I'm John Meacham, author and historian. I'm proud to present a brand new limited

podcast documentary series called It Was Said. In this new series that I've written

and narrated with my Peabody nominated partners at C13 original studios,

also in association with history, I guide you through 10 of the most historic, impactful, and timeless speeches in American

history.

Please take a listen and enjoy this trailer of It Was Said, which is now available for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, radio.com,

and wherever you listen to podcasts. broadcasts. And you know, if I was standing at the beginning of time with the possibility of taking a kind of general and panoramic view of the whole of human history up to now.

And the Almighty said to me, Martin Luther King,

which age would you like to live in?

History is vast, complex, and often contradictory.

But in many ways, the trajectory of humanity

has been shaped by moments in which a single person

approached a crowd with something important to say.

But there is something different about tonight.

There is something special about tonight.

What is different? What is special? I, Barbara Jordan, am a keynote speaker.

When visionary leaders capture the imagination of a nation. Let the word go forth from this time and place to friend and full alike that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.

When disciplined communicators speak truth to power.

But I have attempted to pursue the truth with some diligence

and to report it, even though as in this case I had been warned in advance

that I would be subjected to the attentions of Senator McCarthy.

When compassionate brethren embraced the pain of the grief stricken.

...