Podcast appearances and mentions of Edward J Larson

For President's Day: We speak with Pulitzer Prize winning writer Edward J. Larson about his book "Franklin and Washington: The Founding Partnership."

New attention from historians and journalists is raising pointed questions about the founding period: was the American revolution waged to preserve slavery, and was the Constitution a pact with slavery or a landmark in the antislavery movement? We have long needed a history of the founding that fully includes Black Americans in the Revolutionary protests, the war, and the debates over slavery and freedom that followed. We now have that history in Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Edward J. Larson's insightful synthesis of the founding. Throughout Larson's brilliant history, it is the voices of Black Americans that prove the most convincing of all on the urgency of liberty. Shermer and Larson discuss: Was America founded in 1619 or 1776? • What is/was an “American”? • Founding Fathers attitudes toward slavery • What was the justification of slavery? • constitutional convention and slavery compromises • U.S. Constitution and slavery • Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments • Atlantic slave trade • Fugitive Slave Act and Clause • Native Americans • monogenism vs. polygenism • slavery abolition • Quakers push for abolition • Three-fifths Compromise • The Dread Scott Decision and the Civil War • Abraham Lincoln and his rational argument for ending slavery • the future of race relations in America. Edward J. Larson is the author of many acclaimed works in American history, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning history of the Scopes Trial, Summer for the Gods. He also authored Franklin and Washington: The Founding Partnership, The Return of George Washington 1783-1789, A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800—America's First Presidential Campaign, An Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton, and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science, To the Edges of the Earth: 1909, the Race for the Three Poles, and the Climax of the Age of Exploration, and the textbook Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory. He is University Professor of History and Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University.

On this special comeback episode: Peter brings: Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith, art by Boulet: https://bit.ly/3OwRGpJ Extreme Canvas by Ernie Wolfe III The Punisher: Epic Collection Return to Big Nothing: https://bit.ly/45o6Mof The Unfortunates by B.S. Johnson Meagan brings: To The Edges of the Earth : 1909, the race for the three poles, and the climax of the age of exploration by Edward J. Larson: https://bit.ly/3OzUMtd Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes: https://bit.ly/3ORIbmj Aliens, the essential comics: script, Mark Verheiden ; art, Mark A. Nelson, Denis Beauvais, Sam Kieth ; covers, Denis Beauvais & John Bolton: https://bit.ly/3Yw9F4a Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews: https://bit.ly/3OVF0uc

In his lecture, “A Deserving Brother: George Washington and the Birth of American Freemasonry,” Bro. Justin McCulloch challenges the nature of the special relationship shared between the United States and Great Britain. He joins this episode to explore how Bro. George Washington is a prime example of American colonists' assimilation into British culture.Show Links:The Return of George Washington: Uniting the States, 1783-1789,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson on Amazon... https://www.amazon.com/Return-George-Washington-Uniting-1783-1789/dp/0062248685Visit The Colonial Lodge #1821, Washington, DC online... https://thecoloniallodge.org/

From a Pulitzer Prize winner, a powerful history that reveals how the twin strands of liberty and slavery were joined in the nation's founding. New attention from historians and journalists is raising pointed questions about the founding period: was the American revolution waged to preserve slavery, and was the Constitution a pact with slavery or a landmark in the antislavery movement? Leaders of the founding who called for American liberty are scrutinized for enslaving Black people themselves: George Washington consistently refused to recognize the freedom of those who escaped his Mount Vernon plantation. And we have long needed a history of the founding that fully includes Black Americans in the Revolutionary protests, the war, and the debates over slavery and freedom that followed. We now have that history in Edward J. Larson's insightful synthesis of the founding. With slavery thriving in Britain's Caribbean empire and practiced in all of the American colonies, the independence movement's calls for liberty proved narrow, though some Black observers and others made their full implications clear. In the war, both sides employed strategies to draw needed support from free and enslaved Blacks, whose responses varied by local conditions. By the time of the Constitutional Convention, a widening sectional divide shaped the fateful compromises over slavery that would prove disastrous in the coming decades. Larson's narrative delivers poignant moments that deepen our understanding: we witness New York's tumultuous welcome of Washington as liberator through the eyes of Daniel Payne, a Black man who had escaped enslavement at Mount Vernon two years before. Indeed, throughout Larson's brilliant history it is the voices of Black Americans that prove the most convincing of all on the urgency of liberty. Edward J. Larson is the author of many acclaimed works in American history, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning history of the Scopes Trial, Summer for the Gods. He is University Professor of History and Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University, and lives with his family near Los Angeles. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/steve-richards/support

