Dr. Beverly Gage joins the program to discuss her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century. As FBI director from 1924 through his death in 1972, Hoover was a confidant, counselor, and adversary to eight U.S. presidents. His story also reflects how governance, policing, race, ideology, political culture, and federal power evolved over the

William A. Harris, Director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, joins us for a conversation about their special exhibit, “Black Americans, Civil Rights, and the Roosevelts, 1932-1962.” Developed in collaboration with a distinguished committee of scholars, the exhibit centers the historical voices of many Black community leaders, wartime service members, and ordinary citizens who engaged the Roosevelt admi

In 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette, French hero of the American Revolution, returned to America for the first time in nearly half a century. This program will explore the Marquis de Lafayette's time in Washington DC during his National Tour, tracing his route through the region and highlighting the locations and people the famous General held closest to his heart. Public

More than 70% of Jewish Americans take part in the Passover Seder, making Passover the most celebrated of Jewish holidays. Since 2009, the White House has joined in celebrating Passover in various ways. Rubenstein Center Research Fellow Dr. Phillip Lieberman will discuss this tradition, as well as the ebb and flow of presidential participation in the Jewish Feast of Freedom.

Dr. Sarah J. Purcell joins us to discuss her book Spectacle of Grief: Public Funerals and Memory in the Civil War Era which examines how funerals of major figures from that era allowed a diverse set of people to contribute to changing American national identities. Purcell will also discuss how mourning rituals for figures like Col. Elmer Ellsworth, whose White

Author James Kirchick joins the program to discuss his New York Times Bestseller, Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington. Utilizing thousands of pages of declassified documents, interviews with over one hundred people, and material unearthed from presidential libraries and archives, Kirchick illuminates how homosexuality shaped each successive presidential administration through the end of the twentieth century against the

Martha Washington’s worst memory was the death of her husband. Her second worst was Thomas Jefferson’s awkward visit to pay his respects afterwards. Indeed, by the time George Washington died in 1799, the two founders were estranged, but for most of their thirty-year acquaintance they enjoyed a productive relationship. Professor Frank Cogliano will discuss his new book, A Revolutionary Frie

Author Paul Sparrow, former director of the FDR Presidential Library, will join to discuss his new book, Awakening the Spirit of America, and more.