2019, by Listening to America with Clay Jenkinson

2019

by Listening to America with Clay Jenkinson

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Pamela Hagan In this time of ranting tweets I turn to The Thomas Jefferson Hour continuously. If caught up I listen to past years. Always relevant and smart. Jefferson has to be proud that his smart words are represented by two intelligent and witty men.
The photo is of my dog Travis. He is the Jefferson of the dog world. My daughter Alison Hagan wrote to you about her mother hiking the mountains of Santa Fe while you were reporting of Jefferson ‘s disdain for dogs. Please keep up the excellent work!

Christopher Beach 10 out of 10! Favorite track: #1359 To Oxford.

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1.	#1319 Looking Back 59:16	lyrics	buy track
"I really loved the year 2018, but I'm even more looking forward to the year 2019." — Clay S. Jenkinson We look back at 2018 and wish everyone a happy New Year. This episode is our chance to revisit all of the great conversations we've had about Jefferson in 2018.
2.	#1320 Looking Forward 56:34	lyrics	buy track
"It's going to be a pivotal year in American history." — Clay S. Jenkinson We look forward to 2019 and discuss some of the episode topics that have been suggested to us by the Fans of the Thomas Jefferson Hour group on Facebook.
3.	#1321 January First 01:02:57	lyrics	buy track
January 1st was an important day to Thomas Jefferson for many reasons. This week, we speak with President Jefferson about notable New Year's Day occurrences during his life, including his wedding, his famous "wall of separation between church and state" letter to the Danbury Baptists, and the beginning of his famous correspondence with John Adams during the last years of their lives. We also tell the story of "the world's largest cheese" that Jefferson received while President.
4.	#1322 Roosevelt and Jefferson 01:01:07	lyrics	buy track
"Few people grow in office; few people grow in life. Roosevelt grew in life. He became more interesting, more sensitive, more thoughtful ... [Roosevelt] became more enlightened as time went on." — Clay S. Jenkinson Prompted by a listener request, and recognizing the 100th anniversary Theodore Roosevelt’s death, this week Clay Jenkinson discusses the differences, and a few similarities, between Roosevelt and Jefferson.
5.	#1323 The Only Security of All Is in a Free Press 01:00:55	lyrics	buy track
"were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." — Thomas Jefferson, 1787 This week we discuss the importance of a free press with President Jefferson. On November 4, 1823 Thomas Jefferson wrote to Marquis de Lafayette that "the only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted, when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary to keep the waters pure." In January of 1816 Jefferson wrote to Colonel Charles Yancey, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be. The functionaries of every government have propensities to command at will the liberty and property of their constituents. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves; nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe."
6.	#1324 Lochsa 01:00:19	lyrics	buy track
"nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free." — Thomas Jefferson, 1821 Clay Jenkinson returns from his cultural retreat held at Lochsa Lodge in Idaho last week and reports in on this year's meetings. Also, perhaps prompted by the 50th anniversary of the famous Beatles "rooftop concert," we wander into a short conversation about pop music, and discuss the recent extreme cold weather along with how Jefferson is co-opted by many of us without paying enough attention to the historical record.
7.	#1325 Pax Americana 58:52	lyrics	buy track
We answer listener questions this week, and we identify a specific melon seed that Pat Brodowski, the head gardener at Monticello, mentioned on a past episode. We also discuss Clay’s new ukulele. The most mail we received was about Robert Kagan's new book, The Jungle Grows Back, which Tom Friedman of The New York Times called "An incisive, elegantly written, new book about America’s unique role in the world."
8.	#1326 No Just Government Should Refuse 57:21	lyrics	buy track
"Let me add that a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, & what no just government should refuse or rest on inference." — Thomas Jefferson, 1787 President Jefferson answers a number of listener questions about the United States Constitution. We discuss the meaning of Article V, how much of the document is open to interpretation, and the idea of amending the Constitution every generation.
