG This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

How can interactive, real-time simulations bring complex STEM concepts like aerodynamics, fluid dynamics, and more to life in the classroom? Today we speak with Andrew Johnson, founder of Digital Rocket Science, to explore how browser-based tools allow students to visualise air flowing over a wing's surface, manipulate wing shapes, and instantly see changes in turbulence, vorticity, and aerodynamic forces! Plus - you can contribute!You can try these interactive simulation tools in your classrooms! Whether you are guiding students through an aerodynamics project or demonstrating complex scientific theories, Digital Rocket Science allows learners to gather and analyse simulation data in real time. Andrew is actively seeking feedback from educators—give the software a run and share how you are using it and what could be improved!Hosted by Ben Newsome from Fizzics Education About Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson is the founder of Digital Rocket Science, where he develops browser-based platforms that help students explore science, engineering, and artificial intelligence through interactive simulation and experimentation. With a background spanning aerospace engineering, visual effects at Industrial Light & Magic, and software development at Roblox, he now focuses on creating educational experiences that make complex computational systems accessible, visual, and intuitive for STEM learners. Featured Video & Resources Watch the simulations in action on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3Q5B3kLPTow?si=iEkxVMHk5Jfit4Xg Links Digital Rocket Science: https://www.digitalrocket.com/ Digital Dynamics Studio: https://www.digitaldynamics.studio/ Digital AI Studio: https://www.digitalai.studio/ YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@digitalrocketscience Contact Andrew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-a-johnson/ Hosted by Ben Newsome from Fizzics Education With interviews with leading science educators and STEM thought leaders, this science education podcast is about highlighting different ways of teaching kids within and beyond the classroom. It's not just about educational practice & pedagogy, it's about inspiring new ideas & challenging conventions of how students can learn about their world! https://www.fizzicseducation.com.au/ Know an educator who'd love this STEM podcast episode? Share it!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andrew Johnson reports on the physical and emotional toll that evacuation has taken on the thousands of Summerland, B.C. residents forced to flee wildfires; Despite strict security, a Toronto flight attendant managed to use a fake ID to pose as a pilot and take hundreds of flights for free; and, an experimental menopause drug developed by Vancouver-based AbCellera is providing hope to many women suffering through symptoms.

How can interactive, real-time simulations bring complex STEM concepts like aerodynamics, fluid dynamics, and more to life in the classroom? Today we speak with Andrew Johnson, founder of Digital Rocket Science, to explore how browser-based tools allow students to visualise air flowing over a wing's surface, manipulate wing shapes, and instantly see changes in turbulence, vorticity, and aerodynamic forces! Plus - you can contribute!You can try these interactive simulation tools in your classrooms! Whether you are guiding students through an aerodynamics project or demonstrating complex scientific theories, Digital Rocket Science allows learners to gather and analyse simulation data in real time. Andrew is actively seeking feedback from educators—give the software a run and share how you are using it and what could be improved!Hosted by Ben Newsome from Fizzics Education About Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson is the founder of Digital Rocket Science, where he develops browser-based platforms that help students explore science, engineering, and artificial intelligence through interactive simulation and experimentation. With a background spanning aerospace engineering, visual effects at Industrial Light & Magic, and software development at Roblox, he now focuses on creating educational experiences that make complex computational systems accessible, visual, and intuitive for STEM learners. Featured Video & Resources Watch the simulations in action on YouTube: https://youtu.be/3Q5B3kLPTow?si=iEkxVMHk5Jfit4Xg Links Digital Rocket Science: https://www.digitalrocket.com/ Digital Dynamics Studio: https://www.digitaldynamics.studio/ Digital AI Studio: https://www.digitalai.studio/ YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@digitalrocketscience Contact Andrew on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-a-johnson/ Hosted by Ben Newsome from Fizzics Education With interviews with leading science educators and STEM thought leaders, this science education podcast is about highlighting different ways of teaching kids within and beyond the classroom. It's not just about educational practice & pedagogy, it's about inspiring new ideas & challenging conventions of how students can learn about their world! https://www.fizzicseducation.com.au/ Know an educator who'd love this STEM podcast episode?  Share it!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

WARNING: This episode is for a Mature audience. This is an adult conversation with at times some STRONG language.To get more information about the show, visit our webpagewww.podpage.com/the-3-13-men-money-and-marriageSummaryIn this episode, Andrew Johnson hosts a lively discussion on the differences between dating for attention versus dating with intention. Featuring guests John X and Grant Lancaster, the conversation explores signs of ego-driven dating, the impact of social media, and strategies for building genuine relationships.Keywords: dating, attention, intention, social media, relationships, ego, boundaries, self-awareness, finances, communicationKey topicsDifferences between dating for attention and with intentionSigns of ego-driven dating behaviorImpact of social media on relationship buildingStrategies for setting boundaries earlyThe role of self-awareness in evaluating partnersFinancial implications of attention-seeking behaviorThe importance of communication and core valuesChallenges of building genuine connections today"Are they dating for ego or for real?""If you're just looking for a pretty face, that's superficial.""Can we build real relationships in this social media environment?"

A destitute runaway indentured apprentice becomes President of the United States.

Visit our webpage to join our growing communitywww.podpage.com/the-3-13-men-money-and-marriageSummaryIn this episode, Andrew Johnson explores the subtle signs of disrespect in relationships and how they can lead to the end of a partnership. He discusses how respect impacts love, trust, and long-term compatibility, offering insights on recognizing and addressing disrespect.Keywords: relationships, respect, disrespect, love, trust, communication, breakup signs, emotional health, relationship adviceKey topicsSigns of disrespect in relationshipsThe role of respect in love and trustSubtle behaviors indicating disrespectThe importance of body language and communicationHow disrespect leads to breakup or emotional distanceCan disrespect be repaired? Challenges and solutionsDisrespect often starts subtly and escalates over time.Interrupting or dismissing your partner's opinions signals disrespect.Body language, like eye rolls, can predict relationship breakdown.Using personal vulnerabilities as ammunition is a sign of disrespect.Respect can be rebuilt, but it requires radical accountability.Signs of Disrespect That Can End Your RelationshipHow Respect Affects Love and Trust in Relationships"Body language predicts relationship breakdown""Using vulnerabilities as ammunition is disrespectful""Disrespect escalates if not addressed early"Chapters00:00 Introduction and episode overview01:24 Why respect is crucial in long-term relationships02:23 Signs that respect is eroding: pulling away and dismissiveness03:09 The importance of valuing your partner's opinions04:15 The significance of body language and the eye roll07:56 Using vulnerabilities as ammunition during conflicts08:25 The impact of disrespect on social situations and self-esteem11:41 Can disrespect be repaired? Challenges and long-term effects13:52 The importance of radical accountability and intervention16:34 Self-reflection questions for assessing respect in your relationship

Drop us a note about the podcast. “Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts.” That line from Psalm 145 isn't poetry we admire and move past. I treat it like a warning light and a mission statement. If we stop telling the truth about God, His goodness, and His standards, something else will teach our kids instead, and it rarely leads them toward peace, courage, or wisdom.From there, I pivot into a hard headline and the claims people make about immigration, violence, and moral responsibility. I know this part will challenge some listeners, but I'd rather speak plainly than hide behind comfortable words. Then we slow down and get grounded again in Scripture: a marriage reading from Song of Solomon that reminds us the Bible speaks honestly about desire inside covenant, and Acts 18 with Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila, where faith shows up in daily work, hospitality, and bold witness.We also talk about antisemitism, Israel, and the spiritual conflict behind many modern narratives. To connect the dots to American history and America's Christian heritage, I share a Medal of Honor spotlight and a line from Joseph Warren after Lexington and Concord: “We determined to die or be free.” Finally, we look at presidential oaths and Proverbs passages that point to accountability before God, and I close with prayer and a call to turn back to Jesus Christ.If you care about the Bible, a Christian worldview, and the future of the country, listen through to the end, then subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.#JosephWarren#ChristianNation#AmericanRevolution Support the showThe American Soul Podcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1791934/subscribeCountryside Book Serieshttps://www.amazon.com/Countryside-Book-J-T-Cope-IV-ebook/dp/B00MPIXOB2 America's Christian Heritage Podcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/2622483

Julia Azari, Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, has a new, award-winning[*] book centering on the connection between race and the American presidency, specifically in the reaction to presidents who made progress on the issue of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History focuses on four different periods in American political history and a number of different presidential administrations including: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump. Race and the American presidency are not usually topics that are looped together, and this is also part of the point that Azari is making in the book, since presidents often try to elide racial politics and policy issues. Race is also not usually connected to presidential impeachments, but this is yet another key point that Azari raises, connecting racial progress, the backlash responses, and the subsequent impeachments. In noting these connections, Azari threads examples over time where presidents directly confronted race in American politics, working towards more racial equality, and how these efforts also prompt a backlash response. The key case studies in Backlash Presidents are Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War in the 1860s, Lyndon Johnson's efforts in the 1960s in regard to the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, as well as anti-poverty legislation, and finally Barack Obama as the first Black president of the United States, which was both symbolic and structural. Backlash Presidents traces not only the progress made during these administrations, but also the responses that followed in the subsequent administrations. It is these next administrations, of Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump, where each of these presidents were either impeached or were about to be impeached, and how this dynamic pulls together a variety of different threads to help us to understand presidential politics, institutional development, and American political history all in context of the question of race. Azari's research is connected to the idea of political time, but with the important addition of pulling out the problem of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents contributes to our thinking about not only the time and context of presidents and their administrations, but also to thinking about what it is that presidents do to politics itself. Part of this analysis also interrogates populism, positioning these movements within the context of racial backlash, while also building out the understanding of the president's position within his own party, especially during these fraught periods. In each of the key examples, Azari highlights the ways in which Johnson, Nixon, and Trump were outsiders to what was going on inside their parties—in each case the Republican Party at the time—and how these shifting partisan foundations opened up different kinds of vulnerabilities for these presidents. In each of the case studies, there is also the discussion of the role that the U.S. Congress plays, since they are the actors who move towards impeaching and trying the president. Members of the House of Representatives need to move beyond constraints in order to impeach a president, and in these instances, they have concluded that the president is not correct in some basic and meaningful way, that the president is not upholding his oath of office, and is also undermining the forward movement on race and racial equality. Backlash Presidents: From Transformation to Reactionary Leaders in American History is a deeply researched analysis, with important historical context and details to help flesh out the particular time period under consideration. The examination is further complicated and built out with important understandings of party politics in the United States, and how president fits into their political party, or may be seen as an outsider. Racial dynamics in the United States undergirds the entire theory, and helps us see the tensions within partisan politics, presidential politics, and American democracy. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social [*] The Presidents and Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association awarded Backlash Presidents the 2025 Richard E. Neustadt Best Book Award, given for the best book on executive politics published during the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Julia Azari, Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, has a new, award-winning[*] book centering on the connection between race and the American presidency, specifically in the reaction to presidents who made progress on the issue of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History focuses on four different periods in American political history and a number of different presidential administrations including: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump. Race and the American presidency are not usually topics that are looped together, and this is also part of the point that Azari is making in the book, since presidents often try to elide racial politics and policy issues. Race is also not usually connected to presidential impeachments, but this is yet another key point that Azari raises, connecting racial progress, the backlash responses, and the subsequent impeachments. In noting these connections, Azari threads examples over time where presidents directly confronted race in American politics, working towards more racial equality, and how these efforts also prompt a backlash response. The key case studies in Backlash Presidents are Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War in the 1860s, Lyndon Johnson's efforts in the 1960s in regard to the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, as well as anti-poverty legislation, and finally Barack Obama as the first Black president of the United States, which was both symbolic and structural. Backlash Presidents traces not only the progress made during these administrations, but also the responses that followed in the subsequent administrations. It is these next administrations, of Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump, where each of these presidents were either impeached or were about to be impeached, and how this dynamic pulls together a variety of different threads to help us to understand presidential politics, institutional development, and American political history all in context of the question of race. Azari's research is connected to the idea of political time, but with the important addition of pulling out the problem of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents contributes to our thinking about not only the time and context of presidents and their administrations, but also to thinking about what it is that presidents do to politics itself. Part of this analysis also interrogates populism, positioning these movements within the context of racial backlash, while also building out the understanding of the president's position within his own party, especially during these fraught periods. In each of the key examples, Azari highlights the ways in which Johnson, Nixon, and Trump were outsiders to what was going on inside their parties—in each case the Republican Party at the time—and how these shifting partisan foundations opened up different kinds of vulnerabilities for these presidents. In each of the case studies, there is also the discussion of the role that the U.S. Congress plays, since they are the actors who move towards impeaching and trying the president. Members of the House of Representatives need to move beyond constraints in order to impeach a president, and in these instances, they have concluded that the president is not correct in some basic and meaningful way, that the president is not upholding his oath of office, and is also undermining the forward movement on race and racial equality. Backlash Presidents: From Transformation to Reactionary Leaders in American History is a deeply researched analysis, with important historical context and details to help flesh out the particular time period under consideration. The examination is further complicated and built out with important understandings of party politics in the United States, and how president fits into their political party, or may be seen as an outsider. Racial dynamics in the United States undergirds the entire theory, and helps us see the tensions within partisan politics, presidential politics, and American democracy. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social [*] The Presidents and Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association awarded Backlash Presidents the 2025 Richard E. Neustadt Best Book Award, given for the best book on executive politics published during the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

