In the Footsteps of Lafayette w/ Julien Icher

The Road to Now

Benjamin Sawyer

Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 628 Ratings

🗓️ 30 May 2022

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On August 15, 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette arrived in the United States to say farewell to the country whose independence he helped secure more than four decades earlier. Over the next 15 months, Lafayette visited all 24 states, meeting with old friends and attending celebrations hosted by Americans who flocked to see the last-living Major General of the Revolutionary War whose close friendships with George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson shaped both the American and French Revolutions.

Since 2017, Julien Icher has been working to document the 5,000 mile journey that Lafayette took during his farewell visit. Icher, himself a Frenchman, has a remarkable skill set that combines the best of primary source-based research with the technical knowledge required for digital mapping. The result is The Lafayette Trail– a publicly accessible map that allows users to see Lafayette's physical route, as well as the people, places and events he encountered along the way.

In this episode, Julien joins Ben to talk about Lafayette's contribution to American Independence, his life after returning to France, and the farewell tour that inspired Julien to create The Lafayette Trail. We also speak about the history of Franco-American friendship and why both countries are better when we work together.

For more on The Lafayette Trail, check out their YouTube channel. Since April 2021, Julien has been posting episodes of his travels in the series "Follow the Frenchman." You can also follow the project on twitter at @LafayetteTrail.

This is a rebroadcast of RTN #132, which originally aired on June 9, 2019. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I enjoy a good round of golf.
0:04.0	My grandfather was a great golf, but it never caught on with me when I was a child.
0:08.0	So I picked up the sport a few years ago.
0:10.0	I threw my clubs in the bus, and I play as often as I can when I'm out on tour.
0:15.0	One thing I've come to appreciate is a great fitting, great-looking polo shirt at the right price.
0:20.0	After trying a few different brands, I came across cricket that's spelled C-R-I-Q-U-E-T.
0:26.6	I immediately fell in love with their timeless designs.
0:29.6	All cricket shirts are made from super soft, top-of-the-line fabrics.
0:33.6	My personal favorite is the top shelf player's shirt.
0:36.6	It's got a four-button
0:38.2	placate hard collar with removable collar stays. It reminds me of the shirts my grandfather
0:43.2	used to wear. I feel as good wearing a cricket shirt on stage or a night out with my family
0:48.5	as I do on the golf course. Go to cricket shirts.com. That's spelled C-R-I-Q-U-E-T-Sirts.com. Put in the discount
0:58.3	code Road to Now for 20% off your first order. You're going to dig these shirts.
1:05.5	I'm Ben Sawyer and this is the Road to Now. Today's episode is airing on Monday, May 30th. That is Memorial
1:14.7	Day 2022. And so it seemed like a good time to revisit an episode about one of America's
1:21.0	greatest veterans, the Marquita Lafayette. This episode is a conversation with Julian Ishae, who is mapping the footsteps of the Marquis de Lafayette
1:31.2	during his trip here in 1824, 1825. This episode is so much fun. It really is just an account of Lafayette's
1:38.9	life, an account of what happened after the revolution, which is something a lot of us don't really
1:43.9	know about. We know about the American Revolution. He's in the the revolution, which is something a lot of us don't really know about.
1:44.4	We know about the American Revolution.
1:46.1	He's in the musical Hamilton, which made people aware of him.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Benjamin Sawyer, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Benjamin Sawyer and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.