These two Pulitzer Prize-winning biographers have spent their careers delving into the lives of Americans who changed the course of U.S. history. T.J. Stiles and David Blight talk here about how historical biography can bring us closer to an understanding of the times we live in. They discuss why Jesse James, General George Custer, Cornelius Vanderbilt and F ... Show More
Jul 20
Katie Ledecky: The Call Of The Water
She sent shockwaves through the world of competitive swimming, when she won a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, beating out the favorites by a wide margin. She was 15 years old. Katie Ledecky is now training for her fifth Olympics, and is indisputably the greatest female swimmer o ... Show More
53m 20s
Apr 2026
Cindy Sherman: Illusions of Identity
Cindy Sherman, one of the world's most renowned contemporary art photographers, started posing for her own photos in the 1970's, long before the advent of selfies. But she says her images are not self-portraits. Instead, she uses sets, costumes and makeup to create an elaborate a ... Show More
42m 14s
May 2019
J. Edgar Hoover's FBI - Humanizing History with David McCullough | 7
Pulitzer Prize winner. National Book Award winner. Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. Today David McCullough, one of America’s greatest living historians, joins us to discuss his new book, The Pioneers, about the heroic men and women who shaped the Northwest Territories, in ... Show More
35m 16s
Apr 2024
1776: The Antidote to Boring American History
On this episode of Our American Stories, Historian David McCullough brings generational talent to those studying the wild realities of America's independence. After all, no one has ever lived in the past, but in the present. At the National Archive, McCullough names and thanks hi ... Show More
20m 18s
Jul 2022
Gods of Deception, Part II: Art, History, Fiction and War
As Ben and Noel continue their conversation with novelist and art historian David Adams Cleveland, the group finds themselves going far beyond the world of Alger Hiss. In the second part of this two-part series, the guys learn more about David's award-winning work as an art histo ... Show More
30m 8s
Mar 2022
EP204: The Joys of An Ordinary Tree and The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt
On this episode of Our American Stories, Joy Neal Kidney, author of Leora's Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family During World War II, tells the story of the ordinary tree in her yard which has given her so much. In his Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, The Firs ... Show More
38m 16s