How was slavery written into America's founding? David M. Rubenstein is once again joined by historian Edward J. Larson to discuss this question and explore how legal frameworks around slavery evolved in the new republic. Looking at the battle between the new country's pro- and anti-slavery leaders, the Treaty of Paris, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitutional Convention, and the Bill of Rights, they delve into the role slavery played in the establishment of the first United States government. Recorded on January 12, 2023 

While the Revolutionary War was waged as a fight for freedom, slavery was omnipresent in America before, during, and after the war. In this two-part conversation, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson discusses how the twin strands of liberty and slavery were joined in the nation's founding and the limits of the Founders' conception of freedom. In this episode, Larson delves into the origins of slavery in America and the role of free and enslaved Black people during the Revolutionary War. Recorded on January 12, 2023 

The Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University, Pulitzer Prize winning Edward J. Larson is one of the world's foremost scholars on evolution and Darwin.  He joined us on AMSEcast to discuss his books Evolution:  The Remarkable History of A Scientific Theory; Evolution's Workshop:  God and Science on the Galapagos Islands; and Summer for the Gods:  The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion.

On April 6th 1909, deep inside the Artic Circle after months on the ice, Robert Peary, Matthew Henson and their four Inuit guides reached what they thought was the North Pole. But, as Edward J. Larson tells Don, Peary's measurements and the speed of their journey were immediately called into question. Nonetheless, Congress voted to recognise Peary's expedition as the first to reach the North Pole, dismissing a rival's claim to have done it a year earlier.Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Aidan Lonergan. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.For more History Hit content, subscribe to our newsletters here.If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts, and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today!

I am not including this book review in my monthly book review episode because there is far too much to interact with. To do this book justice I needed to create a longer episode exposing some of the helpful things it gets into. I hope you learn something and walk away with some thoughts whether you agree or not! Resources on defining atheism as a religion: EDITORIAL Is Atheism a Religion? Recent Judicial Perspectives on the Constitutional Meaning of “Religion” DEREK H. DAVIS (Journal of Church and State) https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/about-atheism/ https://www.thebanner.org/columns/2019/01/is-atheism-a-religion Get the book here -> https://www.amazon.com/Magnificent-Catastrophe-Tumultuous-Election-Presidential/dp/0743293177/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=a+magnificent+catastrophe&qid=1634397641&sr=8-1 Website: forthekingpodcast.com Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/For-The-King-105492691873696/ Contact: forthekingpodcast@gmail.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/rocky-ramsey/support

