Hello everyone, it's Clay Jenkinson, and welcome to this podcast introduction for this week's program.

David Horton is an administrator and professor at Radford University in Virginia.

I've gone there four or five times now over the last few years.

He's interested in artificial intelligence and robotics pedagogy,

but the future of higher education we've become good friends.

I went there not so long ago and we did a program a live Jefferson hour from an auditorium at Radford.

But he's agreed to come on the program as a guest host from time to time.

And he suggested that we talk about the name change and the new emphasis in the program.

And I would not have changed the name or moved in a different direction if I didn't think that it was for good purpose.

I'm not at all tired of Thomas Jefferson. Nobody can ever really become tired of Thomas Jefferson.

Every time I think that I know what there is to know about him or more particularly every time I grow a little weary of

talking about certain aspects of Jefferson's life, particularly of course race.

Suddenly I read a new book or have a new thought about him and I light up all over again.

Thomas Jefferson has been one of the central themes, I almost said obsessions of my life.

I first encountered Jefferson when I was in my late 20s or early 30s.

Everybody knows about Jefferson, but I read Merrill Peterson's amazing book, Thomas Jefferson and the new nation.

And for a friend of mine, my beloved mentor, Everett C. Elbers, I agreed to portray Jefferson for one night only.

A one night stand as the third president of the United States for a conference on agriculture that he was hosting in North Dakota.

I was a college professor at the time.

My central interest was John Dunn in the early 17th century English literature.

My degrees are all in literature. I'm not a historian, I'm a humanities scholar.

And I've attempted to give a significant portion of my life to trying to understand this extraordinary paradoxical figure.

...