Ben Franklin: Can Chess Make You a Better Person?

Our American Stories

iHeartPodcasts

Society & Culture, Documentary

4.3 • 737 Ratings

🗓️ 2 May 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this episode of Our American Stories, Ben Franklin holds the distinction of many "firsts" in American history. He invented the lightning rod, the Franklin stove, bifocals, the urinary catheter, swim fins, and the odometer. He also founded America's first public library, the first volunteer fire company, fire insurance company, and hospital, and became the nation's first Postmaster General. As Chess.com notes, Franklin was also America's first known chess player and the first American to write about the game. Elliott Drago, a historian and the Editorial Officer at the Jack Miller Center, shares the story.

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Transcript

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0:05.8	Someone was posting photos.
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0:33.8	This is a story about radical nuns in combat boots and wild-haired priests, trading blows with
0:39.5	Jay Edgar Hoover in a hell-bent effort to sabotage a war.
0:44.2	Jay Edgar Hoover was furious. He was out of his mind, and he wanted to bring the Catholic
0:50.0	left to its knees. Listen to Divine Intervention on the I the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
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1:10.4	Now more than ever, we need to use our voices to fight back.
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	...

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