025 Who Was Thomas Jefferson?
In The Past Lane - The Podcast About History and Why It Matters · Annette Gordon-Reed
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (traffic.libsyn.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
In this episode, we take a close look at another Founding Father - Thomas Jefferson (Episode 23 focused on Alexander Hamilton). And why not? Jefferson was born in the month of April – April 13th to be precise – and he's Thomas Jefferson, maybe the most multi-talented of the Founders. He was part businessman, philosopher, writer, naturalist, theologian, statesman, architect, and inventor -- among other things. To help us understand Jefferson and why he still matters – despite all the Hamilton mania these days – this episode has two parts:
1) First, I provide a brief overview of the life of Thomas Jefferson. In so doing, I'll raise some of the many key questions about the 3rd President, most especially: how could the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence also own 600 slaves? And have children with one of them (Sally Hemings)?
2) Then, I'll sit down with award-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed, co-author of the most recent major book on Jefferson, "Most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination. It's just been released in paperback. It's a deep and compelling examination of this most important and most enigmatic of Founders.
Show page and credits: http://inthepastlane.com/episode-025/