President Trump is set to announce his Supreme Court pick to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday at the White House. The President has said he will be nominating a woman to the high court and has narrowed his choice down to five potential nominees. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) joins The 'Rundown' to discuss the President's SCOTUS nominee. He tells us if there's any chance of a COVID relief package being ready by the election and weighs in on the likelihood that President Trump will carry Florida in November. Concerns over mail-in ballots and voting security have many predicting drawn-out legal fights and a contested election this November. But deciding the winner of a Presidential election isn't always easy. In 1800, the race between President John Adams and his opponent, Thomas Jefferson, ended in a tie that was eventually broken by the House of Representatives. Edward J. Larson, Professor of law and history at Pepperdine University, discusses the story behind the election of 1800 and how those contentious political times compare to today. Plus, commentary by Democratic Strategist Leslie Marshall. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Season 5 of the podcast drops in a few weeks. In the meantime, we're pleased to offer you Library Executive Director Kevin Butterfield's recent live stream conversation with Edward J. Larson. Larson is the author of many books, including the subject of today's show, Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership. We need your help to make Season 5 of Conversations the best one yet. Please take a moment to complete our listener survey that will help shape the future of the show. You'll find a link to the survey on the podcast's homepage at www.mountvernon.org/podcast. By filling it out, you'll not only help us help you, you'll also be entered to win a free book. Thanks so much in advance, and be sure to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. About Our Guest: Ed Larson holds the Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law and is University Professor of History at Pepperdine University. Originally from Ohio with a PhD in the history of science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and law degree from Harvard, Larson has lectured on all seven continents and taught at Stanford Law School, University of Melbourne, Leiden University, and the University of Georgia, where he chaired the History Department. Prior to become a professor, Larson practiced law in Seattle and served as counsel for the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC. He is the author of numerous books, including Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership (2020). About Our Guest Host: Kevin C. Butterfield is the  Executive Director of the Washington Library. He comes to Mount Vernon from the University of Oklahoma, where he served as the Director of the Institute for the American Constitutional Heritage and Constitutional Studies Program, holding an appointment as the Wick Cary Professor and Associate Professor of Classics and Letters. He is the author of The Making of Tocqueville's America: Law and Association in the Early United States (Chicago, 2015).

Season 5 of the podcast drops in a few weeks. In the meantime, we're pleased to offer you Library Executive Director Kevin Butterfield’s recent live stream conversation with Edward J. Larson. Larson is the author of many books, including the subject of today's show, Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership. We need your help to make Season 5 of Conversations the best one yet. Please take a moment to complete our listener survey that will help shape the future of the show. You’ll find a link to the survey on the podcast’s homepage at www.mountvernon.org/podcast. By filling it out, you’ll not only help us help you, you’ll also be entered to win a free book. Thanks so much in advance, and be sure to like and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. About Our Guest: Ed Larson holds the Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law and is University Professor of History at Pepperdine University. Originally from Ohio with a PhD in the history of science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and law degree from Harvard, Larson has lectured on all seven continents and taught at Stanford Law School, University of Melbourne, Leiden University, and the University of Georgia, where he chaired the History Department. Prior to become a professor, Larson practiced law in Seattle and served as counsel for the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC. He is the author of numerous books, including Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership (2020). About Our Guest Host: Kevin C. Butterfield is the Executive Director of the Washington Library. He comes to Mount Vernon from the University of Oklahoma, where he served as the Director of the Institute for the American Constitutional Heritage and Constitutional Studies Program, holding an appointment as the Wick Cary Professor and Associate Professor of Classics and Letters. He is the author of The Making of Tocqueville's America: Law and Association in the Early United States (Chicago, 2015). --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mountvernon/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/mountvernon/support

In 1799, the U.S. government imposed a new tax on houses, land, and slaves to fund an expanded military. A man named John Fries led Pennsylvania Dutch farmers in protest of the law. What became known as Fries’ Rebellion was the third major tax revolt in the nation’s short history. But President Adams quashed Fries’ Rebellion with military force—a response widely viewed as an overreaction. The protesters went on to help usher Adams out of office. Their actions proved that Americans could challenge their government without resorting to violence, and that popular dissent could exist within the rule of law…affirming a tradition of protest that exists now. On today’s episode, we hear from Pulitzer winning historian and legal scholar Edward J. Larson. Larson is a history professor and the Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. He is also author of the new book “Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership” (William Morrow, 2020).Larson takes us into a deeper dive into how the early American rebellions were resolved, and what that era of our nation’s history can teach us about how the government handles pushback from citizens now.Additional books by Edward J. Larson:“The Return of George Washington: Uniting the States, 1783-1789” (William Morrow, 2015)“A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800” (Free Press, 2008)

