The Road to Now

Charlotte, NC has grown tremendously in the last half-century, yet it still lacks a clear national identity. While many know it today for its professional sports franchises or its prominence as a banking hub, the city was once recognized for its leadership in school integration following the 1971 Supreme Court ruling in Swann vs Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. Bob and Ben both spent pivotal years of their lives in the Queen City, so they dedicated the first portion of RTN Live in Charlotte to a conversation on the city and its history with two people who know it best: historian Tom Hanchett & journalist Pam Kelley. Dr. Thomas Hanchett served as Staff Historian for 16 years at Levine Museum where he curated the permanent exhibition Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers (named best in the Southeast by the South East Museums Conference), and a string of national-award-winning temporary exhibitions including COURAGE about the Carolina roots of the Brown v Board Civil Rights case. The second edition of his book, Sorting Out the New South City: Race, Class & Urban Development in Charlotte, 1875-1975 (UNC Press) will be available for purchase on February 3rd, 2020 (the very same day this episode launches!). Pam Kelley is a freelance journalist who spent 35 years covering Charlotte for The Charlotte Observer. Her book Money Rock: A Family's Story of Cocaine, Race, and Ambition in the New South (New Press, 2018) tells Charlotte's history through the life of Belton Lamont Platt, aka Money Rock, who went from one of Charlotte's most successful cocaine dealers to a redeemed man who now inspires others to change. "Money Rock is a deeply American story, one that will leave readers reflecting on the near impossibility of making lasting change, in our lives and as a society, until we reckon with the sins of our past." Our show opens with a song by musical guest David Childers, whose new album Interstate Lullaby is now available streaming or through his website- www.DavidChilders.com.

Dr. Molly Worthen (Department of History, UNC-Chapel Hill), Doug Heye (CNN/former RNC Communication Director) & Rufus Edmisten (Deputy Chief Council, Senate Watergate Committee/ former NC Secretary of State & Attorney General) join Bob & Ben for a conversation about charisma in American politics and society. Recorded live at the legendary Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, NC on January 25, 2020. Our gratitude to everyone who attended this sold out show! If you'd like to join us for a future recording, check out our calendar of live events by clicking here. The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

After our last episode on the separation of powers in the Constitution, we heard from several listeners who said they wished we'd spent more time on the topic. The people have spoken, so we're following up with another episode on modern politics and the Constitution with special guest, RTN-favorite Matt Negrin! Matt Negrin holds the record for most appearances on RTN. He is also Senior Producer for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. You can hear him as host of "Slowbama," on the The Daily Show Podcast Universe, available on apple podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere else you get The Road to Now. You can follow Matt on twitter at @MattNegrin. The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

2020 begins with an Impeachment Trial in the Senate and will end with a Presidential election, so Bob and Ben are kicking off the year discussing the relationship between the Executive and Legislative branches of the federal government. Their conversation covers the articles of impeachment against Trump, the gap between the modern Presidency and the Executive imagined by the founders, and the problems that might be solved by changing our expectations of Presidents moving forward. The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast network. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

In our final episode of 2019, Bob & Ben speak w/ historian Carson Hudson, whose program "Uncivil Christmas" tells of life in Williamsburg, Virginia during the years of the Civil War. Carson explains the politics and culture of the era, the major role that music played in uniting (and dividing) Americans during the war, the challenges of understanding how people in the past experienced war, and the ways that the Civil War still looms large in American culture today. Carson Hudson is Educational Program Developer at Colonial Williamsburg and a specialist in the history of war and music history. He is the author of multiple books on Williamsburg history, including Hidden History of Civil War Williamsburg (The History Press, 2019). To attend one of Carson's site tours, visit www.Colonial Williamsburg.com. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher. A special thanks to Melanie Crawford for encouraging us to interview Carson on RTN. The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. For more on our podcast, visit our website: www.TheRoadToNow.com.