This Day in Legal History: Congress Shrinks the Supreme CourtOn July 23, 1866, Congress passed the Judicial Circuits Act, and in doing so did something that sounds almost unimaginable today: it shrank the Supreme Court. The Act provided that the Court would gradually contract from ten justices down to seven, as sitting justices died or retired and their seats simply went unfilled. Yesterday we talked about Franklin Roosevelt's failed attempt to enlarge the Court to overpower it; today's anniversary is the mirror image—Congress reducing the Court's size for pointedly political reasons.The politics were about President Andrew Johnson. Johnson, who had ascended to the presidency after Lincoln's assassination, was locked in a bitter struggle with the Radical Republicans in Congress over Reconstruction. Congress did not trust him, and one thing it was determined to deny him was the power to shape the Supreme Court. By legislating that upcoming vacancies would go unfilled until the Court shrank to seven, Congress effectively stripped Johnson of any Supreme Court appointments. It was court-unpacking as a weapon of inter-branch warfare—using Congress's control over the Court's size not to change its rulings directly, but to lock a distrusted president out of influencing it.The size of the Supreme Court has never been fixed by the Constitution—it's set by statute, and it has ranged from six at the founding up to ten and back down over the country's first century. After Johnson left office, Congress promptly passed the Judiciary Act of 1869 and settled the number at nine, where it has remained ever since. The significance of July 23, 1866 is that it's the clearest historical example of Congress manipulating the Court's very size for immediate political advantage—and, paired with the 1937 court-packing fight, it bookends the story of how the number nine came to feel sacrosanct even though it never actually was. The Court's independence, it turns out, has always rested partly on a political truce about not touching its structure.A Manhattan federal judge is set to weigh today whether to throw out the Justice Department's subpoenas to New York Times journalists who reported on security concerns about President Trump flying on a Qatari-donated Air Force One. This is the next chapter of a story we covered when the subpoenas first landed: they were issued July 10 by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney, and U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian has paused their enforcement pending this afternoon's hearing. The two sides want very different things. Prosecutors have asked the judge merely to put the subpoenas on hold for a couple of weeks, saying the investigation's next steps could shape his decision; the Times wants them quashed outright, arguing they're designed to harass and intimidate journalists in violation of the First Amendment. The legal backdrop is genuinely unsettled. There is no absolute reporter's privilege under federal law—prosecutors correctly note the First Amendment doesn't categorically excuse reporters from testifying in criminal investigations—but courts have long been wary of subpoenas that function as fishing expeditions to unmask sources. The significance is that this hearing is a concrete test of where that line falls, and it lands amid a broader pattern we've tracked all month of friction between the administration and the press. However Judge Subramanian rules, it will be an early data point on how much protection newsgathering gets when the government wants to know who talked.US judge to weigh New York Times subpoenas over Trump plane reporting | ReutersThe teenager at the center of a closely watched lawsuit blaming social media for his depression and anxiety has dropped his claims against Meta just days before trial. The plaintiff, a 15-year-old known in court papers as R.K.C., had originally sued four companies—Google's YouTube, Meta's Instagram, Snap's Snapchat, and ByteDance's TikTok—alleging their platforms were engineered to be addictive and harmed his mental health. YouTube, TikTok, and Snap all reached confidential settlements earlier, which would have left Meta as the lone defendant when the case went before a Los Angeles jury on July 27. Instead, R.K.C. withdrew, ending the case. Here's why this matters beyond one teenager. His was a “bellwether” case—one of a small set of representative lawsuits chosen from a huge pool of similar claims and tried first, so both sides can see how juries react and use those signals to gauge settlement values across the whole litigation. When a marquee bellwether evaporates right before trial, it sends a message, though an ambiguous one: it could reflect a quiet settlement, a weakness in this particular plaintiff's proof, or simply strategic repositioning. The significance is that the sprawling social-media-harm litigation against these platforms rolls on, but this particular test balloon won't be inflated—depriving both the companies and the thousands of other plaintiffs of a data point they were watching closely.Teen plaintiff suing Meta over mental health harms drops his claims against company days before trial | ReutersA federal judge has cast serious doubt on roughly 69,000 lawsuits claiming that Johnson & Johnson's talc products caused ovarian cancer, warning the plaintiffs they must come forward with better evidence or risk having their cases dismissed. U.S. Magistrate Judge Rukhsanah Singh in Trenton, New Jersey, zeroed in on a problem at the heart of the litigation: causation. In a mass tort like this, plaintiffs generally have to show not just that a product can cause harm in the abstract—”general causation”—but that it caused this particular plaintiff's disease—”specific causation.” Judge Singh noted that two of the plaintiffs' own expert witnesses, testifying in preparation for a set of bellwether trials, conceded they could not rule out other possible causes of the women's cancers. That's a serious admission, because it goes to whether the experts can offer an opinion that's admissible at all under the rules that make judges the “gatekeepers” of scientific testimony. If you've been listening, this should ring a bell—it's the same expert-gatekeeping battleground we saw in the Tylenol-autism case, just cutting the other direction. Here the judge ordered plaintiffs to explain, by November 19, why their cases shouldn't be tossed for lack of an admissible expert opinion tying J&J's talc to their specific cancers. The significance is that after years of litigation, settlements, and failed bankruptcy maneuvers, the whole edifice of these 69,000 claims may hinge on a question of scientific proof—and the judge just signaled the plaintiffs have a real problem.US judge casts doubt on 69,000 cases alleging J&J talc caused cancer | ReutersAnd finally, in a piece I wrote for Forbes this week, I make an argument that runs underneath a lot of the tax stories we've covered lately: the tax code is only as real as its enforcement. My core claim is that defunding the IRS doesn't actually shrink the tax code—it quietly splits it into two.Here's the framing I start with. Washington has a strange way of talking about tax enforcement. Money to help the IRS collect taxes that are already legally owed gets described as spending, waste, or bureaucratic excess—but when Congress cuts that funding and less revenue comes in, the shortfall gets treated like weather, as if it just happened. I think that's exactly backwards. Congress can write whatever rates, deductions, partnership rules, and anti-abuse provisions it likes, but without skilled auditors and functioning technology, a big chunk of those rules becomes purely aspirational.And crucially, that aspiration isn't evenly distributed. For most wage earners, there's almost no room to maneuver: your income is reported by your employer, your taxes are withheld before you ever see the paycheck, and a computer can flag a mismatch without a human ever looking at your return. But wealthier filers and large businesses often operate through partnerships, closely held entities, cross-border transactions, and complex securities arrangements that take specialized expertise and real time to unwind. So my point is that defunding the IRS doesn't create a smaller tax code—it creates two codes: a statutory, basically inescapable one for people whose income is visible, and a negotiated one for people whose finances are complicated enough to delay, obscure, or contest what they owe. Strip out the enforcement capacity, and the nominal rule stays on the books while its practical effect on the highest earners quietly weakens. That's regressive—a backdoor tax cut for the taxpayers best positioned to resist enforcement.There's a new bill, the Stop CHEATERS Act, that would restore enforcement funding, and I think its sponsors are right about the underlying problem. But I argue they should retire the “fair share” language they've wrapped around it. “Fair share” is subjective—reasonable people can argue forever about whether capital gains should get preferential treatment or whether the top rate is too high or too low, and those are legitimate legislative questions. But that's not the issue here. Congress already wrote the laws; taxpayers are already obligated to follow them. The case for funding the IRS isn't about inventing a new standard of fairness after the fact—it's about consistently administering the standards we already have. By leaning on “fair share,” Democrats risk making basic enforcement sound like a partisan redistribution project when the stronger, harder-to-dismiss argument is simply this: if Congress imposes a tax, the government should be funded well enough to collect it. Anything less isn't restraint or a considered policy choice—it's a quiet exemption for those who can afford to fight.The Tax Code Is Only As Real As Its Enforcement | Forbes This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

Julia Azari, Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, has a new, award-winning[*] book centering on the connection between race and the American presidency, specifically in the reaction to presidents who made progress on the issue of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History focuses on four different periods in American political history and a number of different presidential administrations including: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump. Race and the American presidency are not usually topics that are looped together, and this is also part of the point that Azari is making in the book, since presidents often try to elide racial politics and policy issues. Race is also not usually connected to presidential impeachments, but this is yet another key point that Azari raises, connecting racial progress, the backlash responses, and the subsequent impeachments. In noting these connections, Azari threads examples over time where presidents directly confronted race in American politics, working towards more racial equality, and how these efforts also prompt a backlash response. The key case studies in Backlash Presidents are Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War in the 1860s, Lyndon Johnson's efforts in the 1960s in regard to the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, as well as anti-poverty legislation, and finally Barack Obama as the first Black president of the United States, which was both symbolic and structural. Backlash Presidents traces not only the progress made during these administrations, but also the responses that followed in the subsequent administrations. It is these next administrations, of Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump, where each of these presidents were either impeached or were about to be impeached, and how this dynamic pulls together a variety of different threads to help us to understand presidential politics, institutional development, and American political history all in context of the question of race. Azari's research is connected to the idea of political time, but with the important addition of pulling out the problem of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents contributes to our thinking about not only the time and context of presidents and their administrations, but also to thinking about what it is that presidents do to politics itself. Part of this analysis also interrogates populism, positioning these movements within the context of racial backlash, while also building out the understanding of the president's position within his own party, especially during these fraught periods. In each of the key examples, Azari highlights the ways in which Johnson, Nixon, and Trump were outsiders to what was going on inside their parties—in each case the Republican Party at the time—and how these shifting partisan foundations opened up different kinds of vulnerabilities for these presidents. In each of the case studies, there is also the discussion of the role that the U.S. Congress plays, since they are the actors who move towards impeaching and trying the president. Members of the House of Representatives need to move beyond constraints in order to impeach a president, and in these instances, they have concluded that the president is not correct in some basic and meaningful way, that the president is not upholding his oath of office, and is also undermining the forward movement on race and racial equality. Backlash Presidents: From Transformation to Reactionary Leaders in American History is a deeply researched analysis, with important historical context and details to help flesh out the particular time period under consideration. The examination is further complicated and built out with important understandings of party politics in the United States, and how president fits into their political party, or may be seen as an outsider. Racial dynamics in the United States undergirds the entire theory, and helps us see the tensions within partisan politics, presidential politics, and American democracy. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social [*] The Presidents and Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association awarded Backlash Presidents the 2025 Richard E. Neustadt Best Book Award, given for the best book on executive politics published during the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Julia Azari, Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, has a new, award-winning[*] book centering on the connection between race and the American presidency, specifically in the reaction to presidents who made progress on the issue of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History focuses on four different periods in American political history and a number of different presidential administrations including: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump. Race and the American presidency are not usually topics that are looped together, and this is also part of the point that Azari is making in the book, since presidents often try to elide racial politics and policy issues. Race is also not usually connected to presidential impeachments, but this is yet another key point that Azari raises, connecting racial progress, the backlash responses, and the subsequent impeachments. In noting these connections, Azari threads examples over time where presidents directly confronted race in American politics, working towards more racial equality, and how these efforts also prompt a backlash response. The key case studies in Backlash Presidents are Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War in the 1860s, Lyndon Johnson's efforts in the 1960s in regard to the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, as well as anti-poverty legislation, and finally Barack Obama as the first Black president of the United States, which was both symbolic and structural. Backlash Presidents traces not only the progress made during these administrations, but also the responses that followed in the subsequent administrations. It is these next administrations, of Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump, where each of these presidents were either impeached or were about to be impeached, and how this dynamic pulls together a variety of different threads to help us to understand presidential politics, institutional development, and American political history all in context of the question of race. Azari's research is connected to the idea of political time, but with the important addition of pulling out the problem of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents contributes to our thinking about not only the time and context of presidents and their administrations, but also to thinking about what it is that presidents do to politics itself. Part of this analysis also interrogates populism, positioning these movements within the context of racial backlash, while also building out the understanding of the president's position within his own party, especially during these fraught periods. In each of the key examples, Azari highlights the ways in which Johnson, Nixon, and Trump were outsiders to what was going on inside their parties—in each case the Republican Party at the time—and how these shifting partisan foundations opened up different kinds of vulnerabilities for these presidents. In each of the case studies, there is also the discussion of the role that the U.S. Congress plays, since they are the actors who move towards impeaching and trying the president. Members of the House of Representatives need to move beyond constraints in order to impeach a president, and in these instances, they have concluded that the president is not correct in some basic and meaningful way, that the president is not upholding his oath of office, and is also undermining the forward movement on race and racial equality. Backlash Presidents: From Transformation to Reactionary Leaders in American History is a deeply researched analysis, with important historical context and details to help flesh out the particular time period under consideration. The examination is further complicated and built out with important understandings of party politics in the United States, and how president fits into their political party, or may be seen as an outsider. Racial dynamics in the United States undergirds the entire theory, and helps us see the tensions within partisan politics, presidential politics, and American democracy. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social [*] The Presidents and Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association awarded Backlash Presidents the 2025 Richard E. Neustadt Best Book Award, given for the best book on executive politics published during the year.