In FRANKLIN & WASHINGTON: The Founding Partnership (William Morrow), Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson delivers a masterful, first-of-its-kind dual biography of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, revealing their partnership’s centrality to the American founding—and their enduring relevance. Vastly different men, Benjamin Franklin—abolitionist freethinker from the urban North—and George Washington— slaveholding general from the agrarian South—were the indispensable authors of American independence and the two key partners in the attempt to craft a more perfect union at the Constitutional Convention, held in Franklin’s Philadelphia and presided over by Washington. And yet their teamwork has been little remarked upon in the centuries since. Author Bio: Edward J. Larson received the Pulitzer Prize in History for Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate over Science and Religion. He is the coauthor of Modern Library’s The Constitutional Convention: A Narrative History from the Notes of James Madison and the author of The Return of George Washington: Uniting the States, 1783–1789, and A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America’s First Presidential Campaign. He was an inaugural Library Fellow at the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington. Larson is University Professor of history and holds the Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School, and received his PhD in History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Larson travels widely as a media commentator, visiting instructor, and guest speaker. An Ohio native, Larson now lives in California. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/steve-richards/support

Polarforskaren som riskerade allt för att kartlägga klotets sista, isiga utposter. En man med vinnarskalle och dödsförakt nog för att trotsa naturens vildsinta krafter. Vill du veta mer om Roald Amundsen? Här är några av de böcker som ligger till grund för avsnittet: Roald Amundsen av Tor Bomann-Larsen  The last viking av Stephen Bown  Scott och Amundsen av Roland Huntford An Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton, and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science av Edward J. Larson Redaktionen för detta avsnitt består av: Cecilia Düringer - programledare och manus Emilia Mellberg - research och manus Navid Bavey - scenuppläsare Julia Öjbrandt ljuddesign och slutmix Tove Palén - producent Medverkar gör även författare Tor Bomann-Larsen.

For President's Day- Pulitzer Prize winning writer Edward J. Larson, author of "Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership." The book explores the relationship between Benjamin Franklin and George Washington over the course of four decades.

Hamilton. Madison. Jefferson. Adams. Henry. Hancock. The Founding Fathers of the United States are many. But the two names that loom large above the rest are Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. Countless biographies have been written about the two "indispensable men," but my guest today has extensively studied the thirty-year relationship between them. Edward J. Larson holds a PhD in the history of science and is currently a professor of history and law at Pepperdine University. He has written several books on American scientific history as well as the American Revolution and Early Republic. Edward's latest book Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership explores how the Pennsylvania printer and Virginia planter first met during the French and Indian War, how they became integral to the success of American Independence, and why the new nation turned to them when it came time to draft the Constitution. Check out the massive selection of comics, books, toys, and games available at Things from Another World! Want to listen to new episodes a week earlier and get exclusive bonus content? Consider becoming a supporter of the podcast on Patreon! Like the podcast? Please subscribe and leave a review! Follow @CMTUHistory on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & TikTok --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

On today's Bulwark podcast, Edward Larson joins host Charlie Sykes to discuss his recent item (https://thebulwark.com/checks-balances-and-trump/) on the Trump administration's radical expansion of executive power and how it beckons what the founders called “the very definition of tyranny.” Special Guest: Edward J. Larson.

