I'm Ben Sawyer and this is the Road to Now.

This week, our topic is the American Historical Association, chartered by Congress in 1884,

and a great institution that has long fostered and helped spread great research on American history. Our guests are the

incoming executive director of the AHA, Sarah Weigsel, and pioneering public historian Ed Ayers of

the University of Richmond. As you might not be surprised to hear, the AHA is another organization suffering from the budget cuts that have come down from

the Trump administration recently. Guys, I can't blame anybody for being skeptical of government

spending. I think it is something we should keep our eyes on. But this, like so many other

great organizations, you know, we recently re-shared our conversation on

National History Day, so many of these great organizations are losing out on their funding,

and we hope the road to now can help people see the vital role that these organizations play

and why they are worth public support. So we hope you

enjoy this great conversation. It ranges from the history of the AHA to the projects they're

funding now, this great in-depth new study they've done on high school education, and, you know,

just again, we get into the consequences of the budget cuts. Just a couple of things before we get into that.

First of all, welcome to what appear to be a large number of folks who have come over here to listen from Nate Land.

Had a great time on that show this week.

And I'm really, really, really happy to see how many people enjoyed that conversation and decided to

come check out the road to now. I hope you're enjoying this. It's not nearly as funny, but we've got

a mission over here too. So thanks for joining us and thanks for taking the time to check out the show.

And just generally for the kind feedback I got from people, that was honestly a great, great

experience. Also shout out to the good people of the

National Association of State Accountants, Comptrollers, and Treasurers who had me speak at their

...