On December 25, 1776, George Washington and his men celebrated their first post-Declaration of Independence Christmas by crossing a freezing river to mount a surprise attack against their enemies. The plan worked, but almost 250 years later the story of Washington crossing the Delaware might surprise you too. In this episode, RTN favorite Bruce Carlson of My History Can Beat Up Your Politics joins Bob & Ben for a conversation about one of the US's most recognized, yet little-known battles and how it affected the course of the Revolutionary War. If you enjoy this episode, check out My History Can Beat Up Your Politics, available anywhere you get The Road to Now. You can also hear Bruce in RTN Episode 85: The History of US-Mexican Relations w/ Bruce Carlson, recorded live from Avetts at the Beach in 2018. The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

In 1848, New England ships crossed the Bering Strait in pursuit of the bowhead whales that provided their income. In the years since, the activity of outsiders- from hunters, to government bureaucrats, to consumers of energy who never set foot in the region- has had a deep impact on the region, but the environment of Beringia has made the place itself an active participant in this process. About a century and a half after New England whalers crossed the Bering Strait, Bathsheba Demuth graduated High School in Iowa and moved north of the Arctic Circle in the Yukon. She later earned a PhD in history, and is currently Assistant Professor of History at Brown University. In this episode, Bathsheba joins Ben for a conversation about her research, how her fascination with the arctic led her to dedicate much of her life to understanding Beringia, and the ways that an environmental perspective allows us to better understand our place in the world and that of others. Bathsheba's new book, Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait was published by W.W. Norton & Co in 2019. It is a masterpiece. For more on Dr. Bathsheba Demuth, visit her website- www.brdemuth.com- and follow her on twitter at @brdemuth. The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

In this episode, recorded live from the 2019 convention of the Association of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) in San Francisco, Ben chairs a panel featuring scholars who are working on new, exciting and very important digital humanities projects that bring together scholars from different fields, and connect those inside the university to communities outside of academia. Our guests Anasttasia Bonch-Osmolovskaya (Russian Higher School of Economics) and Mikhail Melnichenko are Russian scholars currently working on Prozhito, which collects and digitizes diaries and other personal primary sources from the Soviet period, many of which were previously unavailable to anyone except family members and other holders of these sources. Our other guest Kelly O'Neill, oversees The Imperiia Project at Harvard University, which creates maps that connect people to history by creating a visual record of the lives and events of those who otherwise left few visual records of their own. Collectively, these scholars are breaking new ground, creating new and innovative ways of engaging others, and providing the sources that historians of the future can use to understand the past, so we are excited to share this work with our listeners. A special thanks to Andy Janco (who joins Ben in the intro) and Svetlana Rasmussen for the many hours of work that they invested to make this roundtable a success. We are also grateful to ASEEES for allowing us to record this panel and share this important work with our listeners. Links: The Imperiia Project -The Imperiia Project at Harvard University's Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. -Link to the map Kelly O'Neill discusses in this episode -The Imperiia Project on Twitter Prozhitto Prozhito's website (in Russian) Slavic DH on twitter

Pete Souza (photographer for Barack Obama/Ronald Reagan) and Erin Welsh (epidemiologist/cohost of This Podcast Will Kill You) joined Bob and Ben for a live episode in Chicago to discuss history, photography, politics, and what their fields have to teach each other. The images that we discussed in this episode are available on our episode page- click here to see them. If you enjoy this episode and want to hear more, you can hear another 16 minutes of Q&A w/ Pete & Erin, by supporting us on Patreon. Click here to join! Thanks to everyone who came to our live show and to the good people at Beverly Arts Center for their help in making this event happen! Tickets are on sale for our upcoming shows in Charlotte (Jan 24) and Carrboro, NC (Jan 25)! For tickets to these and all future live shows are available at our website by clicking here. Pete Souza's Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents and all of his other books are available at his website: www.PeteSouza.com. Erin Welsh's This Podcast Will Kill You is available anywhere you get this podcast, or at their website: www.ThisPodcastWillKillYou.com. The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

It's our sesquicentennial episode, so Bob and Ben thought it was time to catch up and talk about all the great things that have been happening in the last few months. The conversation covers The Avett Brothers' new album, the books they've been reading, and the questions about history that have kept them going. They also talk about the upcoming RTN live recordings and the plans they've laid out for the shows (hope to see you there)! We really appreciate everyone who has listened and showed us the love that has gotten RTN all the way to episode 150. Thank you for joining us on the road! The Road to Now is part of the Osiris Podcast Network. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.