This episode we’re talking about Nature/Outdoors Non-Fiction! We discuss armchair travelling, whether olden days explorers were idiots, manliness, and how trees communicate! Plus: Meghan tells us about when she was a fantasy character and birds ate out of her hands. You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | RJ Edwards Books We Read This Month The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert To the Edges of the Earth: 1909, the Race for the Three Poles, and the Climax of the Age of Exploration by Edward J. Larson Robert Scott was the explorer who was married to Matthew’s friend’s ancestor H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature by J. Drew Lanham Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions by Peter Brannen The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben The Breakaway by Nicole Cooke Le Québec cyclable - Guide des pistes cyclables au Québec by Collectif Ulysse Le pouvoir de la pédale by Olivier Razemon Other Media We Mention Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer Alone: The Classic Polar Adventure by Richard Evelyn Byrd (the carbon monoxide poisoning book Meghan could not recall) Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson On the Camino by Jason Links, Articles, and Things Outdoor literature (Wikipedia) National Outdoor Book Award 2018 Winners Mars rovers (Wikipedia) (there is a great infographic of driving distances on the moon and mars on this page) Spirit (XKCD) Alternative Ending 1 Alternative Ending 2 Opportunity (XKCD) Curiosity (the one that sang Happy Birthday) Check out our Pinterest board and Tumblr posts, follow us on Twitter or Instagram (new!), join our Facebook Group, or send us an email! Join us again on Tuesday, January 1st for our Best of 2018 episode! Then come back on Tuesday, January 15th when we’ll be talking about Bizarro Fiction!

Throughout history, scientific discovery has clashed with religious dogma, creating conflict, controversy, and sometimes violent dispute. In this enlightening and accessible volume, distinguished historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward Larson and Michael Ruse, philosopher of science and Gifford Lecturer, offer their distinctive viewpoints on the sometimes contentious relationship between science and religion. The authors explore how scientists, philosophers, and theologians through time and today approach vitally important topics, including cosmology, geology, evolution, genetics, neurobiology, gender, and the environment. Broaching their subjects from both historical and philosophical perspectives, Larson and Ruse avoid rancor and polemic as they address many of the core issues currently under debate by the adherents of science and the advocates of faith, shedding light on the richly diverse field of ideas at the crossroads where science meets spiritual belief. In addition to these topics, Dr. Shermer and Dr. Larson discuss: the Scopes Monkey trial and how legal complications shaped its outcome, along with that of other creationism-evolution trials; what Darwin believed about God and religion; why biblical literalism took off in America in the 1960s and 1970s leading to creationist movements to rewrite science textbooks; what really happened in the Galileo trial; how so many prominent scientists throughout history believed in God but did not actually use their science to prove God’s providence; why atheism became so prominent in the early 21st century but not before, even though atheist arguments against God’s existence have been around for centuries; Gould and Dawkins and different approaches to science and religion; the rise of the nones and the decline of religion in the West (but it’s increase in other areas); the limits of human knowledge.  

Renowned author, professor, lawyer, and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson - who participated in the national Science Foundation's Antarctic Writers and Artists program.

