Good day, podcast listeners, and welcome to this week's edition of the Thomas Jefferson Hour.

This week we talk about a letter.

I think this came out of your sort of perplexity about whatever happened to the idea of compromise

in government.

Right, it, yes it did and is that okay? Of course. And so you I mean looking back so when we talked

about this you know we said in a way it's a program about liberty and it is and so we start off in this program talking

about Jefferson's ideas of what it is to be truly free. Turns out it's a

liberation from external coercion, but it's also a form of human responsibility to take charge of your own life.

And a decision between Mr Jefferson and I as to which restaurant to go to.

You'll have to listen to the...

You know, I know you're not...

But I'm fond of those metaphors.

I am too.

I thought it was great.

They...

You know, you and I agree on a lot of things but if Jefferson and I would

agree on the restaurant too and I was it was awkward for me. I know you I had I

forced you into defending the pork dinner. Yeah I should have given you peas.

Yeah. But my point is you take my point.

Absolutely.

Jefferson believed that small is beautiful. The smaller, the way you think about a thing,

the more you understand it. So I'll give you another example just quickly.

...