Julia Azari, Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, has a new, award-winning[*] book centering on the connection between race and the American presidency, specifically in the reaction to presidents who made progress on the issue of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History focuses on four different periods in American political history and a number of different presidential administrations including: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump. Race and the American presidency are not usually topics that are looped together, and this is also part of the point that Azari is making in the book, since presidents often try to elide racial politics and policy issues. Race is also not usually connected to presidential impeachments, but this is yet another key point that Azari raises, connecting racial progress, the backlash responses, and the subsequent impeachments. In noting these connections, Azari threads examples over time where presidents directly confronted race in American politics, working towards more racial equality, and how these efforts also prompt a backlash response. The key case studies in Backlash Presidents are Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War in the 1860s, Lyndon Johnson's efforts in the 1960s in regard to the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, as well as anti-poverty legislation, and finally Barack Obama as the first Black president of the United States, which was both symbolic and structural. Backlash Presidents traces not only the progress made during these administrations, but also the responses that followed in the subsequent administrations. It is these next administrations, of Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump, where each of these presidents were either impeached or were about to be impeached, and how this dynamic pulls together a variety of different threads to help us to understand presidential politics, institutional development, and American political history all in context of the question of race. Azari's research is connected to the idea of political time, but with the important addition of pulling out the problem of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents contributes to our thinking about not only the time and context of presidents and their administrations, but also to thinking about what it is that presidents do to politics itself. Part of this analysis also interrogates populism, positioning these movements within the context of racial backlash, while also building out the understanding of the president's position within his own party, especially during these fraught periods. In each of the key examples, Azari highlights the ways in which Johnson, Nixon, and Trump were outsiders to what was going on inside their parties—in each case the Republican Party at the time—and how these shifting partisan foundations opened up different kinds of vulnerabilities for these presidents. In each of the case studies, there is also the discussion of the role that the U.S. Congress plays, since they are the actors who move towards impeaching and trying the president. Members of the House of Representatives need to move beyond constraints in order to impeach a president, and in these instances, they have concluded that the president is not correct in some basic and meaningful way, that the president is not upholding his oath of office, and is also undermining the forward movement on race and racial equality. Backlash Presidents: From Transformation to Reactionary Leaders in American History is a deeply researched analysis, with important historical context and details to help flesh out the particular time period under consideration. The examination is further complicated and built out with important understandings of party politics in the United States, and how president fits into their political party, or may be seen as an outsider. Racial dynamics in the United States undergirds the entire theory, and helps us see the tensions within partisan politics, presidential politics, and American democracy. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social [*] The Presidents and Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association awarded Backlash Presidents the 2025 Richard E. Neustadt Best Book Award, given for the best book on executive politics published during the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Julia Azari, Professor of Political Science at Marquette University, has a new, award-winning[*] book centering on the connection between race and the American presidency, specifically in the reaction to presidents who made progress on the issue of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History focuses on four different periods in American political history and a number of different presidential administrations including: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump. Race and the American presidency are not usually topics that are looped together, and this is also part of the point that Azari is making in the book, since presidents often try to elide racial politics and policy issues. Race is also not usually connected to presidential impeachments, but this is yet another key point that Azari raises, connecting racial progress, the backlash responses, and the subsequent impeachments. In noting these connections, Azari threads examples over time where presidents directly confronted race in American politics, working towards more racial equality, and how these efforts also prompt a backlash response. The key case studies in Backlash Presidents are Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War in the 1860s, Lyndon Johnson's efforts in the 1960s in regard to the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, as well as anti-poverty legislation, and finally Barack Obama as the first Black president of the United States, which was both symbolic and structural. Backlash Presidents traces not only the progress made during these administrations, but also the responses that followed in the subsequent administrations. It is these next administrations, of Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump, where each of these presidents were either impeached or were about to be impeached, and how this dynamic pulls together a variety of different threads to help us to understand presidential politics, institutional development, and American political history all in context of the question of race. Azari's research is connected to the idea of political time, but with the important addition of pulling out the problem of race in the United States. Backlash Presidents contributes to our thinking about not only the time and context of presidents and their administrations, but also to thinking about what it is that presidents do to politics itself. Part of this analysis also interrogates populism, positioning these movements within the context of racial backlash, while also building out the understanding of the president's position within his own party, especially during these fraught periods. In each of the key examples, Azari highlights the ways in which Johnson, Nixon, and Trump were outsiders to what was going on inside their parties—in each case the Republican Party at the time—and how these shifting partisan foundations opened up different kinds of vulnerabilities for these presidents. In each of the case studies, there is also the discussion of the role that the U.S. Congress plays, since they are the actors who move towards impeaching and trying the president. Members of the House of Representatives need to move beyond constraints in order to impeach a president, and in these instances, they have concluded that the president is not correct in some basic and meaningful way, that the president is not upholding his oath of office, and is also undermining the forward movement on race and racial equality. Backlash Presidents: From Transformation to Reactionary Leaders in American History is a deeply researched analysis, with important historical context and details to help flesh out the particular time period under consideration. The examination is further complicated and built out with important understandings of party politics in the United States, and how president fits into their political party, or may be seen as an outsider. Racial dynamics in the United States undergirds the entire theory, and helps us see the tensions within partisan politics, presidential politics, and American democracy. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social [*] The Presidents and Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association awarded Backlash Presidents the 2025 Richard E. Neustadt Best Book Award, given for the best book on executive politics published during the year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day

Drop us a note about the podcast. Peace sounds simple until you ask what it's built on. We start with Acts 9:31 and let Scripture set the standard: the church grows stronger when believers live in fear of the Lord and walk in the encouragement of the Holy Spirit. From there, we get painfully practical, asking whether that same reverence shows up in our churches, our families, our schools, and the choices we make when no one is watching. If you care about Christian discipleship, spiritual growth, and a biblical worldview that actually touches daily life, this conversation will meet you where you are. We also pause on Genesis 2:24–25 to talk about Christian marriage as a covenant of leaving, cleaving, and becoming one flesh. That thread runs straight into the story of Saul's bold witness and Peter's ministry in Acts 9, including the healing of Aeneas and the raising of Tabitha. These aren't just dramatic moments, they're reminders that courage, compassion, and obedience can turn hearts back to God and strengthen a whole community. Psalm 132 and Proverbs add a generational lens, pointing to worship, legacy, and the honor of family. Then we widen the frame to moral accountability in public life, reflecting on a disturbing 1955 UK criminal case as a warning about what happens when evil is minimized and people stay silent. We pair that sober note with a Medal of Honor story of duty and sacrifice, and we close with American Christian heritage voices like Patrick Henry and President Ulysses S. Grant tied to Proverbs 14:34: “Righteousness exalts a nation.” If this encouraged or challenged you, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review so more people can find the show.#Proverbs14#UlyssesSGrant#ChristianNationSupport the showThe American Soul Podcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/1791934/subscribeCountryside Book Serieshttps://www.amazon.com/Countryside-Book-J-T-Cope-IV-ebook/dp/B00MPIXOB2 America's Christian Heritage Podcasthttps://www.buzzsprout.com/2622483

Andrew Johnson is a leadership advisor and author of Iron Sharpens Iron, where he explores how the operating systems of elite sport can help businesses build stronger accountability, execution, and performance cultures. Drawing from lessons in professional sport, particularly the NFL, Andrew translates concepts like scoreboard clarity, roster discipline, standards under pressure, and “tape review” into practical frameworks leaders can apply inside modern organisations. His work focuses on helping companies move from average to elite by creating cultures where accountability is visible, standards are consistent, and performance improves because there is nowhere to hide. As a podcast guest, Andrew brings a practical and thought-provoking perspective on leadership, competition, talent, and sustained high performance.  

The Epistle: Romans 7:21-8:6 The Gospel: St. Matthew 11:25-30

Robert Cwiklik, guest author, recounts how, in July 1866, New Orleans became the site of a brutal police-led riot against a constitutional convention aimed at securing Black voting rights. Following Lincoln's death, President Andrew Johnson's lenient Reconstruction policy empowered former Confederates, who enacted "Black Codes" to essentially re-enslave African-Americans through vagrancy laws and labor restrictions. When unionists attempted to rewrite Louisiana's constitution to include Black suffrage, local police and white citizens opened fire on the convention-goers. The massacre resulted in at least 44 deaths, mostly Black veterans and delegates, while white casualties were largely attributed to friendly fire. This violence horrified the North, leading to a massive Republican victory in the 1866 midterm elections and providing a mandate for Radical Reconstruction. The incident highlighted the deep-seated resistance of white Southerners to the concept of racial equality and the failure of Johnson's initial approach to national healing. Sheridan's Secret Mission: How the South Won the War After the Civil War (2)

Daniel Rood, author of In the Shadow of the Great House, recounts how, during the Civil War, General Shermantargeted "great houses" like that of Confederate politician Howell Cobb for destruction to cripple the planter class. Field Order 15 initially provided a path for land reform by settling refugees on abandoned plantations, but the policy was reversed by Andrew Johnson after Lincoln's assassination. Planters regained their property, and formerly enslaved families were evicted and forced into exploitative labor contracts, representing a tragic "lost opportunity" for reconstruction. (14)1854 PERU

SCHEDULE JBS, 7-3-2026.1880 LIMERICKFitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse Than Hell, discusses the capture of three black sailors from the Isaac Smithin 1863, which forced the Confederacy to decide if black men in uniform were POWs or runaway slaves. While white sailors were quickly exchanged, the Confederacy refused to trade black captives, viewing them as participants in a servile insurrection. A smuggled letter from the sailors eventually reached Washington, contributing to the halt of systematic prisoner exchanges by the spring of 1863. This shift compelled both sides to become long-term custodians of captives. (1)Fitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse Than Hell, explains that prisoner exchanges were based on 18th-century European customs that sought to prevent the execution or enslavement of captured enemies. Armies used a calculus to trade soldiers, such as equating one colonel to twenty privates to ensure equity. When capture numbers were uneven, the parole system allowed surplus soldiers to return home on the condition they not fight until formally exchanged. This formalized process aimed to keep warfare humane and efficient for both sides until political tensions arose. (2)Fitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse Than Hell, details how Confederate official John Winder, a West Pointerfrom Maryland, supervised the detention of Union prisoners in Richmond. He oversaw the conversion of industrial structures, like the Libby Prison tobacco warehouse, into overcrowded holding pens for Union officers. These facilities lacked basic amenities, including latrines and protection from the elements, leading to rapid physical deterioration for thousands. Winder, often viewed as a military martinet, prioritized bureaucracy over prisoner welfare as the captive population ballooned beyond Richmond's capacity. (3)Fitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse Than Hell, describes how Union administrator William Hoffman managed Northern prisons with a focus on extreme cost-savings, even diverting ration funds into camp improvements. Meanwhile, the Lieber Code (General Order 100) was drafted to codify humane treatment for POWs and civilians. However, it included a "military necessity" loophole that allowed commanders to bypass these protections in dire situations. The Confederacy denounced this code as illegal window dressing for the Union's conduct during the ongoing conflict. (4)Fitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse Than Hell, explains that following the Battle of Gettysburg, the breakdown of exchanges necessitated large-scale prisoner concentration. Andersonville was established in remote Georgia to alleviate the burden on Richmond's food supply and reduce guard requirements. Prisoners like N. Burch endured grueling train transports without hygiene or food to reach the stockade. Conversely, the Union created Point Lookout in Maryland as a retaliatory concentration camp, forcing thousands of Confederates to live in inadequate tents on a sand spit. (5)Fitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse Than Hell, recounts how, following the Battle of the Crater, black Unionsoldiers like Isaac Gaskins faced extreme humiliation and the threat of enslavement. The Confederacy often refused to recognize black men in uniform as soldiers, instead treating them as rebellious property to be returned to owners or used for forced labor. By late 1864, the Confederate military became the South's largest enslaver. Gaskins survived his ordeal in Danville by being used as a laborer, a fate shared by many black captives. (6)Fitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse Than Hell, describes how Andersonville became a death camp where 35,000 men were crammed into a space with no shelter and polluted water. Commander Henry Wirz oversaw a site where over 100 men died daily from starvation and disease. After the war, Wirz was prosecuted for war crimes, arguing unsuccessfully that he was only following orders from superiors like Winder. His execution set an international precedent for military accountability and helped shape the future Geneva Conventions. (7)Fitzhugh Brundage, author of A Fate Worse Than Hell, reflects on how the remains of prisoners became symbols of uneasy national memory, with many sites like Camp Douglas in Chicago resulting in unmarked mass graves. At Andersonville, nearly 14,000 Union soldiers perished, a death toll exceeding the Union losses at Gettysburg. Thanks to a secret list kept by a prisoner, Clara Barton and others were able to identify 13,000 of the dead. Today, the site is a national cemetery marked by rows of numbered stones, serving as a poignant pilgrimage site. (8)Daniel Rood, author of In the Shadow of the Great House, recounts how, in 1933, agronomist Wofford Camp led the Associated Farmers of California to violently suppress cotton worker strikes in the Central Valley. This conflict represented the "cutting edge" of plantation capitalism, which Rood traces back to 17th-century Barbados. Figures like John Yeamans established the model of using manufacturing technology and enslaved labor to produce high-profit export crops like sugar. This system viewed labor as disposable and sought modern, lower-cost production for global markets. (9)Daniel Rood, author of In the Shadow of the Great House, argues that the modern link between race and slavery was a conscious creation by planters to secure a lifelong, reproductive workforce. Philosopher John Locke codified this in Carolina's founding documents, granting freemen absolute authority over black slaves regardless of their religion. This prevented enslaved people from using Christian conversion as a path to freedom. This "fictional" racial category was reinforced by early slave codes in Virginia to ensure the perpetual growth of plantation profits. (10)Daniel Rood, author of In the Shadow of the Great House, explains that American founders like Thomas Jefferson lived in a state of "incoherence," advocating for liberty while fearing a genocide of white people if slaves were freed. Early Virginia history shows a decline in freedom, as African-born men like Anthony Johnson initially owned land before legal opportunities were narrowed. Nathaniel Bacon's 1676 rebellion further entrenched racial hierarchy by demanding the expulsion of Native Americans to secure more land for an unending supply of enslaved labor. (11)Daniel Rood, author of In the Shadow of the Great House, describes how, during the Siege of Yorktown, Cornwallisprioritized British sugar profits in Jamaica over the lives of thousands of black refugees, pushing them out to starve or face recapture. In contrast, the American "patriots" used human property as a military recruitment tool, offering poor white soldiers land and "one healthy sound negro" for their service. This strategy hardened the link between slavery and freedom for white Americans, ensuring the plantation system's survival long after the Revolution concluded. (12)Daniel Rood, author of In the Shadow of the Great House, explains that enslaved people like Suki provided the essential "intellectual labor" and agricultural expertise required for successful plantations. Despite this, the domestic slave trade treated two million people as speculative property between 1820 and 1860. Charles Dickens famously witnessed the heartbreak of families being separated on trains for the sake of "short-term profits." This human trafficking machine was fueled by planters chasing high-margin crops like cotton while maintaining a delusion of lifelong stability. (13)Daniel Rood, author of In the Shadow of the Great House, recounts how, during the Civil War, General Shermantargeted "great houses" like that of Confederate politician Howell Cobb for destruction to cripple the planter class. Field Order 15 initially provided a path for land reform by settling refugees on abandoned plantations, but the policy was reversed by Andrew Johnson after Lincoln's assassination. Planters regained their property, and formerly enslaved families were evicted and forced into exploitative labor contracts, representing a tragic "lost opportunity" for reconstruction. (14)Daniel Rood, author of In the Shadow of the Great House, traces how the plantation system evolved globally, with Cubabecoming a sugar powerhouse using industrial steam technology after the Haitian Revolution. In modern Brazil, multinational corporations like BP and Cargill run "mammoth sugar farms" using unfree contract labor for ethanol production. Similarly, California's agricultural boom relied on the Bracero program and guest workers who lacked political rights. This modern planter class continues to prioritize investor profits over the stability and rights of their laborers. (15)Daniel Rood, author of In the Shadow of the Great House, reveals that the University of Georgia's Baldwin Hall was built over an unacknowledged burial ground for enslaved people. Although the university initially claimed the remains were European, DNA analysis and archival research proved they were of African descent. This attempt to "re-bury the history" illustrates the ongoing need to escape the shadow of the great house by embracing the truth of the past. Roodargues for an anti-plantation counterculture that values human relationships over "breakneck exploitation." (16)All 16 formatted, John — Fitzhugh Brundage throughout (added to the standing correction log alongside the earlier "Fitz" flag), book titles italicized, single paragraphs, numbered at the tail.

