The Gun Lobby Responsible for Trump: Journey Through Time

The Rest Is Politics

Goalhanger

Politics, Government, News

4.4 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 10 August 2025

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Alastair is joined by historian and co-host of Goalhanger’s Journey Through Time, Sarah Churchwell, to discuss their new series on the History of The National Rifle Association. How did The National Rifle Association go from a sportsman’s organisation set up to improve marksmanship following the civil war to a for-profit group fighting gun regulation? Why did a convicted killer become one of the most influential figures in modern gun politics? How did the NRA gain so much control over the American President and the Supreme Court? Listen to David Olusoga and Sarah Churchwell on Journey Through Time to get the full story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thanks for listening to The Restis Politics, but not a normal episode.
0:24.3	This is a little bonus for you.
0:25.7	We're going to tell you about another Goldhanger podcast, Journey Through Time, which is hosted
0:30.5	by the historians, David Olasoga and Sarah Churchill.
0:35.4	It tells history from the bottom up by trying to understand pivotal moments
0:39.6	through the eyes of those who live them. And we're joined by Sarah, and we're going to discuss
0:45.3	the podcast and their new series, which is on the history of the National Rifle Association.
0:53.2	Now, NRA, Sarah, I know what NRA is. And if you say NRA in the context
0:59.1	of American politics, it's kind of neuralgic. It's like, I guess the only equivalent we have in
1:05.2	our politics is NHS. If you mess with the NHS, you better stand by for some political flack.
1:12.8	But NRA has got a life of its own.
1:15.7	Just tell us all about it and why are you doing this series.
1:18.2	Yeah, absolutely.
1:18.9	Thanks.
1:19.1	So it is like the NHS, sort of like the opposite of the NHS because it does a lot of harm.
1:23.7	But it is indeed, you know, a magnet, as you say, for political opinion or lightning rod.
1:28.9	So it's the gun lobby group in America, right?
1:31.0	It's an incredibly powerful lobbying arm, and it has shaped the reality of guns in America
1:35.1	today, and everybody around the world watches the reality of guns in America today trying
1:39.8	to understand what on earth is going on.
1:42.1	And if you follow the history of the NRA, you can start to
1:45.1	understand how and why we got to where we are. And the really important part of this from my
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