I'm Ben Sawyer and this is The Road to Now. Today's episode, a fantastic conversation with Monica

Sandler on the history of the Academy Awards. How did we never think to do an episode on this

before it? I don't know, but I can tell you this is the right guest, and we're excited to share this with you today. Before we get there, though, big news. Just want to make sure you guys know about what Bob and I are up to. First of all, as you may have heard, Bob's new book, America's Founding Sun, is out March 10th, and Bob's coming to bookstores across the country to speak. You can meet him, get a book signed.

You can find out more at the link in this episode description.

Second, I'm excited to announce that I'm going to be teaming up with Greg Jackson of History

That Doesn't Suck. Good friend, friend of the show, an incredible historian. Greg is putting

together a history cruise and he has asked me to be the special guest on the cruise. So we are going to go from Fort Lauderdale out into the Caribbean for five days and four nights. It's going to include a live performance of his live history that doesn't suck show. We're going to record an episode of the road to now on the boat. We're going to be telling jokes. We're going to be doing trivia, and we're going to be doing it all on the ocean as we stop at the Florida Keys all over the place. If you want to come join us, check that out. The links in the episode description, too. It's h-tds,cruise.com. And if you use promo code RTN, you can get $100 off a cabin. So so much good stuff going on

in this world. And we hope that you will join us for these events. And patrons, as always,

we love you guys. Thank you for supporting this show. And to the folks who have signed up recently,

we are appreciative. Now you're going to love the Oscars. Even if you didn't before, you're going to love

this story with the delightful Monica Sandler. Take care. Monica Sandler, welcome to the show.

Hi, thank you for having me. Thank you for being here. This is, I'm excited about this one.

Let me just set the stage, all right? It's 1929. This is a, I'm excited about this one. Let me just set the stage,

all right? It's 1929. The American economy feels like it's never going to end because this is

early 1929. It is a decade where American film ascends to higher levels. European studios that

were ahead in Germany and France, they get shook up by World War I.

American media takes the world by storm. Silent films allow for American produced films to

easily translate to audiences all over the world. And here at what seems like, must seem like

this incredible moment, we have the first ever Academy Award ceremony. Take us back there.

What is going on at that time? And I think to some of us, it seems like a very self-congratulatory

thing that's going on. What is behind the decision to host the first Academy Awards?

So the Academy Awards, as we think about them today, were very, very different at the very

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