Michael Vorenberg traces how Andrew Johnson, initially seen as a radical ally, shifted toward a policy of white supremacy and hasty peace. He vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, leading moderate Republicans to unite with radicals. This intense conflict centered on whether the war had legally ended. (14)1865

SCHEDULE OF JBS 7-3-2026. 1913 WILSON OPENIG DAYColonel Jeff McCausland discusses John Buford's arrival at Gettysburg, identifying key terrain like Cemetery Hill. Buford sent urgent messages to John Reynolds, urging him to bring infantry forward quickly. Reynolds trusted Buford's assessment, leading Union forces to occupy positions just as the Confederate attack began. (1)Colonel Jeff McCausland recounts how General Reynolds was killed by a Confederate marksman while leading his men forward into the woods. Later that day, Robert E. Lee issued a famous discretionary order to Richard Ewell to take Cemetery Hill "if practicable." Ewell, newly promoted and lacking initiative, hesitated and ultimately declined to attack. (2)Colonel Jeff McCausland explains how rifled muskets increased accuracy while tactics remained outdated, causing high casualties. On the second day, Strong Vincent took the initiative to occupy Little Round Top without orders. Joshua Chamberlain's 20th Maine successfully held the Union's far left flank with a desperate bayonet charge. (3)Colonel Jeff McCausland describes how, on the third day, Lee ordered a frontal assault on the Union center despite Longstreet's protests. Pickett's Charge resulted in devastating casualties, with nearly 60-65% of the force lost to artillery and rifle fire. Longstreet was visibly overwhelmed by the certainty of the attack's failure. (4)Mary Kissel discusses a catastrophic earthquake in Venezuela, highlighting the human tragedy exacerbated by corrupt building practices. While US first responders are assisting, Kissel critiques the State Department for preventing opposition leader María Corina Machado from returning. She argues diplomacy should promote strategic interests and free societies. (5)Mary Kissel evaluates US policy toward China, noting Beijing's aggression toward Taiwan and the Philippines. She praises the Trump administration's support for Ukraine, particularly in surveillance and military assistance, which enabled deep strikes into Russian territory. She urges the White House to champion the moral high ground. (6)Anatol Lieven discusses Vladimir Putin's public admission that Ukrainian drone strikes are causing significant difficulties and a loss of refining capacity. While Putin remains in charge, he faces pressure from hawks and doves regarding escalation. Despite successful drone campaigns, the battlefield in the Donbass remains stagnant. (7)Lance Gatling reports that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi unveiled a $2.3 trillion investment roadmap focused on 17 key technologies, including AI and chip manufacturing. The plan aims for economic independence and supply line diversity. Takaichi enjoys high public support, particularly from conservatives and young people tired of Chineseintimidation. (8)Michael Vorenberg challenges the idea that the Civil War ended at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. While Lee's surrender was a crucial step involving the stacking of arms, Lincoln did not publicly declare the war over. Lincolnremained focused on the ongoing process of reconstruction. (9)Michael Vorenberg recounts how, following Lincoln's assassination, William T. Sherman met Joseph Johnston at Bennett Place to negotiate a surrender. Sherman offered terms more generous than Grant's, including allowing Southerners to keep weapons in armories to prevent guerrilla warfare. However, the Washington cabinet rejected these terms as too lenient. (10)Michael Vorenberg explains that after official surrenders, Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith fled to Mexicorather than surrender his Trans-Mississippi forces. Small skirmishes continued at Palmetto Ranch, which is often cited as the last battle of the war. Meanwhile, Grant sent Sheridan to the Rio Grande to deter French intervention. (11)Michael Vorenberg discusses how the government used military tribunals to try Lincoln's conspirators and Andersonville commandant Henry Wirz, arguing a state of war still existed. Secretary of War Stanton hoped to implicate Jefferson Davis in these crimes to justify execution, but Wirz refused to provide such testimony before hanging. (12)Michael Vorenberg examines Richard Henry Dana's "grasp of war" philosophy, arguing the Union should hold the Confederacy until civil rights were secured. This contrasted with Lincoln's "let 'em up easy" approach. Congress used these war powers to extend the Freedman's Bureau and pass reconstruction legislation. (13)Michael Vorenberg traces how Andrew Johnson, initially seen as a radical ally, shifted toward a policy of white supremacy and hasty peace. He vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, leading moderate Republicans to unite with radicals. This intense conflict centered on whether the war had legally ended. (14)Michael Vorenberg explains that on August 20, 1866, Johnson proclaimed the insurrection over to strip Congress of its war powers. Despite ongoing massacres in Memphis and New Orleans, Johnson tried to suppress reports of violence to maintain a "peace" narrative. The Supreme Court later affirmed this technical end date. (15)Michael Vorenberg describes how Ulysses S. Grant found himself caught between the warring factions of the Johnsonadministration. After witnessing Johnson's disastrous "swing around the circle" tour, Grant realized the President was unfit for loyalty. Grant eventually sided with Secretary of War Stanton, facilitating his 1868 presidential run. (16)All 16 folded into single paragraphs, John. One correction for the log: segment 5 had "Maria Karina Machado" — fixed to María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader. Flag anything else.

content typeSolo primary goalEducationalWebpage: podpage.com/the-3-13-men-money-and-marriage SummaryIn this episode, Andrew Johnson explores the fundamentals of dividend investing, emphasizing its importance for long-term financial freedom and legacy building. He discusses how consistent investing in profitable companies can generate passive income and secure your family's future. keywords:Dividend Investing, Financial Freedom, Legacy Building, Passive Income, Wealth ManagementKey topicsDividend investing fundamentalsThe importance of the first hundred thousand dollarsDividend aristocrats and growth companiesReinvesting dividends and compound growthCrossover point and financial independence Takeaways:Dividend investing involves buying shares in profitable companies and earning quarterly dividends.Reaching the first hundred thousand dollars is the hardest part; thereafter, growth accelerates.Dividend aristocrats increase dividends annually, often outpacing inflation.Reinvesting dividends (DRIP) compounds growth and accelerates wealth accumulation.The crossover point is when dividend income surpasses your monthly contributions, enabling passive incomeTitlesThe Power of Dividend Investing for Long-Term WealthHow Men Can Secure Their Family's Future with Dividends Sound bites"Imagine a world where expenses are covered""Money trades time for you, not you for money""When dividend income surpasses your contributions, it's life-changing"Chapters00:00 Introduction to Dividend Investing02:35 The Mindset Shift for Financial Freedom05:38 Understanding Dividend Investing08:03 The Power of Dividend Aristocrats10:55 Real-Life Examples of Dividend Growth13:56 The Legacy of Dividend Investing16:26 Reinvesting Dividends vs. Taking Income19:03 Building Wealth Through Dividend Growth

In this summer hiatus episode of the Ephesiology Podcast, Michael and Andrew welcome—or perhaps ambush—Dave Brunelle into a conversation about spiritual formation, discipleship, and the life of Christ being formed in us. With humor, stories, and a few “under the bus” moments, the episode introduces Dave's journey from public safety to church planting, mentoring, global ministry, and his work with Telos|GO and Ephesiology Master Classes. The conversation previews an upcoming fall series on spiritual formation, exploring why Christian maturity cannot be reduced to time, knowledge, or behavior modification. Instead, formation is the Spirit's ongoing work of shaping believers into Christlikeness so that Jesus lives his life through his people. Keywords: Spiritual formation, discipleship, Christlikeness, Christoformity, Ephesiology, Telos|GO, Ephesiology Master Classes, Dave Brunelle, Michael Cooper, Andrew Johnson, church planting, missiology, movement leadership, Holy Spirit, union with Christ, Christian maturity, spiritual disciplines, Christian community, theological education, discipleship environments, formation in Christ Key Takeaways Spiritual formation is the ongoing journey of being shaped into Christ's image. Dave describes formation as believers yielding to and cooperating with the Holy Spirit so that Christ is increasingly formed in them. Discipleship and spiritual formation are deeply connected. The episode suggests that discipleship can be understood as an activity and environment where formation takes place. Christian maturity is not simply “time in grade.” Knowing Bible verses, giving the right answers, or having many years of church experience does not automatically make someone a mature disciple. Formation is more than behavior modification. Dave contrasts a merely ethical or mechanical approach to discipleship with the supernatural, spiritual, and mystical work of Christ living in his followers. The goal is Christlikeness. Whether we call it discipleship or spiritual formation, the central aim is that believers grow to look like Jesus and participate in his ongoing work in the world. Community matters. Formation happens through spiritual habits, disciplines, and communities that become nurseries and crucibles for the life of Christ. This episode previews the fall series. Ephesiology will return with a deeper conversation on spiritual formation approached in an “ephesiological” way—attending to Scripture, mission, community, and the movement of God. Connect With Us Follow Ephesiology: Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Follow Andrew Johnson @thediscfan.bsky.social If this episode encouraged you, please leave a review and share it with others exploring missional living in post-Christian contexts. Thanks for doing theology in community with us today! If you have a question or topic that you'd like to hear addressed on the Ephesiology Podcast, just send it to Andrew at thediscfan@gmail.com. Donate Find the podcast on your favorite podcast app Just search for “Ephesiology” Our Podcasters Michael CooperProfessor | Missiologist | AuthorMichael is the missiologist in residence with East West where he focuses on equipping and empowering church leaders in evangelism, discipleship, leadership, and catalyzing church planting movements in the most difficult to reach places on the planet. He is the author of Ephesiology: The Study of the Ephesian Movement as well as many other books and academic articles. He has lectured at universities around the world and serves as affiliate faculty at Kairos University where he facilitates the degree programs in partnership with Ephesiology Master Classes.Andrew JohnsonMinistry Lead, West Village ChurchAndrew is a proud husband, father and pastor who desires all to know the one true King. He is honored to serve at West Village Church in Victoria, BC. Previously, he's ministered in Houston, Chicago, Indy, Flagstaff and Tempe in a variety of church contexts. Andrew has a BA in Christian Ministry from Trinity International University and an MA from Phoenix Seminary. He is currently a Doctor of Ministry student at Kairos University and is the co-host of the Ephesiology Podcast. When not at work, he's an avid disc golfing, vinyl playing, Spider-Man following/collecting fellow. Go Pacers. Pick up Dr. Cooper’s latest book Religions, politics, and education shaped the cultural world of Asia Minor where a new faith emerged that would change history. Gods, Emperors, Philosophers, and a New Movement uncovers how the earliest Christians navigated—and often disrupted and adapted—the dominant forces of their age. Drawing on decades of research, fieldwork, and teaching, Michael T. Cooper takes readers beneath the surface of Ephesos, Smyrna, Pergamon, and other cities to reveal how temples, inscriptions, and civic spaces illuminate the missionary impulse of the first Christians. Far from being silent, the archaeological record testifies to their resilience, creativity, and bold proclamation of the gospel in a world saturated with competing loyalties. This is more than history. By examining how the early church encountered powerful religious traditions, political ideologies, and systems of education, today's missionaries and church leaders gain fresh vision for gospel engagement in their own pluralistic and contested contexts. The dynamics that shaped mission in the first centuries—identity, power, worldview, and cultural disruption—remain central to how the good news advances today. This book is an invitation to rediscover the mission of God in the archaeological record and to discern its enduring relevance for faithful witness in the twenty-first century. Buy on Amazon Do you enjoy the Ephesiology Podcast? Partner with the Pod The Ephesiology Podcast comes to you from a desire to engage in community conversations about the intersection of theology and culture. We do not believe such dialogue should come with a cost so the podcast will always be free. However, if you've benefited from the Ephesiology Podcast, would you consider a nominal $5 per month donation? All proceeds from the podcast go toward helping bring needed theological education to the majority world through our Ephesiology Master Class initiative to end a theological famine. We'd be honored to partner with you to continue providing solid biblical, theological, and missiological content for listeners around the world. Donate Empowering Future Church Leaders Imagine a world where passionate, equipped Christian leaders spread God's Word in areas with the greatest need—leaders grounded in both deep theology and practical ministry skills, trained to make a lasting impact in their communities. Through your support, this vision can become a reality for students from countries like Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Nepal, and India who are eager to teach and multiply disciple-makers in their own regions. Learn More Ephesiology: A Study of the Ephesian Movement If you want to understand principles for the growth of Christianity in the first century, the place to begin is the city of Ephesus. In this winsome study, Ephesiology offers readers a comprehensive view of the empowering work of the Holy Spirit in the most significant city of the New Testament, and compels us to ask the question: how can we effectively connect Christ to our culture? “Masterfully handling the book of Ephesians and using its content as a definitive guide, Michael Cooper lays a theologically strong foundation that is both corrective and directive to disciple making movements. The principles he gleans from the book of Ephesians and related texts, help to ensure the on-going multiplication and maturation of a movement. Because these are supra-cultural principles, they are applicable anywhere in the world.” Marvin J. Newell, Staff Missiologist, Missio Nexus, Author of Crossing Cultures in Scripture Buy This Now! Educating to Shift the Tracks of History To shift the tracks of history requires leaders who are equipped to critically assess and engage the contours of contemporary culture. As a new initiative in collaboration with the Movement Leaders Collective, Kairos University, and Ephesiology, we deliver just-in-time theological education focused on issues important to you, mxAcademy is designed as the theological and missiological foundation to unlock your potential as a movement leader and catalytic thinker. mxAcademy is a dynamic and innovative educational experience rooted in mDNA.We dream of a church fully equipped, fully mature, fully mobilized, and fully alive. A church that lives and breathes the Good News of Jesus! Learn More Join a Community Conversation at Ephesiology Master Classes Areopagus Symposium Taking its inspiration from the historical and philosophical legacy of Athens, Greece, the Areopagus Symposium focuses on intellectual and philosophical topics related to Christology, missiology, and ecclesiology. We invite scholars, theologians, and practitioners from diverse backgrounds to engage in a profound exploration of the theological landscape at the intersection of these vital disciplines. Sign up for an Ephesiology Master Classes account and gain free access to the Areopagus Symposium. Check it out! The Ephesiology Podcast and Ephesiology Master Classes are ministries of TELOS.GO, a registered 501c3 non-profit agency committed to imaginatively missional ways of engageing culture, church planting, and theological education. Your donation to the podcast is tax deductible.

