S9E18 Podcast: In the Shadow of the Great House: The Plantation in America

Stan’s guest this week is UGA professor Daniel Rood, talking about his new book, In the Shadow of the Great House: A History of the Plantation in America (W.W. Norton, 2026), a new history of American slavery and American capitalism. The plantation traces its roots to the Portuguese conquest of an island in the AtlanticContinue Reading »

S9E17 Podcast: The Fear of a Standing Army: Were the Founders Wrong?

How is it that a country founded in fear of a standing army would come to think of its military as a bulwark of democracy? Why has there never been a military coup in the United States? As part of GHS’s ongoing US250 commemoration, Stan’s guest this week is Kori Schake of the American EnterpriseContinue Reading »

S9E16 Podcast: The Last Adieu: Lafayette’s Triumphant Return

As part of GHS’s ongoing commemoration of the US250, Stan’s guest this week is author and historian Ryan L. Cole, discussing his new book, The Last Adieu: Lafayette’s Triumphant Return, the Echoes of Revolution, and the Gratitude of the Republic (Harper Horizon, 2025). The Marquis de Lafayette arrived in America in 1777 to fight inContinue Reading »

S9E15 Podcast: A Nation of Laws: A Conversation with Larry D. Thompson

Stan’s guest this week is Larry Thompson, former Deputy Attorney General of the United States during the administration of President George W. Bush, and author of a recently published memoir, Quiet Counsel: Looking Back on a Life of Service to the Law (Disruption Books, 2024). Larry—who also serves on the GHS Board of Curators—discusses hisContinue Reading »

S9E14 Podcast: Being Thomas Jefferson

As part of GHS’s ongoing US250 commemoration, Stan’s guest this week is author and historian Andrew Burstein, talking about his new book, Being Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History (Bloomsbury, 2026). Burstein is a nationally recognized authority on Jefferson, the author of ten books, co-author of two others, recently retired as Charles P. Manship Professor ofContinue Reading »