307: Democracy Awakening with Heather Cox Richardson
The Lincoln Project
The Lincoln Project
4.6 • 9.1K Ratings
🗓️ 26 December 2023
⏱️ 68 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Host Reed Galen is joined by Author, Historian, and Boston College History Professor, Heather Cox Richardson. They discuss the road the Republican party took to reach its current status, why Donald Trump (and those in his image) offer a dangerous/autocratic future, and why democracy (while imperfect) is the best path to achieve the America we want. For more from Heather Cox Richardson, check out her latest book, Democracy Awakening: Notes of the State of America, listen to the Now and Then podcast, and subscribe to her Letters from an American Substack. For more from Reed Galen, be sure to subscribe to “The Home Front”. If you’d like to ask a question or share a comment with The Lincoln Project, send an email to podcast@lincolnproject.us.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, everyone, it's Reed. Before we get started, I just want to wish everybody a happy and healthy holiday season. |
| 0:06.9 | I know these are uncertain times. I know you might have a lot of tough conversations, but just know you can always find what you need here at the Lincoln Project. |
| 0:15.8 | Lincoln Project.us. I hope you'll share what we're doing. I hope you'll share this podcast. And again, I hope you enjoy your time with friends and family. |
| 0:24.2 | And now, on with the show. |
| 0:33.9 | Welcome back to the Lincoln Project. |
| 0:36.1 | I'm your host, Reed Galen. |
| 0:38.2 | Today, I'm joined by Heather Cox Richardson, author, historian, and history professor at Boston College. |
| 0:44.6 | Heather is an expert in 19th century America, specializing in politics and economics, and has authored numerous books. |
| 0:50.6 | Her latest is Democracy Awakening, Notes on the State of America, New York Times |
| 0:55.8 | Bestseller, and is available wherever fine books are sold. Heather is also the co-host of the |
| 1:00.4 | Now and Then podcast and writes daily for her blockbuster substack letters from an American. Heather, |
| 1:07.1 | welcome. Thank you so much for having me. All right, so I want to start light and then we can |
| 1:12.4 | get heavy. What is it like as an author to be sitting in your cabin, in your apartment, |
| 1:19.5 | wherever it is, and watching the evening news over Thanksgiving and seeing the President of |
| 1:23.5 | United States walk out of a bookstore with his book under your arm? Well, you know, it was a |
| 1:28.3 | funny thing because my family is on occasion somewhat nerdy, and we actually have a Thanksgiving |
| 1:33.3 | tradition where we do what's called sip and learn, and people have seven minutes to do a |
| 1:38.3 | presentation on something that they're really interested in that may or may not have anything to do |
| 1:42.5 | with their day jobs. And one of my nephews |
| 1:44.7 | is a photographer. So he was literally doing a sip and learn on AI when people started sending me |
| 1:52.1 | that image. And I was like, wow, he was really thorough. Look, he photoshopped my book in the |
| 1:58.1 | president's hands. And he's gotten people to send it to me while he's doing |
... |
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