June 30, 2026Trump signed an executive order, on his first day in office, declaring that there was no birthright citizenship, The ACLU and others sued the administration, The Fourteenth Amendment established birthright citizenship, After the Civil War former Confederates denied Black Southerners basic rights, The Republican Congress passed a civil rights bill in 1866 but President Andrew Johnson vetoed it, When Congress wrote the 14th Amendment, it acknowledged that the Constitution had already established citizenship for all persons born or naturalized in the US, The 14th Amendment was challenged in the late 19th century, but the Supreme Court upheld it in 1898, After that, It seemed the law was settled, After Trump issued his executive order, judges all sided against him, and today the current court upheld birthright citizenship, But many have said that the Supreme Court should never have even taken the case, And four of the nine current Supreme Court justices appear to be willing to rewrite the Constitution, MAGA is pressing the administration to step up immigration enforcement in response. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ-Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribeYou can also find me:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

Visit our webpage for more information about the podcastwww.podpage.com/the-3-13-men-money-and-marriageCash App $a114johnsonSummaryIn this episode, Andrew Johnson explores the realities of modern dating, focusing on how financial expectations and societal myths influence relationship prospects. He discusses the impact of income requirements, hypergamy, and market dynamics on dating choices and offers insights for better screening and realistic expectations.Keywords: dating, financial expectations, hypergamy, income requirements, relationship advice, modern dating market, social dynamics, financial security, investment, lifestyle insuranceKey topicsThe impact of income requirements on dating prospectsHypergamy and societal expectationsMarket dynamics: supply and demand in datingThe myth vs. reality of financial security in relationshipsScreening and realistic expectations in datingThe Truth About Income Requirements in Modern DatingWhy Six-Figure Salaries Are Skewing the Dating Market"Applying the principle of safety in dating""20 women chasing one high-income man""Hypergamy is the desire to marry your equal"Chapters00:00 Pricing Yourself Out of Love06:13 The Intersection of Financial Reality and Expectations11:15 Transactional Relationships and Return on Investment17:22 The Importance of Financial Literacy in Dating

Marc Vandermeer ranks the greatest regular season wins in Texans history using a tier system, from the 2002 Dallas opener to the 2025 Sunday Night win at Arrowhead. Plus, Andrew Johnson from TORO's team previews every 2026 home game themes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, produced in partnership with Legal Home Loans, we explore the funding gap facing small Australian law firms and how a new commercial lending product is being built to address it. Host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with Ian Marshall, representing TrailBlazer Finance, and Andrew Johnson, Legal Home Loans director, about the launch of LawBlazer, a new commercial funding solution tailored for small law firms. The conversation covers the financial realities of running a small firm, where cash flow pressure actually comes from, the ATO debt trap and why it has become more expensive since July 2025, the funding options available to principals across personal and practice balance sheets, and practical ways to fund growth. The episode also looks at how the TrailBlazer Finance and Legal Home Loans partnership works together to support lawyers across both their business and personal lending needs. To learn more about LawBlazer and its partnership with Legal Home Loans, click here. If you like this episode, show your support by rating us or leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (The Lawyers Weekly Show) and by following Lawyers Weekly on social media: Facebook, X and LinkedIn. If you have any questions about what you heard today, any topics of interest you have in mind, or if you'd like to lend your voice to the show, email editor@lawyersweekly.com.au

May 24, 2026 - The Day of Pentecost: Whitsunday - Fr. Andrew Johnson by All Souls' Episcopal Church

In this episode of the Ephesiology Podcast, Michael T. Cooper and Andrew Johnson introduce Dr. Cooper's seminar, “Let the Stones Speak,” part of the Archaeology Meets Missiology series. The conversation explores five archaeological discoveries that preserve early memories of Jesus across Asia Minor, North Africa, Edessa, and the Arabian Peninsula. From inscriptions and graffiti to apocryphal traditions and Christograms, these discoveries reveal how the early church remembered, proclaimed, and worshiped Jesus, not only through written texts, but also through the material record left behind in stone. Along the way, Michael reflects on the difference between what Jesus did and who Jesus is, showing how archaeology can deepen our understanding of early Christology and encourage the church today. Keywords: Archaeology, Missiology, Ephesiology, Let the Stones Speak, Memory of Jesus, Early Church, Christology, Functional Christology, Ontological Christology, Abgar and Jesus, Edessa, Smyrna, Sardis, Pantokratoros Inscription, Christogram, North Africa, Thugga, Jordan, Arabian Peninsula, Crypto Portico, Archaeological Record, Material Culture, Early Christian Witness, Jesus in Archaeology, Gods Emperors Philosophers and a New Movement Key Takeaways Archaeology preserves early memories of Jesus.The episode highlights how inscriptions, graffiti, letters, and symbols offer physical evidence of how Jesus was remembered and proclaimed in the early centuries of the church. The archaeological record complements the biblical text.Michael emphasizes that while Scripture remains central, material culture provides additional historical evidence for what early Christians believed about Jesus. The early church remembered both what Jesus did and who Jesus is.The conversation introduces the distinction between functional Christology—what Jesus did—and ontological Christology—who Jesus is in his essence. Five discoveries point to the wide geographical reach of Jesus memory.The seminar focuses on evidence from places such as Edessa, Smyrna, Sardis, North Africa, and the desert of Jordan. The Abgar-Jesus tradition reflects a broad and enduring memory.Though apocryphal in nature, the Abgar tradition is significant because of its wide geographical spread across places such as Egypt, Armenia, and Turkey. The Sardis Pantokratoros inscription raises important questions.Michael notes that the inscription may contribute to broader evidence suggesting Christian use of the so-called synagogue at Sardis. The Christogram in North Africa shows how Christian symbols could be overlooked or forgotten.Michael recounts seeing a Christogram dismissed as a sundial, showing how visible Christian memory can remain unrecognized in certain contexts. The Arabian Peninsula may yield more discoveries.The Jordan inscription points toward the possibility of future finds that may further illuminate the presence and memory of Jesus in Arabia. Research continues after publication.Andrew notes that Michael's seminar includes discoveries and developments not fully represented in his book, reminding listeners that scholarship is an ongoing process. Archaeology can be faith-building and encouraging.The episode closes with the reminder that seeing the historical and physical impact of Jesus across regions and centuries can strengthen faith and deepen wonder. Connect With Us Follow Ephesiology: Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Follow Andrew Johnson @thediscfan.bsky.social If this episode encouraged you, please leave a review and share it with others exploring missional living in post-Christian contexts. Thanks for doing theology in community with us today! If you have a question or topic that you'd like to hear addressed on the Ephesiology Podcast, just send it to Andrew at thediscfan@gmail.com. Donate Find the podcast on your favorite podcast app Just search for “Ephesiology” Our Podcasters Michael CooperProfessor | Missiologist | AuthorMichael is the missiologist in residence with East West where he focuses on equipping and empowering church leaders in evangelism, discipleship, leadership, and catalyzing church planting movements in the most difficult to reach places on the planet. He is the author of Ephesiology: The Study of the Ephesian Movement as well as many other books and academic articles. He has lectured at universities around the world and serves as affiliate faculty at Kairos University where he facilitates the degree programs in partnership with Ephesiology Master Classes.Andrew JohnsonMinistry Lead, West Village ChurchAndrew is a proud husband, father and pastor who desires all to know the one true King. He is honored to serve at West Village Church in Victoria, BC. Previously, he's ministered in Houston, Chicago, Indy, Flagstaff and Tempe in a variety of church contexts. Andrew has a BA in Christian Ministry from Trinity International University and an MA from Phoenix Seminary. He is currently a Doctor of Ministry student at Kairos University and is the co-host of the Ephesiology Podcast. When not at work, he's an avid disc golfing, vinyl playing, Spider-Man following/collecting fellow. Go Pacers. Pick up Dr. Cooper’s latest book Religions, politics, and education shaped the cultural world of Asia Minor where a new faith emerged that would change history. Gods, Emperors, Philosophers, and a New Movement uncovers how the earliest Christians navigated—and often disrupted and adapted—the dominant forces of their age. Drawing on decades of research, fieldwork, and teaching, Michael T. Cooper takes readers beneath the surface of Ephesos, Smyrna, Pergamon, and other cities to reveal how temples, inscriptions, and civic spaces illuminate the missionary impulse of the first Christians. Far from being silent, the archaeological record testifies to their resilience, creativity, and bold proclamation of the gospel in a world saturated with competing loyalties. This is more than history. By examining how the early church encountered powerful religious traditions, political ideologies, and systems of education, today's missionaries and church leaders gain fresh vision for gospel engagement in their own pluralistic and contested contexts. The dynamics that shaped mission in the first centuries—identity, power, worldview, and cultural disruption—remain central to how the good news advances today. This book is an invitation to rediscover the mission of God in the archaeological record and to discern its enduring relevance for faithful witness in the twenty-first century. Buy on Amazon Do you enjoy the Ephesiology Podcast? Partner with the Pod The Ephesiology Podcast comes to you from a desire to engage in community conversations about the intersection of theology and culture. We do not believe such dialogue should come with a cost so the podcast will always be free. However, if you've benefited from the Ephesiology Podcast, would you consider a nominal $5 per month donation? All proceeds from the podcast go toward helping bring needed theological education to the majority world through our Ephesiology Master Class initiative to end a theological famine. We'd be honored to partner with you to continue providing solid biblical, theological, and missiological content for listeners around the world. Donate Empowering Future Church Leaders Imagine a world where passionate, equipped Christian leaders spread God's Word in areas with the greatest need—leaders grounded in both deep theology and practical ministry skills, trained to make a lasting impact in their communities. Through your support, this vision can become a reality for students from countries like Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Nepal, and India who are eager to teach and multiply disciple-makers in their own regions. Learn More Ephesiology: A Study of the Ephesian Movement If you want to understand principles for the growth of Christianity in the first century, the place to begin is the city of Ephesus. In this winsome study, Ephesiology offers readers a comprehensive view of the empowering work of the Holy Spirit in the most significant city of the New Testament, and compels us to ask the question: how can we effectively connect Christ to our culture? “Masterfully handling the book of Ephesians and using its content as a definitive guide, Michael Cooper lays a theologically strong foundation that is both corrective and directive to disciple making movements. The principles he gleans from the book of Ephesians and related texts, help to ensure the on-going multiplication and maturation of a movement. Because these are supra-cultural principles, they are applicable anywhere in the world.” Marvin J. Newell, Staff Missiologist, Missio Nexus, Author of Crossing Cultures in Scripture Buy This Now! Educating to Shift the Tracks of History To shift the tracks of history requires leaders who are equipped to critically assess and engage the contours of contemporary culture. As a new initiative in collaboration with the Movement Leaders Collective, Kairos University, and Ephesiology, we deliver just-in-time theological education focused on issues important to you, mxAcademy is designed as the theological and missiological foundation to unlock your potential as a movement leader and catalytic thinker. mxAcademy is a dynamic and innovative educational experience rooted in mDNA.We dream of a church fully equipped, fully mature, fully mobilized, and fully alive. A church that lives and breathes the Good News of Jesus! Learn More Join a Community Conversation at Ephesiology Master Classes Areopagus Symposium Taking its inspiration from the historical and philosophical legacy of Athens, Greece, the Areopagus Symposium focuses on intellectual and philosophical topics related to Christology, missiology, and ecclesiology. We invite scholars, theologians, and practitioners from diverse backgrounds to engage in a profound exploration of the theological landscape at the intersection of these vital disciplines. Sign up for an Ephesiology Master Classes account and gain free access to the Areopagus Symposium. Check it out! The Ephesiology Podcast and Ephesiology Master Classes are ministries of TELOS.GO, a registered 501c3 non-profit agency committed to imaginatively missional ways of engageing culture, church planting, and theological education. Your donation to the podcast is tax deductible.