9.	#1327 Complex Compromises 55:27	lyrics	buy track
Jefferson answers questions about the Constitution, including topics like presidential pardon power, natural-born citizen requirements, and the constitutionality of signing statements.
10.	#1328 Constitutional Correspondence 01:02:01	lyrics	buy track
"What would fix this country? Almost the number one thing would be: take money out of politics." — Clay S. Jenkinson We continue our current theme of constitutional discussions by reading and considering listener mail, including a number of specific suggestions for constitutional amendments. We also share a report from a listener who visited Monticello when Ivanka and Jared Trump were there.
11.	#1329 Laboratories of Democracy 58:02	lyrics	buy track
"I am a loyal, proud, cheerleading sort of North Dakotan." — Clay S. Jenkinson A listener in Texas admonishes Clay for offering to give up a North Dakota senate seat, and we take questions about the Fourteenth Amendment. Our constitutional discussions continue by reading additional correspondence from listeners.
12.	#1330 Wilderness and War 57:43	lyrics	buy track
"This book reveals [Washington] as a man of emotion, raw emotion." — Clay S. Jenkinson In anticipation of our conversation next week with Peter Stark, the author of Young Washington, we speak with Jefferson about our first president. Jefferson also comments on the time change, and the importance of using available daylight.
13.	#1331 Young Washington with Peter Stark 55:19	lyrics	buy track
"The French ... thought it was an assassination, a war crime, that Washington was a murderer." — Peter Stark We speak with Peter Stark, author of Young Washington: How Wilderness and War Forged America’s Founding Father. We discuss George Washington’s formative years and character traits, his travels into the Ohio country, and his relationship with lieutenant governor Robert Dinwiddie. We talk about how Washington’s involvement in the Battle of Jumonville Glen touched off the French and Indian War. As a historian, Stark's writing focuses on adventure and exploration. A traveler himself, Stark is a long-time correspondent for Outside magazine. His 2014 book, Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire, was a New York Times bestseller.
14.	#1332 Smallpox 59:38	lyrics	buy track
"Having been among the early converts, in this part of the globe, to [the smallpox vaccine's] efficiency, I took an early part in recommending it to my countrymen." — Thomas Jefferson, 1806 Jefferson talks about his own smallpox inoculation, as well as John Adams’ experience. Jefferson admired Dr. Edward Jenner, the physician and scientist who was a pioneer of smallpox vaccination. Smallpox killed millions of people during Jefferson’s time, and continued to do so until the 20th century. The World Health Assembly declared smallpox eradicated in 1980.
15.	#1333 The Constitution Today 01:01:03	lyrics	buy track
"I don't think, from my point of view, you can think that the Constitution is sacred." — Clay S. Jenkinson We discuss Akhil Reed Amar's The Constitution Today, a selection for the Book Club, which contains essays written by Amar over the past two decades. Amar gives us a road map for thinking constitutionally about today’s America.
16.	#1334 Benjamin Rush with Stephen Fried 58:44	lyrics	buy track
"He and Jefferson talked about everything." — Stephen Fried Benjamin Rush was a physician, politician, social reformer, humanitarian, educator, and a signer of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Rush was a leader of the American Enlightenment and an enthusiastic supporter of the American Revolution. Born the son of a Philadelphia blacksmith, Rush touched virtually every page in the story of the nation’s founding. It was Rush who was responsible for the late-in-life reconciliation between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. This week we speak with the author Stephen Fried about his new book, Rush: Revolution, Madness, and Benjamin Rush, the Visionary Doctor Who Became a Founding Father.
17.	#1335 The Mustard Seed 58:47	lyrics	buy track
"You feel the wonderment of nature at its finest … it's a deep, deep, deep cultural memory of the miracle of the seed." — Clay S. Jenkinson We answer listener mail about John Wesley Powell, David Thompson, Daniel Flores, Jefferson’s theft of upland rice while he was in Italy, and suggestions for educating young people.
18.	#1336 Brodowski and Wright 57:52	lyrics	buy track
"It's such a gift. Every day." — Pat Brodowski We speak with two of our favorite Jefferson Hour correspondents: Pat Brodowski, the head gardener at Monticello, and Beau Wright, a frequent contributor to the show and a city council member of Lynchburg, VA.
19.	#1337 The Vaunted Scene 56:35	lyrics	buy track
“Behold me at length on the vaunted scene of Europe! […] I find the general fate of humanity here, most deplorable. The truth of Voltaire's observation, offers itself perpetually, that every man here must be either the hammer or the anvil.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1785 We speak with President Jefferson about his time spent in France.
20.	#1338 Notes on the State of Virginia 57:03	lyrics	buy track
"But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." — Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia We discuss Jefferson’s only published book, Notes on the State of Virginia. Jefferson completed his first draft of the book in 1781 and first published it anonymously in Paris in 1785. It is widely considered the most important American book published before 1800.
21.	#1339 Questions and Answers 01:08:35	lyrics	buy track
"Those forty books made a difference in his life, because he grew up in a house where there were books and book culture." — Clay S. Jenkinson This week on The Thomas Jefferson Hour, we answer listener questions including a query from a listener in Ireland asking about Jefferson’s thoughts on the Irish rebellion and constitution, Jefferson’s involvement in providing alcohol to troops, suggestions for a Jefferson library for children, and Jefferson’s advice for Americans traveling in Europe.
22.	#1340 A Gloom Unbrightened 58:31	lyrics	buy track
We speak with President Jefferson this week about death and suicide, specifically about the deaths of Meriwether Lewis, James Hemmings and Alexander Hamilton. After the death of his wife in 1782, Jefferson wrote, “All my plans of comfort and happiness reversed by a single event and nothing answering in prospect before me but a gloom un-brightened with one cheerful expectation. This miserable kind of existence is really too burdensome to be borne, and were it not for the infidelity of deserting the sacred charge left me, I could not wish its continuance a moment.” You can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
23.	#1341 Dinner with Jefferson 57:38	lyrics	buy track
"I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend." — Thomas Jefferson, 1800 This week, we ask President Jefferson about his famous dinner parties and their extensive menus. It was important to Jefferson to not appear too regal, and the dinner parties were kept somewhat casual. In 1802, a Federalist senator from New Hampshire was meeting Jefferson at a dinner when “a tall high boned man” entered the room wearing “an old brown coat, red waistcoat, old corduroy small clothes, much soiled—woolen hose—& slippers without heels.” He added, “I thought this man was a servant; but was surprised by the announcement it was the President.”
24.	#1342 Dressing Down 01:02:20	lyrics	buy track
"He was drest, or rather undrest, with an old brown coat, red waistcoat, old corduroy small clothes, much soiled-woolen hose-and slippers without heels." — William Plumer, 1802 This week we talk about Thomas Jefferson’s talent for political theater, and the ways he used this talent to reinforce the public perception of his firm beliefs in republicanism and guard against what he saw as a threat of monarchy in the young nation.
25.	#1343 Forty Books 01:02:32	lyrics	buy track
"He's never happier than when he can recommend a course of reading to somebody else." — Clay S. Jenkinson President Jefferson tells us what books he might recommend to juvenile readers, and it turns out to be a fairly limited list. He does, however, recommend Don Quixote, Gulliver’s Travels and Robinson Crusoe.
26.	#1344 Baked In 56:59	lyrics	buy track
We discuss how rigid people’s political thoughts have become during our time, George Will’s observations on citizen’s expectations of government, and what a contemporary Jeffersonian political party might stand for.
27.	#1345 Independence Day 55:07	lyrics	buy track
For our annual Jefferson Hour 4th of July show, we speak with President Jefferson (as portrayed by humanities scholar Clay S. Jenkinson) about the founding ideals of America and his participation in the writing of the Declaration of Independence.
