annette gordon-reed

Annette Gordon-Reed is the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard University. She's the author of six books, including The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Peter Onuf is the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Professor Emeritus in the Department of History at the University of Virginia. He's also author of numerous books, including most recently Statehood and Union: A History of the Northwest Ordinance. 

In 2017, these two giants in the history of the early American republic teamed up to publish the book at the heart of our discussion today, “Most Blessed of the Patriarchs”: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination. This book ranks among the most original and engaging studies of Thomas Jefferson and his times to appear in recent years. They join us today to discuss our third President, his life and times.

Two Pulitzer Prize-winning historians explain the difference between myth and reality in American history. David Blight, a professor at Yale, says we use myths to help process history, which can be dismal. “Much of history is dark because human nature is dark. We sometimes have to process the past in sentimentalism — in stories that allow us to wake up in the morning.” Annette Gordon-Reed, an American legal history professor at Harvard, says the point of history is to figure out how you got to where you are in present-day. Blight and Gordon-Reed sit down with John Dickerson, correspondent for “60 Minutes,” to discuss correcting America’s historical memory. They touch on historical events like the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, and whether reparations for injustice are realistic. The views and opinions of the podcast guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Aspen Institute.

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Before it wrapped up its term in June, the Supreme Court made decisions on two landmark cases: political gerrymandering and the census. How do these decisions and the makeup of the current Court foretell what’s to come on issues like Roe v. Wade, voting rights, and free speech? A panel of leading legal experts weighs in on how this term will impact the issues at the core of American life. Panelists include Neal Katyal, former US solicitor general, Emily Bazelon, staff writer for The New York Times Magazine, Annette Gordon-Reed, professor at Harvard Law School, Joan Biskupic, legal analyst for CNN, and Ted Olson, an attorney who has argued more than 60 cases in front of the Supreme Court. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates the conversation. The views and opinions of the podcast guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Aspen Institute.

aspenideas.org