In this episode of the Ephesiology Podcast, Michael T. Cooper and Andrew Johnson introduce Dr. Cooper's seminar, “Let the Stones Speak,” part of the Archaeology Meets Missiology series. The conversation explores five archaeological discoveries that preserve early memories of Jesus across Asia Minor, North Africa, Edessa, and the Arabian Peninsula. From inscriptions and graffiti to apocryphal traditions and Christograms, these discoveries reveal how the early church remembered, proclaimed, and worshiped Jesus, not only through written texts, but also through the material record left behind in stone. Along the way, Michael reflects on the difference between what Jesus did and who Jesus is, showing how archaeology can deepen our understanding of early Christology and encourage the church today. Keywords: Archaeology, Missiology, Ephesiology, Let the Stones Speak, Memory of Jesus, Early Church, Christology, Functional Christology, Ontological Christology, Abgar and Jesus, Edessa, Smyrna, Sardis, Pantokratoros Inscription, Christogram, North Africa, Thugga, Jordan, Arabian Peninsula, Crypto Portico, Archaeological Record, Material Culture, Early Christian Witness, Jesus in Archaeology, Gods Emperors Philosophers and a New Movement Key Takeaways Archaeology preserves early memories of Jesus.The episode highlights how inscriptions, graffiti, letters, and symbols offer physical evidence of how Jesus was remembered and proclaimed in the early centuries of the church. The archaeological record complements the biblical text.Michael emphasizes that while Scripture remains central, material culture provides additional historical evidence for what early Christians believed about Jesus. The early church remembered both what Jesus did and who Jesus is.The conversation introduces the distinction between functional Christology—what Jesus did—and ontological Christology—who Jesus is in his essence. Five discoveries point to the wide geographical reach of Jesus memory.The seminar focuses on evidence from places such as Edessa, Smyrna, Sardis, North Africa, and the desert of Jordan. The Abgar-Jesus tradition reflects a broad and enduring memory.Though apocryphal in nature, the Abgar tradition is significant because of its wide geographical spread across places such as Egypt, Armenia, and Turkey. The Sardis Pantokratoros inscription raises important questions.Michael notes that the inscription may contribute to broader evidence suggesting Christian use of the so-called synagogue at Sardis. The Christogram in North Africa shows how Christian symbols could be overlooked or forgotten.Michael recounts seeing a Christogram dismissed as a sundial, showing how visible Christian memory can remain unrecognized in certain contexts. The Arabian Peninsula may yield more discoveries.The Jordan inscription points toward the possibility of future finds that may further illuminate the presence and memory of Jesus in Arabia. Research continues after publication.Andrew notes that Michael's seminar includes discoveries and developments not fully represented in his book, reminding listeners that scholarship is an ongoing process. Archaeology can be faith-building and encouraging.The episode closes with the reminder that seeing the historical and physical impact of Jesus across regions and centuries can strengthen faith and deepen wonder. Connect With Us Follow Ephesiology: Website | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Follow Andrew Johnson @thediscfan.bsky.social If this episode encouraged you, please leave a review and share it with others exploring missional living in post-Christian contexts. Thanks for doing theology in community with us today! If you have a question or topic that you'd like to hear addressed on the Ephesiology Podcast, just send it to Andrew at thediscfan@gmail.com. Donate Find the podcast on your favorite podcast app Just search for “Ephesiology” Our Podcasters Michael CooperProfessor | Missiologist | AuthorMichael is the missiologist in residence with East West where he focuses on equipping and empowering church leaders in evangelism, discipleship, leadership, and catalyzing church planting movements in the most difficult to reach places on the planet. He is the author of Ephesiology: The Study of the Ephesian Movement as well as many other books and academic articles. He has lectured at universities around the world and serves as affiliate faculty at Kairos University where he facilitates the degree programs in partnership with Ephesiology Master Classes.Andrew JohnsonMinistry Lead, West Village ChurchAndrew is a proud husband, father and pastor who desires all to know the one true King. He is honored to serve at West Village Church in Victoria, BC. Previously, he's ministered in Houston, Chicago, Indy, Flagstaff and Tempe in a variety of church contexts. Andrew has a BA in Christian Ministry from Trinity International University and an MA from Phoenix Seminary. He is currently a Doctor of Ministry student at Kairos University and is the co-host of the Ephesiology Podcast. When not at work, he's an avid disc golfing, vinyl playing, Spider-Man following/collecting fellow. Go Pacers. Pick up Dr. Cooper’s latest book Religions, politics, and education shaped the cultural world of Asia Minor where a new faith emerged that would change history. Gods, Emperors, Philosophers, and a New Movement uncovers how the earliest Christians navigated—and often disrupted and adapted—the dominant forces of their age. Drawing on decades of research, fieldwork, and teaching, Michael T. Cooper takes readers beneath the surface of Ephesos, Smyrna, Pergamon, and other cities to reveal how temples, inscriptions, and civic spaces illuminate the missionary impulse of the first Christians. Far from being silent, the archaeological record testifies to their resilience, creativity, and bold proclamation of the gospel in a world saturated with competing loyalties. This is more than history. By examining how the early church encountered powerful religious traditions, political ideologies, and systems of education, today's missionaries and church leaders gain fresh vision for gospel engagement in their own pluralistic and contested contexts. The dynamics that shaped mission in the first centuries—identity, power, worldview, and cultural disruption—remain central to how the good news advances today. This book is an invitation to rediscover the mission of God in the archaeological record and to discern its enduring relevance for faithful witness in the twenty-first century. Buy on Amazon Do you enjoy the Ephesiology Podcast? Partner with the Pod The Ephesiology Podcast comes to you from a desire to engage in community conversations about the intersection of theology and culture. We do not believe such dialogue should come with a cost so the podcast will always be free. However, if you've benefited from the Ephesiology Podcast, would you consider a nominal $5 per month donation? All proceeds from the podcast go toward helping bring needed theological education to the majority world through our Ephesiology Master Class initiative to end a theological famine. We'd be honored to partner with you to continue providing solid biblical, theological, and missiological content for listeners around the world. Donate Empowering Future Church Leaders Imagine a world where passionate, equipped Christian leaders spread God's Word in areas with the greatest need—leaders grounded in both deep theology and practical ministry skills, trained to make a lasting impact in their communities. Through your support, this vision can become a reality for students from countries like Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Nepal, and India who are eager to teach and multiply disciple-makers in their own regions. Learn More Ephesiology: A Study of the Ephesian Movement If you want to understand principles for the growth of Christianity in the first century, the place to begin is the city of Ephesus. In this winsome study, Ephesiology offers readers a comprehensive view of the empowering work of the Holy Spirit in the most significant city of the New Testament, and compels us to ask the question: how can we effectively connect Christ to our culture? “Masterfully handling the book of Ephesians and using its content as a definitive guide, Michael Cooper lays a theologically strong foundation that is both corrective and directive to disciple making movements. The principles he gleans from the book of Ephesians and related texts, help to ensure the on-going multiplication and maturation of a movement. Because these are supra-cultural principles, they are applicable anywhere in the world.” Marvin J. Newell, Staff Missiologist, Missio Nexus, Author of Crossing Cultures in Scripture Buy This Now! Educating to Shift the Tracks of History To shift the tracks of history requires leaders who are equipped to critically assess and engage the contours of contemporary culture. As a new initiative in collaboration with the Movement Leaders Collective, Kairos University, and Ephesiology, we deliver just-in-time theological education focused on issues important to you, mxAcademy is designed as the theological and missiological foundation to unlock your potential as a movement leader and catalytic thinker. mxAcademy is a dynamic and innovative educational experience rooted in mDNA.We dream of a church fully equipped, fully mature, fully mobilized, and fully alive. A church that lives and breathes the Good News of Jesus! Learn More Join a Community Conversation at Ephesiology Master Classes Areopagus Symposium Taking its inspiration from the historical and philosophical legacy of Athens, Greece, the Areopagus Symposium focuses on intellectual and philosophical topics related to Christology, missiology, and ecclesiology. We invite scholars, theologians, and practitioners from diverse backgrounds to engage in a profound exploration of the theological landscape at the intersection of these vital disciplines. Sign up for an Ephesiology Master Classes account and gain free access to the Areopagus Symposium. Check it out! The Ephesiology Podcast and Ephesiology Master Classes are ministries of TELOS.GO, a registered 501c3 non-profit agency committed to imaginatively missional ways of engageing culture, church planting, and theological education. Your donation to the podcast is tax deductible.

Tune in here to this Tuesdays edition of the Brett Winterble Show! Beth Troutman from Good Morning BT is also here for this engaging episode of Crossing the Streams today segment show. Brett and Beth talk about presidential history and contrasting leadership styles and a humorous debate over which U.S. presidents would make the most interesting interview topics discussed today, including which Founding Fathers—Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison—would be the most insightful to speak with and why their leadership and relationships shaped the early United States. The conversation then shifts into a more critical and comedic breakdown of presidents like James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce, and Warren G. Harding, with sharp commentary on their historical reputations and decisions. Beth also shares what’s coming up on Good Morning BT, including Teresa Payton discussing the Pope’s stance on AI, Scott Huffman from Winthrop University, and a Humane Society segment focused on an upcoming pet rescue event this weekend. Listen here for all of this and more on The Brett Winterble Show! For more from Brett Winterble check out his YouTube channel. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This Day in Legal History: Andrew Johnson Impeachment Trial EndsOn May 26, 1868, the United States Senate ended the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, bringing one of the most dramatic constitutional confrontations in American history to a close. Johnson had been impeached by the House of Representatives earlier that year after clashing repeatedly with Congress over Reconstruction. At the center of the dispute was the future of the defeated South and the legal status of formerly enslaved people after the Civil War. Johnson favored a more lenient approach toward former Confederate states, while the Republican-controlled Congress sought stronger protections for freedmen and stricter conditions for reentry. The immediate trigger for impeachment was Johnson's attempt to remove Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, which Congress argued violated the Tenure of Office Act. The Senate had already voted on one article of impeachment on May 16, and Johnson survived by a single vote. Ten days later, on May 26, the Senate voted on two more articles, with the result again falling one vote short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction. The final vote of 35 to 19 meant Johnson would remain in office.After that result, the Senate adjourned as a court of impeachment and the trial came to an end. The acquittal did not make Johnson politically strong, but it preserved the principle that removing a president required more than intense political disagreement. The trial also tested the separation of powers during a period when Congress and the presidency were fighting over who would control Reconstruction. In later years, the Tenure of Office Act was repealed, and its constitutionality remained deeply suspect. Johnson's impeachment became a lasting example of how legal rules, political conflict, and constitutional design can collide in moments of national crisis.The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has advanced a major five-year transportation funding bill that would send about $580 billion toward roads, bridges, transit, rail projects, and highway safety programs. The measure, called the BUILD America 250 Act, passed the committee by a 62-2 vote after a lengthy markup and now heads to the full House. The bill is meant to replace the current surface transportation law, which was part of the 2021 infrastructure package and is set to expire at the end of September. Supporters from both parties framed the proposal as a way to keep infrastructure funding moving while giving states flexibility and speeding up project delivery.One of the most closely watched additions is a rail safety package inspired by the 2023 Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. That section would require at least two crew members on many trains, add inspection requirements, regulate defect detectors, and place limits on certain hazardous-material trains. Rail labor groups and the White House have backed stronger rules, while the major railroads argue the proposal is driven more by politics and labor demands than by the causes of the East Palestine crash.The bill would also create a first federal regulatory structure for autonomous commercial vehicles, including automated trucks, buses, and other larger vehicles. Industry supporters say that framework would help the United States compete globally in autonomous transportation, while transit labor leaders say the bill includes important human-oversight protections to keep workers involved and improve safety. Another contested provision would impose a new annual federal registration fee on electric vehicle owners, starting at $130 and later rising to $150, to help support the Highway Trust Fund.Backers say EV drivers should contribute to road funding because they do not pay federal gas taxes. Electric vehicle advocates, however, call the fee punitive and argue it would discourage EV adoption without meaningfully solving the trust fund's long-term funding gap.What's In The House Surface Transportation Funding Bill? - Law360The Justice Department has asked a federal court to lift an injunction blocking work on President Donald Trump's ballroom project, arguing that a recent shooting outside the White House shows why stronger security is needed. In a short filing Sunday, DOJ said the incident highlights the need for high-level security upgrades at the White House, including the ballroom, and again sought dismissal of the lawsuit challenging the project. The case was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has opposed the project and previously refused to withdraw its suit after an alleged foiled attack connected to the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in April. DOJ had already cited that earlier incident in asking the court to end the case. According to the Secret Service, the person who fired at a White House checkpoint on Saturday was shot by officers and later died at a hospital. The filing ties the shooting to the government's broader argument that the project is important for national security.US Justice Department seeks to lift injunction on ballroom project after shooting | ReutersMy column for Bloomberg this week argues that Tennessee's recent decision in SAP America, Inc. v. Gerregano shows how poorly traditional state tax categories fit modern software. The court treated SAP's software licenses as nontaxable intangible property, while allowing Tennessee to tax cloud hosting and cloud-based services delivered electronically into the state. That split made sense because SAP's products were cleanly separated into licenses, hosting, and cloud services. But the column argues that most modern software is not so tidy. Even products that seem local often rely on remote tools for logins, updates, syncing, storage, analytics, customer support, or payment processing. As AI becomes built into ordinary software, the line between software and cloud-based service will become even harder to draw.The column focuses on the “true-object” test, which asks what the customer is really buying when a transaction has multiple elements. That test works when the taxable and nontaxable pieces are visible and separately priced, but it becomes much harder to apply when remote processing is hidden inside a product the customer experiences simply as software. The piece argues that states should adopt a software-specific safe harbor rather than treating every remote feature as taxable cloud access. Under that approach, software would be presumed to remain software when remote functions are limited to things like authentication, updates, syncing, security, or modest product enhancements. A state could rebut that presumption if the customer is really buying hosted processing, managed infrastructure, AI model access, inference, or other platform-level functionality. The point is not to abandon the true-object test, but to give it a clearer threshold for hybrid software. Without that guardrail, AI could give states an easy but flawed path to reclassify almost any software product with a remote model feature as taxable cloud access. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.minimumcomp.com/subscribe