In 1911, three British explorers made a perilous 70-mile journey in the dead of the Antarctic winter to gather eggs from a penguin rookery in McMurdo Sound. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll follow the three through perpetual darkness and bone-shattering cold on what one man called "the worst journey in the world." We'll also dazzle some computers and puzzle over some patriotic highways. Intro: In 2014, mathematician Kevin Ferland determined the largest number of words that will fit in a New York Times crossword puzzle. In 1851, phrenologist J.P. Browne examined Charlotte Brontë without knowing her identity. Sources for our feature on Apsley Cherry-Garrard: Apsley Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey in the World, 1922. Sara Wheeler, Cherry: A Life of Apsley Cherry-Garrard, 2007. "Scott Perishes Returning From Pole," Salt Lake Tribune, Feb. 11, 1913. Paul Lambeth, "Captain Scott's Last Words Electrify England and World by Their Pathetic Eloquence," San Francisco Call, Feb. 12, 1913. Hugh Robert Mill, "The Worst Journey in the World: Antarctic, 1910-1913," Nature 111:2786 (March 24, 1923), 386-388. "Cherry-Garrard, Explorer, Dead," New York Times, May 19, 1959. "Obituary: Apsley Cherry-Garrard," Geographical Journal 125:3/4 (September-December 1959), 472. James Lees-Milne, "From the Shavian Past: XCII," Shaw Review 20:2 (May 1977), 62. W.N. Bonner, "British Biological Research in the Antarctic," Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 14:1 (August 1980), 1-10. John Maxtone-Graham, "How Quest for Penguin Eggs Ended," New York Times, Oct. 2, 1994. Gabrielle Walker, "The Emperor's Eggs," New Scientist 162:2182 (April 17, 1999), 42-47. Gabrielle Walker, "It's Cold Out There," New Scientist 172:2315 (Nov. 3, 2001), 54. Edward J. Larson, "Greater Glory," Scientific American 304:6 (June 2011), 78-83. "When August Was Cold and Dark," New York Times, Aug. 8, 2011, A18. Robin McKie, "How a Heroic Hunt for Penguin Eggs Became 'The Worst Journey in the World,'" Guardian, Jan. 14, 2012. Matilda Battersby, "Cache of Letters About Scott Found as Collection of His Possessions Acquired for the Nation," Independent, July 19, 2012. Karen May, "Could Captain Scott Have Been Saved? Revisiting Scott's Last Expedition," Polar Record 49:1 (January 2013), 72-90. Karen May and Sarah Airriess, "Could Captain Scott Have Been Saved? Cecil Meares and the 'Second Journey' That Failed," Polar Record 51:3 (May 2015), 260-273. Shane McCorristine and Jane S.P. Mocellin, "Christmas at the Poles: Emotions, Food, and Festivities on Polar Expeditions, 1818-1912," Polar Record 52:5 (September 2016), 562-577. Carolyn Philpott, "Making Music on the March: Sledging Songs of the 'Heroic Age' of Antarctic Exploration," Polar Record 52:6 (November 2016), 698-716. Listener mail: Robinson Meyer, "Anti-Surveillance Camouflage for Your Face," Atlantic, July 24, 2014. Adam Harvey, "Face to Anti-Face," New York Times, Dec. 14, 2013. "How to Find a Spider in Your Yard on a Tuesday at 8:47pm." This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Petr Smelý, who sent these corroborating links (warning -- these spoil the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson recovers a crucially important—yet almost always overlooked—chapter of George Washington’s life, revealing how Washington saved the United States by coming out of retirement to lead the Constitutional Convention and serve as our first president. After leading the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War, George Washington shocked the world: he retired. In December 1783, General Washington, the most powerful man in the country, stepped down as Commander in Chief and returned to private life at Mount Vernon. Yet as Washington contentedly grew his estate, the fledgling American experiment floundered. Under the Articles of Confederation, the weak central government was unable to raise revenue to pay its debts or reach a consensus on national policy. The states bickered and grew apart. When a Constitutional Convention was established to address these problems, its chances of success were slim. Jefferson, Madison, and the other Founding Fathers realized that only one man could unite the fractious states: George Washington. Reluctant, but duty-bound, Washington rode to Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to preside over the Convention. Although Washington is often overlooked in most accounts of the period, this masterful new history from Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward J. Larson brilliantly uncovers Washington’s vital role in shaping the Convention—and shows how it was only with Washington’s support and his willingness to serve as President that the states were brought together and ratified the Constitution, thereby saving the country. Edward Larson is University Professor of History and holds the Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University. His numerous books include Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion, for which he received a Pulitzer Prize in History. Larson splits his time between Georgia and California.

Sep. 5, 2015. Edward J. Larson discusses "The Return of George Washington 1783-1789" at the 2015 Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. Speaker Biography: Historian and author Edward J. Larson is a professor of history and holds the Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University. He received the Pulitzer Prize in History for his book "Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion." His other books, which have been translated into more than 20 languages, include "An Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton, and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science," "A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign" and "Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory." In his newest book, "The Return of George Washington: 1783-1789," he examines the period when George Washington shed his retirement to lead the Constitutional Convention and become the first president. Larson is also a prolific writer of articles on subjects ranging from law to science, which have appeared in publications including The Atlantic, Nature, Scientific American, The Nation and Virginia Law Review. For transcript, captions, and more information, visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=6915

