Podcast appearances and mentions of Richard R John

It had to be done: we need to talk about the title and periodization. What is the Gilded Age? What is the Progressive Era? When is it? With Christopher McKnight Nichols and Nancy Unger we set out to define the period we study.Essential Reading:Christopher McKnight Nichols and Nancy Unger (eds.), A Companion to the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (2017).Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873).Additional Reading:Richard Schnirov, "Thoughts on Periodizing the Gilded Age: Capital Accumulation, Society, and Politics, 1873-1898," Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 5, no. 3 (2006): 189-224.Rebecca Edwards, Richard R. John, Richard Bensel, "Forum: Should We Abolish the Gilded Age," Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era 8, 4 (2009): 461-85. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today we have a discussion of COVID-19 and the postal service with Ryan Ellis and Richard John.Ryan Ellis is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Northeastern. Ryan’s research and teaching focuses on topics related to communication law and policy, infrastructure politics, and cybersecurity. He is the author of Letters, Power Lines, and Other Dangerous Things: The Politics of Infrastructure Security (MIT Press, 2020) and the editor (with Vivek Mohan) of Rewired: Cybersecurity Governance (Wiley, 2019).Richard R. John is a historian who specializes in the history of business, technology, communications, and American political development.  He teaches and advises graduate students in Columbia’s Ph.D. program in communications, and is member of the core faculty of the Columbia history department, where he teaches courses on the history of capitalism and the history of communications.  His publications include many essays, eight edited books, and two monographs: Spreading the News: The American Postal System from Franklin to Morse (1995) and Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications (2010).

In this episode, we talk about the post office with Dr. Richard R. John, Professor of History & Communications in the Columbia Journalism School at Columbia University. Dr. John teaches courses on the history of communications, capitalism, and American political development - and all of these factors have played out – in part – via the post office.The U.S. Postal Service has found itself in focus as the 2020 presidential election nears, after reports surfaced that the head of the agency had moved forward with a plan to take sorting machines offline and remove blue postal boxes, potentially jeopardizing the ability of the post office to deliver ballots from voters to the polls in time to be counted.With Dr. John, I explore the history, role, and significance of the U.S. Post Office - and the tension between the U.S. Post Office as a service and the desire by some to treat it as a business.

On this week's Kicker, Professor Richard R. John, a historian and author of “Spreading the News: The American Postal System from Franklin to Morse,” speaks with Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, on the intersection between the Postal Service and politics. For decades, the Postal Service -- the internet of its age -- was entwined in electoral politics. That ended, but now Donald Trump has restarted the fight. This episode of The Kicker looks at how reporters should cover the battle.

Jeremi speaks with Richard R. John about the role that the post office has served American Democracy Zachary sets the scene with his poem, ” Delivering Freedom, Save the Post Office.” Richard R. John is a professor of history and communications at Columbia University, where he teaches in the Ph. D. program in communications at […]

Luther at 500: The Reformation for our Times With Richard R. John, Ph.D Join Columbia University history professor Richard R. John for a three-part series of presentations on the life and legacy of one of the world’s most remarkable rebels, Martin Luther. Last October marked the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation that was ignited when Luther posted his now-famous 95 Theses on the door of the University Church in Wittenberg, Germany to contest what he considered false teaching of Roman Catholic tradition and practice. Professor John’s presentations will focus on Luther’s challenge to authority, his message, and his legacy. Each lecture will be illustrated by images of Luther’s world. Those wishing to learn more can refer to one of the two resources from which Professor John will draw: Lyndal Rober’s "Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet", and Andrew Pettegree’s "Brand Luther".

Luther at 500: The Reformation for our Times with Richard R. John, Ph.D. Join Columbia University history professor Richard R. John for a three-part series of presentations on the life and legacy of one of the world’s most remarkable rebels, Martin Luther. Last October marked the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation that was ignited when Luther posted his now-famous 95 Theses on the door of the University Church in Wittenberg, Germany to contest what he considered false teaching of Roman Catholic tradition and practice. Professor John’s presentations will focus on Luther’s challenge to authority, his message, and his legacy. Each lecture will be illustrated by images of Luther’s world. Those wishing to learn more can refer to one of the two resources from which Professor John will draw: Lyndal Rober’s Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet, and Andrew Pettegree’s Brand Luther. Richard R. John is professor of history and communications at Columbia University, where he teaches courses on American cultural history, the history of capitalism, and the history of communications. A graduate of Harvard University (B.A., M.A., Ph.D.) where he specialized in the history of American civilization, he has published extensively on topics related to American cultural history (including the separation of church and state), and is the author of two books on the history of American communication.

The Founders, Religious Liberty, and the Separation of Church and State with Richard R. John, Ph.D. Why did the founders of our country feel so strongly about religious liberty? How did their life experiences shape their ideas about the relation of church and state? What did they believe about God? Join Columbia University historian Richard R. John as he explores these questions, based loosely on Steven Waldman’s "Founding Faith," an acclaimed history of the founders’ ideas about religion. Professor John will focus especially on the topics of the founders’ thoughts about a Christian America, on the contributions of Jefferson and Madison to our understanding of religious liberty, and on the First Amendment and its legacy.

The Founders, Religious Liberty, and the Separation of Church and State with Richard R. John, Ph.D. Why did the founders of our country feel so strongly about religious liberty? How did their life experiences shape their ideas about the relation of church and state? What did they believe about God? Join Columbia University historian Richard R. John as he explores these questions, based loosely on Steven Waldman’s Founding Faith, an acclaimed history of the founders’ ideas about religion. Professor John will focus especially on the topics of the founders’ thoughts about a Christian America, on the contributions of Jefferson and Madison to our understanding of religious liberty, and on the First Amendment and its legacy.

The American postal service has an impressive history, but an uncertain future. Older than the Constitution, it was a wellspring of American democracy and a catalyst for the creation of a nationwide market for information and goods. Today, however, its once indispensable role in fostering civic discourse and facilitating personal communications has been challenged by the Internet and mobile telephony. How is the post office coping? What are its prospects in the digital age? Richard R. John is a professor in the Columbia University Journalism School who specializes in the political economy of communications in the United States. His many publications include two monographs: Spreading the News: The American Postal System from Franklin to Morse (1995) and Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications (2010). Kent B. Smith is the manager of strategic business planning for the US Postal Service and is involved in developing perspectives of the future of the postal service and the mailing industry with such groups as the Institute for the Future, the Universal Postal Union, and the International Postal Corporation. David C. Williams is the Inspector General (IG) of the US Postal Service. The IG’s office conducts independent audits and investigations of postal service operations. Previously, he served as IG for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Social Security Administration, Department of the Treasury and Housing and Urban Development. Moderator: V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai is a lecturer at MIT in both the Department of Biological Engineering and Comparative Media Studies. He directs the EMAIL Lab and works with the US Postal Service Office of Inspector General exploring ways to retain postal workers’ jobs through the provisioning of email services. His book The EMAIL Revolution is forthcoming this fall.