It's Monday, May 18th, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Adam McManus Daughter of imprisoned Chinese pastor urges his release Before he left for the Chinese-American summit in Beijing, President Donald Trump said that he would advocate for the release of Pastor Ezra Jin of the underground Zion Church who was arrested in October 2025 during a massive Communist crackdown against the body of Christ. In a recent interview on Fox News Channel, Grace Drexel, his daughter, who emigrated to America several years ago, spoke about her father's church. DREXEL: “My father's church was one of the largest independent churches in China, and for that reason they came after my father. The charge against them was the illegal use of information networks, because he was hosting his services, both online and offline, having smaller groups meet together.” She described Pastor Jin's character. DREXEL: “My father is a pastor in China, and, like Christians everywhere, he believed that the church should only have one God and serve one God. He led his church in order to be faithful to Scripture and faithful to his beliefs. “Ultimately, I know my father as just a very gentle and kind man. He is not very confrontational.  This kind and gentle man is now in prison. They handcuffed him and shaved his hair, and is not getting his medication that he needs -- all because he was just leading a church.” Grace was counting on U.S. President Trump to negotiate her father's release from his unjust imprisonment with Chinese President Xi Jinping. DREXEL: “We hope that, as the two leaders are meeting together, that they will both have a softening of the hearts and will release my father and allow him to come to the U.S.” According to President Trump, President Jinping was “going to strongly consider the pastor,” reports The Hill.com. Grace Drexel, Pastor Jin's daughter, advocated for the release of hundreds of other pastors who have also been unfairly imprisoned for their faith in Jesus Christ. DREXEL: “We see that this is not an isolated case. There are so many pastors and church leaders and churches being persecuted in China actively today. In fact, we know that there are hundreds of pastors that are currently in prison, or are in detention, or have recently, very recently, been released. This is a very critical period in China, and it's very disheartening and very scary for many Christians in China.” Send a polite, 2-sentence letter urging Pastor Ezra Jin's release to Ambassador Xie Feng, Chinese Embassy, 3505 International Place, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008. Church of Scotland sees surge of converts amid “deep spiritual hunger” The Church of Scotland in the United Kingdom has seen a surge of converts since the COVID-19 pandemic amid what one clergyman called "a deep spiritual hunger,” reports The Christian Post. In 2025, 820 people in the denomination affirmed faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ, which is nearly double the 428 people who did so in 2021, according to official church figures. In a May 8th report, church leaders wrote, "We are seeing evidence of increased Bible engagement, renewed interest in spiritual questions, growing church attendance, and more young people and young adults coming to faith with confidence." Rev. David Cameron noted that 3,292 Scotts have professed faith in Christ between 2021 and 2025. He said, "I believe this growth reflects the fact that, even in uncertain times, there remains a deep spiritual hunger within our parishes." The new conversions come amid a wider decline in membership in the Church of Scotland, whose approximately 229,000 members recorded at the end of 2025 indicated a fall of 5% from 2024, primarily because of death. The Church of Scotland, which was established in the 16th century as a Reformed, Presbyterian denomination, differs from the Church of England in that it does not recognize the British monarch as its political head. Sadly, in 2016 the Scottish church rejetced clear Biblical teaching and allowed its clergy to enter into faux homosexual marriages and civil partnerships. Then, in May 2022, the Church of Scotland General Assembly voted in favor of permitting the church's clergy to conduct homosexual faux marriages, reported the BBC. Romans 1:26-27 says, “God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.” Supreme Court allows Abortion Kill Pill to continue to be sent by mail Here in the United States, on May 14th, the Supreme Court ruled to allow the Abortion Kill Pill to continue to be sent through the mail. It trumped the May 1st ruling by a federal appeals court in Louisiana which had barred the mailing of mifepristone, one of two drugs used in medication abortions, which is the preferred murder method that 63% of mothers choose who wish to abort their children. To their credit, Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito both dissented. Alito contended that “[w]hat is at stake is the perpetration of a scheme to undermine our decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization,” the court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Gov. DeSantis vs. House Minority Leader Jeffries on redistricting Ever since the Virginia Supreme Court rejected the unconstitutional redistricting in Virginia where Republicans would only be left with one of 11 Congressional seats, Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has been discouraging Florida Republican politicians from doing their own redistricting, reports The Hill.com. Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis got a kick out Congressman Jeffries' rhetoric. DeSANTIS: “I heard this guy, Jeffries, popping off in Washington, about Florida. He wants to be Speaker of the House, and he's more liberal than [Nancy] Pelosi from New York City. We're going to go after Florida. Please be my guest. I will pay for you to come down to Florida and campaign. I'll put you up in the Florida governor's mansion. We'll take you fishing. “There's nothing that could be better for Republicans in Florida than to see Hakeem Jeffries everywhere around this state. Voters will not like what they see. They will not want that type of ideology. And so, the door is open. The invitation is out there. I don't think there would be anything better for the Republican Party of Florida, but to have Jeffries there. “Now, I kind of feel bad for the guy, because he's as left as they come. He's always going left, and yet the Far Left hates him. You know, they call him a ‘Dollar Store Obama.'” On May 15th, the Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Virginia Democrats to revive their lopsided redistricting plan, reports Politico.com. Missionary Sheldon Jackson felt compelled to share Gospel And finally, 192 years ago today, Sheldon Jackson was born in 1834.  He wanted to become a missionary overseas, but the Presbyterian board told the five-foot-tall Jackson, who had weak eyesight and was often ill, that he would be better suited for duty in the United States.  Jackson's first assignment was at the Choctaw mission in Oklahoma Territory, where he worked until poor health forced him to go back East in 1859. In the summer of 1869, Jackson went on a missionary tour using the railroad and stage lines, establishing a church a day. Jackson found his major life's work in the new territory of Alaska with 20,000 miles of coastline. In 1867, Secretary of State William Seward, during the administration of President Andrew Johnson, had negotiated the Alaska Purchase from Russia.   In 1877, Jackson began his work in Alaska. He became committed to the Christian, educational, and economic wellbeing of the Alaska Natives.  He famously said, “I must work the works of Him Who sent me while it is yet day,” adapting the command of John 9:4.  The Scripture says, “As long as it is day, we must do the works of Him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” Ultimately, he travelled one million miles and established more than one hundred missions and churches, mostly in the Western United States. Close And that's The Worldview on this Monday, May 18th, in the year of our Lord 2026. Subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  Plus, you can get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus  (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

The Cheat Sheet is The Murder Sheet's segment breaking down weekly news and updates in some of the murder cases we cover. In this episode, we'll talk about cases from Florida, North Carolina, New Mexico and Hawaii.NPR's report on the child molestation conviction of January 6, 2021 rioter Andrew Paul Johnson: https://www.npr.org/2026/03/05/nx-s1-5725470/trump-jan-6-pardon-sexual-abuse-prisonWAVY's report on January 6, 2021 rioter and accused child sexual predator Kene Brian Lazo's case: https://www.wavy.com/news/local-news/norfolk/norfolk-man-arrested-after-u-s-capitol-riot-now-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-child/The Department of Justice's press release on January 6, 2021 rioter Kyle Travis Colton's sentencing for child sexual abuse materials: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/sacramento-county-man-sentenced-over-6-years-prison-receiving-child-sex-abuse-materialThe Texas Tribune's report on January 6, 2021 rioter Andrew Taake's arrest on a child sexual abuse charge: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/06/arrest-trump-pardon-insurrection/NPR's reporting on the criminal convictions of January 6, 2021 rioters for non-riot related crimes: https://www.npr.org/2025/01/30/nx-s1-5276336/donald-trump-jan-6-rape-assault-pardons-riotersNBC's report on David Daniel's plea agreement over child exploitation charges: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/another-pardoned-jan-6-rioter-admit-guilt-child-sexual-abuse-case-rcna331841The Charlotte Observer's report on the investigation into thefts in the wake of the deaths of Greg Biffle, Christina Grossu, Emma Biffle, and Ryder Biffle: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nascar-auto-racing/article315578210.htmlFacts from the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation into the plane crash, while killed Greg Biffle, Christina Grossu, Emma Biffle, and Ryder Biffle, Craig Wadsworth, Dennis Dutton and Jack Dutton: https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/WPR26MA063.aspxAVWeb's article on the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation: https://avweb.com/flight-safety/accidents-ntsb/ntsb-greg-biffle-crash-preliminary-report/Read about leniency shown to young murder defendants Shae'Dan-Styles McEnroe-Keaulii and Branston Medeiros at the Honolulu Civil Beat: https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/05/2-hawaii-teens-accused-of-killing-get-out-of-jail-back-in-trouble/Read about the investigation of the Kalan La Fleur case at KRQE: https://www.krqe.com/news/investigations/murder-or-self-defense-investigation-into-fathers-death-still-incomplete-4-years-later/Check out our upcoming book events and get links to buy tickets here: https://murdersheetpodcast.com/eventsPre-order our book on Delphi here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/shadow-of-the-bridge-the-delphi-murders-and-the-dark-side-of-the-american-heartland-aine-cain/21866881?ean=9781639369232Or here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Shadow-of-the-Bridge/Aine-Cain/9781639369232Or here: https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Bridge-Murders-American-Heartland/dp/1639369236Join our Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/c/murdersheetSupport The Murder Sheet by buying a t-shirt here: https://www.murdersheetshop.com/Check out more inclusive sizing and t-shirt and merchandising options here: https://themurdersheet.dashery.com/Send tips to murdersheet@gmail.com.The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Visit our webpage to join our growing communitywww.podpage.com/the-3-13-men-money-and-marriageSummaryIn this episode, Andrew Johnson explores the concept of ego tax and its impact on personal finances, focusing on how the desire to impress others through appearances can hinder wealth creation. He shares practical strategies for managing spending, avoiding lifestyle creep, and making data-driven financial decisions.Keywords Ego Tax, Wealth Building, Personal Finance, Lifestyle Creep, Financial Independence, Money Management, Impulse Spending, Investment StrategiesKey topicsEgo tax and its impact on wealth creationPractical strategies for managing spending and avoiding lifestyle creepThe importance of tracking expenses and making data-driven financial decisionsThe ego tax is a hidden financial drain that hampers wealth building.Managing spending on appearances can significantly improve financial health.Tracking your expenses helps prevent unnecessary spending on depreciating assets.The Hidden Cost of Appearances: How Ego Tax Drains Your WealthStop Paying the Ego Tax: Practical Tips for Financial Freedom"The ego tax is a hidden financial drain.""We buy cars based on the badge, not utility.""Investing $500 a month could buy a car outright."Chapters00:00 Introduction to Ego Tax and Appearance Costs 02:50 Understanding the Luxury Trap and Financial Decisions05:34 Strategies for Managing Raises and Overtime07:52 The Impact of Ego Tax on Wealth Creation10:46 The Cost of Paying for Appearances 13:35 Conducting an Ego Tax Audit16:59 Conclusion and Future Content

Political Scientist Steve Knott has a new book that focuses on conspiracy theories within the American presidency and often promulgated by the president himself. This is not, per se, a book about conspiracy theories in general, but about the narratives that presidents have used—that constitutes a kind of conspiracy thinking—to engage voters and push for particular policy ideas and outcomes. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency (UP Kansas, 2025) spans the entire history of the United States, paying close attention to presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and finally Donald Trump. These particular presidents, both during their administrations and after, made use of conspiracies and/or demagogic rhetoric to encourage their supporters and to appeal to public fears. As Knott notes, Alexander Hamilton warns against this in both Federalist #1 and Federalist #85, wrapping the discussion of the new Constitution in concerns with regard to demagoguery. So many of the conspiracies that are pushed by presidents have at their base racism and an effort to fan the flames of racial fear and resentment. Jefferson, Jackson, Johnson, and Wilson all made use of racism as a part of their conspiracies. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency also mines the deep vein of conspiracy theories around moneyed and elite interests, since many presidents cast these interests as predatory and “out to get” the average citizen. This is another constant approach among the presidents from the early days of the republic through to our contemporary “conspirator in chief” Donald Trump. Part of the way that presidents use these kinds of conspiracies is to set up a dichotomy of those who are with the president and those who are against the president, and this latter group is, inevitably, also opposed to the country as a whole and the way of life in the United States. Knott explains that this was the kind of rhetoric that both FDR and Truman used in their implementation of this kind of conspiratorial rhetoric. This also leans on national security as a point of contention, and that those in opposition to the president or the president's policies are also potential threats to the republic. This is another dimension that Trump builds on in his use of this kind of rhetoric and division. In the final part of Conspirator in Chief, Knott sketches out those presidents who go far in standing against this kind of language and these kinds of attacks. Included in this grouping are John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, William Howard Taft, and John F. Kennedy, among others. These individuals leaned into reason more than rumormongering, examining their own biases, and also pointing to the conspiracies that others were advocating. While we learn a great deal about demagogic presidents who stirred up conspiracies based in racism, fear, antisemitism, and classism, we also learn about those who operated differently, who tried to protect the country from such divisive rhetoric. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Political Scientist Steve Knott has a new book that focuses on conspiracy theories within the American presidency and often promulgated by the president himself. This is not, per se, a book about conspiracy theories in general, but about the narratives that presidents have used—that constitutes a kind of conspiracy thinking—to engage voters and push for particular policy ideas and outcomes. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency (UP Kansas, 2025) spans the entire history of the United States, paying close attention to presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and finally Donald Trump. These particular presidents, both during their administrations and after, made use of conspiracies and/or demagogic rhetoric to encourage their supporters and to appeal to public fears. As Knott notes, Alexander Hamilton warns against this in both Federalist #1 and Federalist #85, wrapping the discussion of the new Constitution in concerns with regard to demagoguery. So many of the conspiracies that are pushed by presidents have at their base racism and an effort to fan the flames of racial fear and resentment. Jefferson, Jackson, Johnson, and Wilson all made use of racism as a part of their conspiracies. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency also mines the deep vein of conspiracy theories around moneyed and elite interests, since many presidents cast these interests as predatory and “out to get” the average citizen. This is another constant approach among the presidents from the early days of the republic through to our contemporary “conspirator in chief” Donald Trump. Part of the way that presidents use these kinds of conspiracies is to set up a dichotomy of those who are with the president and those who are against the president, and this latter group is, inevitably, also opposed to the country as a whole and the way of life in the United States. Knott explains that this was the kind of rhetoric that both FDR and Truman used in their implementation of this kind of conspiratorial rhetoric. This also leans on national security as a point of contention, and that those in opposition to the president or the president's policies are also potential threats to the republic. This is another dimension that Trump builds on in his use of this kind of rhetoric and division. In the final part of Conspirator in Chief, Knott sketches out those presidents who go far in standing against this kind of language and these kinds of attacks. Included in this grouping are John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, William Howard Taft, and John F. Kennedy, among others. These individuals leaned into reason more than rumormongering, examining their own biases, and also pointing to the conspiracies that others were advocating. While we learn a great deal about demagogic presidents who stirred up conspiracies based in racism, fear, antisemitism, and classism, we also learn about those who operated differently, who tried to protect the country from such divisive rhetoric. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Political Scientist Steve Knott has a new book that focuses on conspiracy theories within the American presidency and often promulgated by the president himself. This is not, per se, a book about conspiracy theories in general, but about the narratives that presidents have used—that constitutes a kind of conspiracy thinking—to engage voters and push for particular policy ideas and outcomes. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency (UP Kansas, 2025) spans the entire history of the United States, paying close attention to presidents Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, and finally Donald Trump. These particular presidents, both during their administrations and after, made use of conspiracies and/or demagogic rhetoric to encourage their supporters and to appeal to public fears. As Knott notes, Alexander Hamilton warns against this in both Federalist #1 and Federalist #85, wrapping the discussion of the new Constitution in concerns with regard to demagoguery. So many of the conspiracies that are pushed by presidents have at their base racism and an effort to fan the flames of racial fear and resentment. Jefferson, Jackson, Johnson, and Wilson all made use of racism as a part of their conspiracies. Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency also mines the deep vein of conspiracy theories around moneyed and elite interests, since many presidents cast these interests as predatory and “out to get” the average citizen. This is another constant approach among the presidents from the early days of the republic through to our contemporary “conspirator in chief” Donald Trump. Part of the way that presidents use these kinds of conspiracies is to set up a dichotomy of those who are with the president and those who are against the president, and this latter group is, inevitably, also opposed to the country as a whole and the way of life in the United States. Knott explains that this was the kind of rhetoric that both FDR and Truman used in their implementation of this kind of conspiratorial rhetoric. This also leans on national security as a point of contention, and that those in opposition to the president or the president's policies are also potential threats to the republic. This is another dimension that Trump builds on in his use of this kind of rhetoric and division. In the final part of Conspirator in Chief, Knott sketches out those presidents who go far in standing against this kind of language and these kinds of attacks. Included in this grouping are John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, William Howard Taft, and John F. Kennedy, among others. These individuals leaned into reason more than rumormongering, examining their own biases, and also pointing to the conspiracies that others were advocating. While we learn a great deal about demagogic presidents who stirred up conspiracies based in racism, fear, antisemitism, and classism, we also learn about those who operated differently, who tried to protect the country from such divisive rhetoric. Lilly J. Goren is a professor of political science at Carroll University in Waukesha, WI. She is co-host of the New Books in Political Science channel at the New Books Network. She is co-editor of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume I: The Infinity Saga (University Press of Kansas, 2022), and of The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Volume II: Into the Multiverse (University Press of Kansas, 2025) as well as co-editor of the award winning book, Women and the White House: Gender, Popular Culture, and Presidential Politics (University Press of Kentucky, 2012). She can be reached @gorenlj.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