In the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, the morning of Friday July 10, 1925 was blisteringly hot. Outside the country courtroom, a crowd of around 1000 people had gathered. Squeezing through the throng came a young schoolteacher and athletics coach, John Scopes. Scopes was accompanied by Clarence Darrow, one of the most famous lawyers in the United States. But when a cheer went up from the assembled mass, it was not for Scopes or Darrow, but for the elderly, burly figure of Williams Jennings Bryan. Lawyer, moralist, three times Presidential candidate, religious authority, and key figure in the Populist movement of the 1890s. These two legal titans were here to defend and prosecute John Scopes. His crime was admitting to teaching Darwinian evolution in defiance of a state law banning the promulgation of evolutionary theory.  The Scopes Trial has entered popular myth and legend, claimed as a victory by both sides, misrepresented and misunderstood in film and literature. So, in Episode 17 of American History Too! we’re going to look at the 1925 Scopes Trial and try to get to the heart of what was actually going on. Reading List Barry Hankins, Jesus and Gin:  Evangelicalism, the Roaring Twenties and Today’s Culture Wars (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) Edward J. Larson, Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion (Harvard University Press, 1998) Michael Lienisch, In the Beginning: Fundamentalism, the Scopes Trial, and the Making of the Antievolution Movement (University of North Carolina Press, 2007) Jeffrey P. Moran, The Scopes Trial: A Brief History With Documents (Bedford/St Martin’s, 2002) Ronald Numbers, Darwinism Comes to America (Harvard University Press, 1998) Charles Postel, The Populist Vision (Oxford University Press, 2007) Andrew Preston, Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy (Anchor Books, 2012) Adam Shapiro, Trying Biology: The Scopes Trial, Textbooks, and the Antievolution Movement in American Schools (University of Chicago Press, 2014) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

April 28, 2015 - Historian Edward J. Larson explores how George Washington reluctantly came to preside over the Constitutional Convention, mediate the fractious states, and, as a result, help secure our republic’s future.

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson recovers a crucially important -- yet almost always overlooked -- chapter of George Washington's life, revealing how Washington saved the United States by coming out of retirement to lead the Constitutional Convention and serve as our first president.Larson is university professor of history and holds the Hugh & Hazel Darling Chair in Law at Pepperdine University. His numerous books include Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate over Science and Religion, for which he received a Pulitzer Prize in History.Recorded On: Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson recovers a crucially important—yet almost always overlooked—chapter of George Washington's life, revealing how Washington saved the United States by coming out of retirement to lead the Constitutional Convention and serve as our first president. After leading the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War, George Washington shocked the world: he retired. In December 1783, General Washington, the most powerful man in the country, stepped down as Commander in Chief and returned to private life at Mount Vernon. Yet as Washington contentedly grew his estate, the fledgling American experiment floundered. Under the Articles of Confederation, the weak central government was unable to raise revenue to pay its debts or reach a consensus on national policy. The states bickered and grew apart. When a Constitutional Convention was established to address these problems, its chances of success were slim. Jefferson, Madison, and the other Founding Fathers realized that only one man could unite the fractious states: George Washington. Reluctant, but duty-bound, Washington rode to Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to preside over the Convention. Although Washington is often overlooked in most accounts of the period, this masterful new history from Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward J. Larson brilliantly uncovers Washington's vital role in shaping the Convention—and shows how it was only with Washington's support and his willingness to serve as President that the states were brought together and ratified the Constitution, thereby saving the country. On todays show we were joined by Pulitzer Prize winning author Ed Larson. We discussed his newest book The Return of George Washington.    To find out more about his book visit: The Return of George Washington: 1783-1789 You can listen live by going to www.kpft.org and clicking on the HD3 tab. You can also listen to this episode and others by podcast at: http://directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/moneymatters   or   www.moneymatterspodcast.com