Revolution 250 is a consortium of organizations in New England planning commemorations of the American Revolution's 250th anniversary. https://revolution250.org/Through this podcast you will meet many of the people involved in these commemorations, and learn about the people who brought about the Revolution--which began here. To support Revolution 250, visit https://www.masshist.org/rev250Theme Music: "Road to Boston" fifes: Doug Quigley, Peter Emerick; Drums: Dave Emerick
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Learn to connect better with others in every area of your life. Immerse yourself in spirited conversations with people who know how hard it is, and yet how good it feels, to really connect with other people – whether it’s one person, an audience or a whole country. You'll know many of the people in these conversations – they are luminaries in our culture. Some you may not know. But what links them all is their powerful ability to relate and communicate. It's something we need now more than ever.
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In this special episode of Clear and Vivid we reflect on Frans’ life-long commitment to revealing how much we humans have in common with our primate cousins.By Bobi NYC
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Partisans and Redcoats: South Carolina in the Revolution with Walter B. Edgar
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South Carolina's impact on the outcome of the war as well as the founding of the new nation cannot be overstated. We turn to Walter Edgar, retired George Washington Distinguished Professor of History at the University of South Carolina, host of the popular podcast, “South Carolina from A to Z.” and author of the must-read volume Partisans and Redco…
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Justice Stephen Breyer: Understanding What They Meant
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When interpreting the Constitution, the dangers of relying solely on the words and what they meant at the time, without taking into account the purpose and values expressed in those words.By Bobi NYC
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Mayflower Descendants in the Revolution with Mark Schmidt
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Did you know that the generation that declared independence from Great Britain were closer to the Mayflower generation than we are to the Independence generation? 150 years after the landing of the Mayflower with 102 passengers on the tip of Cape Cod, their descendants were leading 13 Colonies in a spirited and armed defense of the rights and liber…
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A leading physicist herself, Shohini Ghose has wonderful stories about the trials and triumphs of the many mostly unsung women whose work helped open up the universe.By Bobi NYC
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George Rogers Clark and the Northwest Territory
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George Rogers Clark conquered the Northwest. Or did he? We talk with Larry Nelson, historian of Ohio, co-author (with David Curtis Skaggs) of The Sixty Years War for the Great Lakes 1754-1814, about the Northwest Territory in the Revolution, and a book about Alexander McKee. This area, larger than the existing 13 colonies, was contested by the Nati…
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We can get used to things to the point where even something we once thought wonderful can lose its luster. More sinister, we can also get used to the drip, drip of falsehoods till we become dulled to their danger. How to overcome habituation, and even take advantage of it.By Bobi NYC
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The Unexpected Abigail Adams with John L. Smith
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She was a wife, mother, confidant, and a social and political advisor during one of the most tumultuous periods of American history. Despite never being elected to an office, in recognition of her power of influence and sagacity her portrait now hangs permanently in the Senate Chamber of the Massachusetts General Court. Few women in the period of t…
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Keith Houston: There’s More to Writing Than Words.
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The intriguing stories behind the often weird and baffling origins of punctuation and other symbols we use to communicate. And it’s not just commas, colons and periods. There are pilcrows, octothorps, interrobangs and a whole menagerie more.By Bobi NYC
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Richard Brookhiser has been writing about American politics for half a century, though he has refreshed himself by writing a dozen books about the founding period, beginning with Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington, with additional books on Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, the Adamses, Alexander Hamilton, and Abraham Lincoln, "the Fou…
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The Irondale Ensemble Project, a theater company rooted in improvisation, created a program to help police and community build trust and mutual understanding through theater games.By Bobi NYC
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The Revolutionary War Lives & Letters of Lucy & Henry Knox with Phillip Hamilton
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Henry Knox, Boston book-seller and emerging patriot, in 1774 married Lucy Flucker, daughter of the Provincial Secretary and leading loyalist. Lucy's family would leave with the loyalist evacuation in March 1776, forced out by the cannon Henry brought from Ticonderoga. Lucy would never see them again. She and Henry would exchange more than 500 lette…
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You may think you were free to choose that chocolate ice cream over the vanilla. But maybe the choice was made for you before you were even born – that the free will you believe you are exercising in your everyday decisions is an illusion.By Bobi NYC
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Phillis Wheatley's poetry continues to inspire and to challenge us. Poets Artress Bethany White and Danielle Legros Georges brought together twenty contemporary Black women poets to reinterpret, or reimagine, Phillis Wheatley Peters' poems. Today, in addition to Artress and Danielle, we are joined by two of the poets, Florence Ladd and Yalie Saweda…
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Tom Hanks: Making a Book About Making a Movie
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And what a book it is, a rich sprawling novel called The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece, which Tom himself describes as a “primer on the long slog of bringing an idea from somebody’s head to a theater near you.”By Bobi NYC
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Liberty Poles in the Early Republic with Shira Lurie
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Liberty Poles were central to the Revolution, as Patriots raised them to symbolize their resistance, and British soldiers tore them down. Americans in the 1790s revived the custom of Liberty Poles, in opposition to the policies of the Washington and Adams administrations. We talk with Shira Lurie, author of .The American Liberty Pole: Popular Polit…
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Why can’t AI bots be made to be good, to be moral, so they’ll help us and not do harmful or terrible things? But just whose moral values would we want them to have? And what if they become too moral?By Bobi NYC
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The Fisherman's Cause & Poseidon's Curse with Christopher Magra
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The American Revolution began along the waterfront. We talk with Christopher Magra, author of two books on different aspects of the maritime war: The Fisherman's Cause delves into the role of Massachusetts' cod fishery in the years before the war. and the transformation of fishing vessels into warships; and Poseidon's Curse e shows how Britain's im…
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Eric Schmidt: AI: The Good, the Bad and the Scary.
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He was for many years the CEO of Google where he had a bird’s eye view of the dramatic evolution of artificial intelligence. And while he is alarmed by the many dangers of AI, especially its ability to create fake people in this election year, he is also enthusiastic about the huge opportunities he sees for AI benefitting medicine, education and th…
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She Spies - Women in the American Revolution with Aly Riley
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The history of the American Revolution is peppered with the stories of women who perform acts of heroism in service to the cause of Liberty. Women such as Mary Ludwig Hays, Margaret Corbin & Deborah Sampson are among the many heralded for their service. Many more women served as information gatherers for General Washington, and today, Aly Riley, au…
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She earned that unofficial title from her peers through her pioneering work harvesting big data to power AI, leading to the recent breakthroughs such as ChatGPT and its many successors. Her personal story is inspiring, from her childhood in China to risking her scientific career on a research gamble that might well have failed. And like a real godm…
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Saratoga: The Turning Point with Mark O'Rourke
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Why are there so few—if any—good movies about the Revolution? Maybe because the right people with the right passion have not made them. Mark O'Rourke is a veteran of the U.S. Army, and an attorney, and has now launched a new mission—producing a film about :1777: Saratoga, the Turning Point of the War.. We talk with Mark O'Rourke about the battle of…
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Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda - Season 24 trailer
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Alan and Executive Producer Graham Chedd chat about and play excerpts from Alan's conversations with some of the guests in the new season, beginning next week. Guests include computer scientist Fei-Fei Li; former CEO of Google Eric Schmidt; and actor Tom Hanks.By Bobi NYC
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Franklin and Washington loom large for civic virtue and disinterested patriotism, and Madison warned that good and wise statesmen would not always be at the helm, because many of their contemporaries were self-interested schemers and outright liars. We hear from Timothy Hemmis and David Head editors of A Republic of Scoundrels, which introduces us …
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Cynthia Breazeal: Her Robots Have Warmth!
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Their social, communicative and emotional skills allow her robots to seamlessly collaborate with us. A pioneer in the field of social robotics, Cynthia Breazeal is now turning her focus to ensuring we understand the limits and risks of the artificial intelligence that powers those robots – that we become “AI literate.”…
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The Underwriters of the United States with Hannah Farber
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Maritime insurers not only assessed risk--they built markets and the new nation. During times of war and peace they formed a vital communication and information network. Their capital also helped to finance the war and the development of the American republic. We talk about their world with Hannah Farber, historian of the Revolution and early Repub…
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Abraham Amiri: From Afghanistan to the Stars
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An unquenchable passion for astronomy born from gazing at the stars from a rooftop as a child led to his setting up a nationwide program in astronomy in Afghanistan. Escaping the wrath of the Taliban for the sin of teaching young women about the universe, he is now a graduate student at UCLA.By Bobi NYC
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Thomas Paine & Washington Crossing the Delaware
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The rebellion nearly ended in December 1776, with Washington's army beaten in New York and chased across New Jersey, which the enemy then garrisoned with Hessian troops in Trenton to keep an eye on Washington's dwindling forces across the Delaware. Washington now had fewer than 3000 men, and their enlistments would expire at the end of the year. In…
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A new book takes a fresh look at Abraham Lincoln’s life by recounting sixteen face-to-face encounters Lincoln had with people who differed with him, sometimes vehemently. The book not only reveals his skills as a master politician in a deeply divisive time, but also has lessons for today.By Bobi NYC
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God Save Benedict Arnold! - with Jack Kelly
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Benedict Arnold remains one of the most controversial actors in the history of the American Revolution. His being an undeniable hero of the early years of the conflict made his later betrayal of the American cause all the more shocking. We talk with Jack Kelly about his new book, God Save Benedict Arnold: The True Story of America's Most Hated Man.…
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A Tony winner for his performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton, he is now starring on Broadway in the hit play Purlie Victorious. One of the secrets to his success: letting go.By Bobi NYC
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The 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party
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With only 4 days to go until the 250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, we talk with Evan O'Brien, Creative Manager of the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum on the weekend of events, the culmination of two years of commemorations and the beginning of the Revolution's 250th. A lot going on between the Tea Party Ships & Museum and Revolutionary Spa…
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Kate Cohen: Asks if You Need God to be Good
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It took her years to admit to family and friends that she was a non-believer. But she found that pretending to believe wasn’t working. Her book is“We of Little Faith: Why I Stopped Pretending to Believe, And Maybe You Should Too."By Bobi NYC
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Jefferson & Madison's 1791 Road-trip with Louis P. Masur
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Two unlikely tourists traveled through the Hudson Valley and New England in the early summer of 1791, wanting to study the region's flora and fauna as well as the Native American languages. Or were Thomas Jefferson and James Madison on a political mission? We talk with Louis P. Masur, cultural historian, who has written books about Benjamin Frankli…
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Peter Hotez: The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science
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In his new book, the doctor familiar on TV in his white coat and bow tie tells how his attempts to correct lies about covid vaccines led to death threats; while the lies themselves led to some 200,000 unnecessary deaths among those refusing vaccination.By Bobi NYC
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"Washington's Marines" with Maj. General Jason Q. Bohm
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Jarheads, Devil Dogs, and Leathernecks are all nicknames that have been used to describe members of the United States Marine Corps. However, their esprit de corps and valor stand as their most iconic and reliable qualities. Many are unaware how The Corps got their start during the American Revolution as a valuable multi-faceted and innovative fight…
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Heather Cox Richardson: She’ll Write You a Letter
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Two million of us get a letter in our inboxes every morning with a calm, clarifying take on what happened yesterday— from the perspective of a historian, yet written with the intimacy of a friend.By Bobi NYC
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The British Consul-General in Boston, Dr. Peter Abbott, OBE
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During his audience with King George III after becoming the first Minister from the United States to the Court of St. James, John Adams said "I have the Honor to assure your Majesty of their unanimous Disposition and Desire to cultivate the most friendly and liberal Intercourse between your Majesty’s Subjects and their Citizens." Adams' assurance h…
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Columnist and author David Brooks tells how he’s changed over his 60 something years – in part through the books he’s written exploring how people see themselves and others. He shares the insights he’s gained into truly knowing the people around us.By Bobi NYC
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Revolutionary Spaces, Public History and Graphic Storytelling with Matthew Wilding
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Matthew Wilding is the Director of Education & Interpretation at Revolutionary Spaces, the caretaker for two of Boston's most historic buildings, the Old State House and Old South Meeting House. We talk about their new interpretive ventures--plays, immersive games, walking tours, and exhibits, and about public history in Boston. Matt Wilding discus…
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Marcus du Sautoy: Around the World in 80 Games
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Enjoy playing games? You’ll enjoy them even more once renowned mathematician, Oxford University professor and avid game player Marcus du Sautoy tells Alan why they so fascinate us. And Alan tells Marcus about his favorite game – one even Marcus didn’t know.By Bobi NYC
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Jews and the American Revolution with Professor Jonathan Sarna
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The allure of America with all of its possibilities brought many people to its shores during the Colonial period. Jewish congregations in Savannah, Charleston, Philadelphia, New York, and Newport formed small but important parts of American society. We talk with Professor Jonathan Sarna, the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish…
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Stephanie Land’s lifelong passion for writing – along with a college degree she could ill afford – led to a bestselling book and a hit TV series, allowing her to escape the poverty trap ensnaring so many single mothers.By Bobi NYC
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The Epic Revolutionary Saga with Jenny L. Cote
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The Epic Revolutionary Saga is a planned 7-volume series of novels following Max (Scottie dog), Liz (a French cat) and a coterie of animal friends through the American Revolution. Along the way they meet the central characters on both sides--the Patrick Henry (the Voice), George Washington (the Sword), Thomas Jefferson (the Pen), along with the Mar…
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Not only does he have an astonishing memory himself, but Frank Felberbaum has taught thousands of others, including Alan, how to improve their memory skills – especially for putting names to faces.By Bobi NYC
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In her new book "Battle Green Vietnam," Elise Lemire examines what must be the most controversial anti-war march ever. On Memorial Day weekend in 1971, 400 Vietnam Veterans engaged in "Operation POW" during which the Veterans marched from Concord Bridge to Bunker Hill. Join Professor Robert Allison (Suffolk University Department of Language, Histor…
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Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda - Season 23 trailer
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Alan and Executive Producer Graham Chedd chat about and play excerpts from Alan's conversations with some of the guests in the new season, beginning next week. Guests include astronomer Abraham Amiri; memory expert Frank Felberbaum; and actor Leslie Odom Jr.By Bobi NYC
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Playwright Patrick Gabridge uses theatre to convey the human story of the Revolution and other historic events. Through his "Plays in Place" he and actors have told the stories of the Boston Massacre in the Council Chamber of the Old State House, the decision for independence at Old North Church, as well as the stories of abolitionists and others a…
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The acclaimed biographer spent two years in Musk’s company as his subject launched rockets, built electric cars, decided to save humanity by sending us to Mars, became the richest man in the world and bought Twitter – all the while often behaving like an “absolute jerk.”By Bobi NYC
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The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams with Stacy Schiff
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Stacy Schiff's biography of Samuel Adams, The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams is a milestone in Revolutionary-era biographies, and introduces a complex and engaging political character--his main focus was liberty, and he learned how to shape a revolutionary movement to secure it. Pulitzer-prize winning biographer Stacy Schiff--born in the town of Adams…
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