Welcome back to the NoCo Pulse as we kick off the second week of May following a surprise snow day that had Northern Colorado kids out of school and riding bikes by afternoon. This week we're covering community news, business updates, and local highlights while celebrating the resilience and energy that makes NoCo special. What's moving features Miles Beyond Running Community and their upcoming Weld Your Metal Running Festival on May 30th and 31st in Eaton. This 146 acre private property event offers distances from a 7K run walk up to 100 miles, plus a 36 hour total mileage contest, complete with camping, glamping, sauna, cold plunge, massage, and mountain views. We also share an update on Mandy Mullen's attempt at the Cocodona 250 in Arizona. While she didn't finish, making it past the 155 mile mark before missing the time cutoff is an incredible achievement worth celebrating. Kudos to Don't Ember Productions for traveling with her to document the journey. On a sadder note, Saffron Scoops and Bites, the Indian restaurant and ice cream shop, has permanently closed but shared plans to return bigger and better than ever. Community gatherings spotlight Ginger and Baker's Murder Mystery Party coming up May 19th, with only about a dozen tickets remaining for the Baker's Half Dozen event. Fork Fun celebrates 25 years this summer, operating two mini golf courses, go kart track, laser tag, arcade, bumper boats, and restaurant while gifting millions of dollars of free usage to nonprofit children's causes like Boys and Girls Clubs, Matthews House, and Respite Care over the years. Friday Fest returns to downtown Greeley June 5th through August 7th, kicking off with the blues jam and featuring the go cup program where you can carry open alcohol from participating restaurants into 9th Street Plaza during events. Keeping the beat highlights the Loud Frame Film Festival coming to the Lyric May 22nd through 24th, an international film festival created by the same mind behind EDIY Horror Film Fest. They're seeking volunteers and vendors for the event. Thursday Night Live Concert Series returns May 28th for 16 consecutive weeks at Old Town Square, starting with The Burrows and their nine piece lineup at 7 PM, perfect for families and kids ready to dance. Community support features Stay: A Night of Metal and Hope, a metal concert at The Sound Bar on May 17th benefiting the Suicide Prevention Alliance of Larimer County. We share an inspiring story of Shana from a local cleaning company who moved to NoCo two years ago from Columbus, Ohio with her daughter in her car on gas cards. After her car broke down, a daily rental owner gifted her a vehicle for $250 with new tires and fresh oil, House of Neighborly Services helped with housing, and she's now thriving with stable housing, a $4 raise, and representing her cleaning agency at networking groups across Fort Collins. Business news celebrates Andrew Johnson with Business Networking Done Right, a former BNI director who started his own brand and has grown to four chapters with 20 members each. He's hosting a lunch and learn workshop May 20th through the Loveland Chamber on Building Stronger Referral Relationships, open to anyone for $30 including lunch. Shout out to Dixie Daly, who's everywhere in the community from creating pink coffee with Top of the Light Coffee to being named grand marshal for the upcoming Larimer County parade. She's also running for some kind of entrepreneur of impact recognition worth voting for. Food picks feature The Taco Stop, nationally recognized by USA Today, serving incredible tacos al carbon so full you can barely pick them up, led by classically trained chef Caesar from Mexico City. Yellow Crunch Colombian Restaurant opened their massive new location at The Exchange in the former Crooked Stave space, featuring giant murals by artists flown in from Colombia and a 12 by 20 foot television screen in a beautiful 3500 square foot space. Important announcement: The LoCo PULSE is officially becoming the NoCo PULSE in the coming weeks and getting its own RSS feed, making it easier for listeners who love the weekly community news format to find and follow along. Shout out to Laughing Buck Farm for being weekly listeners and sharing the podcast with their entire newsletter. They offer markets, vegetable swaps, and kids summer camps including homesteader camp and horse camp, plus a nonprofit supporting gardening and vegetables for people in our community. Stay connected, NoCo.

From the publisher:"Esteemed presidential historian Stephen F. Knott takes readers on a sobering tour of the lowlights in the American presidency, showing how presidents from Thomas Jefferson to Donald Trump have engaged in reckless conspiracy-mongering about their political opponents in an effort to increase their power and privilege.Today we are inundated with conspiracy theories—QAnon, the “Big Lie,” Pizzagate, the Epstein Files, and innumerable false claims about vaccines and other medicines. But the widespread proliferation of lies and misinformation can make it easy to forget that conspiracy theories have been part of American life from the beginning. The land of the free and the home of the brave has also been the den of false rumors and conspiratorial claims about one's political enemies—not merely by rank-and-file Americans but also by our most powerful and consequential elected leaders. As political historian Stephen F. Knott recounts in painful detail, the Commander in Chief of the United States has often acted as Conspirator in Chief.Part presidential history and part descent into a political Dante's Inferno, Conspirator in Chief is a tour through the Hall of Shame in American politics. Thomas Jefferson used surrogates to spread false claims about Alexander Hamilton in order to destroy his political influence, attacked newspaper editors who were critical of his party and policies, and used conspiracy theories about the Federalists to tarnish them in the eyes of the American people. This brand of demagoguery reached an apex in the presidency of Andrew Jackson, who publicly defamed abolitionists, manipulated newspapers to publish his conspiracies, and spread his own “Big Lie” about the 1824 election being stolen from him in a “corrupt bargain.” Andrew Johnson spread false accusations about the Radical Republicans, declared the need for “white emancipation,” and made spurious claims about the dangers of a coming Black supremacy as a result of Reconstruction. Woodrow Wilson, according to Knott, continued Johnson's racist and conspiratorial interpretation of American history.In addition to our most infamous presidents, Knott uncovers the surprising conspiratorial inclinations of our more esteemed leaders, including Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry S Truman. Knott shows how both presidents painted their opponents in an extreme light, casting aspersions on political rivals by calling them “betrayers of America,” “spies, saboteurs, and traitors,” and comparing them to Nazis, fascists, and communists. Less surprising are the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Donald J. Trump, both known for their propagation of racist and paranoid beliefs and their denigration of political opponents. As Knott demonstrates in excruciating detail, Trump epitomizes the worst of this long American tradition. While Trump is in a league of his own regarding the sheer output and outlandishness of his conspiracy-mongering, he did not begin this odious practice."Information on Dr. Knott's book can be found at https://kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700641284/His website can be found at https://www.stephenfknott.com/AxelbankHistory.com is designed by https://www.ellieclairedesigns.com/Axelbank Reports History and Today" can be found on social media at https://twitter.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://instagram.com/axelbankhistoryhttps://facebook.com/axelbankhistory

The choice before us in 2026 is similar to the choice before Americans in the latter half of the 19th century, and the way we're framing it today is this:  Which straight White male President's line of thinking do you want to get behind? Choice #1 is Abraham Lincoln, who not only signed the Emancipation Proclamation, but was a firm believer in human rights for all, or Choice #2, the President who followed him, Andrew Johnson, who was perhaps the biggest Confederate sympathizer that we've had as President (minus, perhaps, our current one)? In other words, the choice is between believing in equal rights for all of us, or believing in rights only for rich, landowning, straight White men. Ultimately, this was the question before us in America 150+ years ago. It's the same question we're facing today.  To unpack this, we're having a conversation with a political leader, lawyer, and author who thinks deeply, systematically, and convincingly to capture your attention with boldness and walk you through some great ways to take action. We hope you listen, share widely, and be bold in how you envision 2026. What to listen for:  The clear stat that White men make up 29% of the American population. Yet if you look at leadership positions across the board, they make up a disproportionately large share. Do we think White men are smarter than everyone else? Is that why this percentage is so much higher? Or, is there a more systemic thing going on?  There are only two ways to answer this question, according to Steve. "One is that there is, in fact, something wrong with the communities of color and women, or in that white men are therefore smarter, more talented, more driven, and more deserving of being in these positions… The other is that there's actually a preference being shown to white men….But we don't have the conversation. We don't ask the question, and that's what I'm trying to remedy." On his spicy book title: "Pointing out inequality should not be more controversial than perpetuating the actual inequality."  Why Steve thinks the Democratic Party is bad at math.  About our guest: Steve Phillips is a bestselling author, columnist, and national political thought leader. He is the author of The New York Times and Washington Post bestsellers Brown Is the New White and How We Win the Civil War. His newest book is Are White Men Smarter Than Everybody Else?  He is also the founder of Democracy in Color, a political media organization dedicated to race, politics, and the progressive New American Majority. Phillips is the host of Democracy in Color with Steve Phillips, a color-conscious podcast on politics. He is a regular columnist for The Nation and The Guardian.  

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.comJeff is a lawyer and a contributing opinion writer for the NYT, after a long run at The New Yorker and CNN. He has written many bestselling books, including True Crimes and Misdemeanors, The Oath, The Nine, and Too Close to Call. He appeared on the Dishcast in 2024 to talk lawfare, and in this episode we discuss his latest book, The Pardon: The Politics of Presidential Mercy.We recorded this episode a while back, and we're posting it this week after Trump promised mass pardons for White House staffers before he leaves office. For two clips of our convo — on Biden's corrupt pardons, and Trump's obscene pardons — head to our YouTube page.Other topics: how pardons can be a beautiful act of mercy; the varying powers among the states; Lincoln's amnesty for Confederate soldiers but not leaders; Andrew Johnson's pardon for Jefferson Davis; Johnson's impeachment; the thousand pardons of Rutherford B Hayes; Ford pardoning Nixon; Jimmy Carter pardoning resisters to the Vietnam War; the Willie Horton furlough and ad; HW's pardons for Iran-Contra; Clinton pardoning his own brother and Marc Rich; Dubya's refusal to pardon Scooter Libby against Cheney's wishes; Dubya advising Obama to have a set protocol; Trump pardoning crooks like Charles Kushner and Paul Manafort who could have testified against him; the blanket pardon of January 6ers; Kim Kardashian's role in Trump's pardons; the ICE killings in Minneapolis; and the need for presidents with some basic virtue.Browse the Dishcast archive for an episode you might enjoy. Coming up: Greg Lukianoff on free-speech fights, Jerusalem Demsas on the state of the left, Tiffany Jenkins on privacy in a liberal democracy, Adrian Wooldridge on “the lost genius of liberalism,” HW Brands on the life of George Washington, Ben Rhodes on foreign policy, and Tom Junod on his dad and masculinity. As always, please send any guest recs, dissents, and other comments to dish@andrewsullivan.com.

April 15, 2026Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln spent the evening of April 14 at Ford's Theater in Washington, That night, John Wilkes Booth entered the presidential box and fatally shot Lincoln, As Americans mourned Lincoln's death, Andrew Johnson restored the political power of the Confederates, Congress fought back, and after discrimination based on race became punishable, the Confederate rhetoric turned to economics, Right wing movements, claiming they fought for individual liberty expanded, eventually joined the planning and execution of the January 6 attack on the Capitol in 2021, Trump pardoned the participants, On April 15, President Abraham Lincoln died, breaking the hearts of those who supported his actions to preserve American democracy. Watch today's recording here: https://www.youtube.com/live/g9TUa1Rwd6U?si=T8_KKcHQZElhpnZ-Get full, free access to Letters from an American here: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribeYou can also find me:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hcrichardson.bsky.socialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson/?hl=enFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathercoxrichardson/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@heathercoxrichardson Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe