She was a privileged baby boomer who grew up on a horse farm in segregated Virginia. By her twenty-first birthday she had worked for peace in Communist Europe, traveled the country in the cause of racial justice, marched for voting rights […]
historical podcasts
Are you listening to The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast?
We have had a jam-packed Summer-Fall 2023 season at the podcast that included: Theresa Runstedlter on the American Basketball Association and race. Daniel Hummel on dispensationalism Stephen Prothero on mid-20th-century religious publishing. Larry Eskridge on the Jesus People Rachel Swarns […]
Episode 122: “Springsteen, Joel, and the American Century”
In his new book Bridge & Tunnel Boys, historian Jim Cullen discusses how Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen represented what he calls “the metropolitan sound of the American century.” In this episode of the podcast, we talk with Cullen about how Joel […]
Episode 120: “Popular Historians in Post-War America”
Should professional historians write for the general public? If so, who is the “public” they are trying to reach? And when historians do write for the public how do they manage to make their work readable and accessible without sacrificing […]
Episode 116: “Historical Thinking for a Democracy”
If you’ve listened to this podcast over the years you know that we champion “historical thinking” as one of our best hopes for sustaining and preserving American democratic life. In this episode we talk with Zachary Cote, the Executive Director […]
The Avett Brothers’ bass player has started a podcast on John Quincy Adams
Longtime listeners of the The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast will remember our interview with Bob Crawford, the bass player of the folk-rock band the Avett Brothers. Listen here. I have long appreciated Bob’s support for our work at […]
Episode 105: “‘Heathenism’ in America”
According to historian Kathryn Gin Lum, Americans have long viewed the world as a realm of suffering heathens whose lands and lives needed their intervention to flourish. The term “heathen” fell out of common use by the early 1900s, but […]
Episode 100: Christian Historians as Activists?
In this episode, our 100th, host John Fea redelivers his 2022 Conference on Faith and History presidential address. Listen at: Apple Podcasts Stitcher iHeartRadio Spotify Podchaser Podbean The Way of Improvement Leads Home Podcast is a product of Current. If you […]