Evolution on Trial | Live and Let Live | 4

American History Tellers

Wondery

Society & Culture, Kids & Family, History, Education For Kids

4.7 • 18.3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 July 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The Scopes ""Monkey"" Trial was set against the backdrop of the roaring twenties, a time of both cultural upheaval and deep social tensions. While ostensibly about science versus religion, the trial became a proxy for larger conflicts over academic freedom, individual rights, and the very nature of American democracy. And the trial's impact extended far beyond its verdict, influencing debates about education, faith, and freedom that continue to resonate today. In this episode, Lindsay is joined by Brenda Wineapple, author of the national bestseller Keeping the Faith: God, Democracy, And The Trial That Riveted A Nation. Together, they explore how the trial, sometimes called a ""victorious defeat"", remains relevant 100 years later.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	As we explore the triumphs and tragedies that shaped America,
0:03.9	we're always striving to paint a vivid, nuanced picture of the past,
0:07.3	and with Wondery Plus, you can experience that vision in its purest form.
0:11.0	Enjoy ad-free episodes, early access to new seasons,
0:13.8	and exclusive bonus content that illuminates the human stories behind the history.
0:17.9	Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts and see American
0:21.7	History through a whole new lens.
0:34.6	Imagine it's April 1926 in Oxford, Mississippi.
0:38.9	The scent of stale pipe smoke greets you as you sit down in a small wood panel office.
0:44.0	You're a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union,
0:46.7	and you've traveled South in search of a high school teacher
0:49.6	willing to participate in a test case to challenge a new Mississippi law
0:53.6	that bans the teaching of evolution in public schools.
0:57.1	The man you're here to meet, the Lafayette County School Superintendent, sits across from you behind his desk, a bemused expression on his face.
1:04.7	Well, I am surprised. I didn't expect you to come all the way down here in person.
1:09.3	Well, I had to. No one would respond to my letters and telegrams. The superintendent shrugs. Well, you'd be hard-pressed to find a teacher looking to be the new John Scopes. It's only been what, nine months? Folks hadn't forgotten what happened in Dayton last summer. That was a circus. Well, that might be understandable, but you don't mean to say you support a law
1:28.4	that criminalizes the teaching of evolution here in Mississippi, do you? No, of course not. I'm a learned
1:33.5	man, same as you, but it's not worth getting worked up about. They'll never enforce it. No, it's not
1:38.6	about that. This is about a higher principle. We're trying to defend academic freedom and the
1:43.0	individual liberties of teachers and students. Is that right, a higher principle? I thought trying to defend academic freedom and the individual liberties of teachers
1:44.3	and students. Is that right, a higher principle? I thought it was about mocking the Bible and every man,
1:49.2	woman, and child who believes in the scripture. No, that was never our intention, I assure you.
	...

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