Hello, everyone. Professor Jackson here. As you know, we're in mid-June, 2026. A mere few weeks away from the

250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the effective

birthday of the United States.

I trust I hardly need to explain how meaningful this is to me, and I expect it is for you as well.

In the buildup to early July, I'm going to share some special episodes.

Don't worry, our World War II narrative isn't going anywhere. But this

moment is special. It's hallowed. It deserves reflection. And I want to do that reflecting with you,

perhaps especially because I know this anniversary comes with a mix of feelings. There's celebration,

yet also a despondency on both sides of the aisle.

Fear that we aren't what we were.

I understand that fear.

The view that these are unprecedented times, but I don't share it.

My only real fear is that we will convince ourselves that the American experiment has passed,

that we will talk ourselves into giving up. Like Abraham

Lincoln, I believe that is our only real threat. To quote the gangly rail splitter, who I can't

help but read and hear my own head in that nearly falsetto voice of his, if destruction be our lot,

we must ourselves be its author and finisher.

As a nation of free men, we must live through all time or die by suicide.

I am so deeply concerned about this possible self-fulfilling prophecy that I've poured my blood, sweat, and tears into researching and writing a book that

counters this narrative. Not a Pollyanna history assuring everyone, everything will be okay,

but a history that reminds us we have faced today's supposedly new challenges of fake news,

contested elections, and political violence from day one in this nation.

...