Stan’s guest this week is historian Greg Brooking, discussing his new book From Empire to Revolution: Sir James Wright and the Price of Loyalty in Georgia, published on July 15 by the University of Georgia Press.
Stan talks to historian Jacqueline Jones about her book, No Right to An Honest Living: The Struggles of Boston’s Black Workers in the Civil War Era, winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in History.
Join Stan as he launches a new season of Off the Deaton Path with a recap of one of the most momentous weeks in American political history, plus a deep dive into Fun Facts Known By Few (a tunnel behind Lincoln’s head on Mt. Rushmore? Are you living in a nuclear sponge? What is the mysterious Greek fire? Why was the flow of the Chicago River reversed in 1900?) Also, a sneak peek at upcoming podcast author interviews, and the 45th anniversary of the death of the King.
Stan was recently interviewed by Roger Smith of The Learning Center of Senior Citizens, Inc. in Savannah for an expansive conversation about post-Civil War America. How did the United States re-unite—and remain divided—after the deadliest conflict in US history? Were Confederates guilty of treason? Why weren’t there widespread executions? What happened to ex-Confederate leaders and what, exactly, happened during Reconstruction? This pre-recorded talk aired as the series debut of a collection of programs at The Learning Center entitled “After the War.” The conversation delves into the harshness—or ease—with which former Confederates were woven back into the fabric of society, the birth of the Lost Cause, and the history of political “second acts” in American history. For more information about the series, visit https://seniorcitizensinc.org/the-learning-center.
Stan interviews author Jason Friedman about his new book, Liberty Street. Jason and his husband bought a townhouse on Liberty Street in his hometown of Savannah. But that was just the beginning of a remarkable journey: “It’s a house that came with a story: the rise and fall of a Southern Jewish family and a ghost story whose long-dead characters still haunt the present. Liberty Street chronicles my journey to understand the Solomon Cohen family and the way their lives intersected with their enslaved workers, Savannah’s Jewish community, and their Christian neighbors. I became interested in the way we talk about the Civil War, its origins, and aftermath. What do we remember? Or choose to forget? I came to know the denizens of Liberty Street 150 years before I moved there, and to understand my own story as a Jew, a Southerner, and an American.”