28.	#1346 In Search of America 58:15	lyrics	buy track
"Mayor Pete of South Bend is saying that he would welcome certain erasures of Jefferson from our public discourse." — Clay S. Jenkinson Clay has returned from his recent travels and his search for America, and he updates us on that trip. We answer listener mail, including responses to the recent show, #1344 Baked In.
29.	#1347 Chernow's Hamilton 58:54	lyrics	buy track
"Jefferson comes off as a Machiavellian figure in this book, as not all together reliable and not always truthful in his epic fight against Hamilton." — Clay S. Jenkinson This week we present another installment in the Jefferson Hour Book Club and discuss Alexander Hamilton by author Ron Chernow.
30.	#1348 Tulip Poplars 53:32	lyrics	buy track
We discuss the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo moon landing and then are joined by two special guests. Jeff Huss of the Huss & Dalton Guitar Company in Staunton, Virginia talks about a very special project: the Jefferson Edition 00-SP Custom guitar which is crafted in part with wood from Monticello. Later in the program, Monticello’s head gardener Pat Brodowski tells us about the trees the wood came from and why they had to be cut down.
31.	#1349 Jefferson's Soul 58:53	lyrics	buy track
On August 20th, 1814, Thomas Jefferson received a letter from Miles King expressing King’s concerns for Jefferson’s eternal soul. King wrote, “And now permit me to ask dear Sir, are you not an old man well stricken in years, and laden with the highest honors that a grateful country can bestow? But what will these avail you in a dying hour?” We speak with President Jefferson this week about that letter and Jefferson’s reply to it.
32.	#1350 Diamonds and Dunghills 55:41	lyrics	buy track
This week, Clay takes a deeper look at Jefferson and religion. Jefferson considered the teachings of Jesus as having "the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man," but he felt that the pure teachings of Jesus were inaccurately appropriated by some of the early followers of Jesus which led to a Bible that had both "diamonds" of wisdom and the "dung" of ancient political agendas. In Notes on the State of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burned, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth.”
33.	#1351 Eight Objects 57:11	lyrics	buy track
Clay Jenkinson has returned from his annual Lewis and Clark trip in Montana and Idaho, and he gives us a report on the 2019 tour. Clay also offers a list of eight items Lewis and Clark would have certainly wished for on their journey, could they have had them.
34.	#1352 Clunky Adjectives 56:01	lyrics	buy track
President Thomas Jefferson answers listener questions, as does Thomas Jefferson Hour creator Clay S. Jenkinson. Subjects discussed include where the name “United States of America” comes from, the poet Phillis Wheatley, and slavery in the Northwest Territory.
35.	#1353 Humboldt and Jefferson 59:35	lyrics	buy track
"He was iconic in the world's idea of what a nation could possibly be, and what an enlightened leader could possibly be." — Clay S. Jenkinson portraying Thomas Jefferson This week features another episode in the Jefferson Hour book club. We discuss Humboldt and Jefferson: A Transatlantic Friendship of the Enlightenment by Sandra Rebok, which explores the relationship between two fascinating personalities: the Prussian explorer, scientist, and geographer Alexander von Humboldt and Thomas Jefferson. They met in the spring of 1804 for just a few days, but their correspondence went on for decades.
36.	#1354 In 1969 01:02:01	lyrics	buy track
This week we speak with Thomas Jefferson briefly about Alexander von Humbolt, and then bring Jefferson closer to our time by informing him that 50 years ago America landed men on the moon, which he has a bit of trouble believing. We also discuss Woodstock with Jefferson who says he hopes that if there were indeed women in attendance that they were all properly “escorted.”
37.	#1355 Inventive Behavior 55:20	lyrics	buy track
President Thomas Jefferson speaks to us this week about inventions and scientific discoveries of his time including some he was responsible for.
38.	#1356 Considering Exceptionalism 58:31	lyrics	buy track
"Our society should be a way of encouraging human possibility and human community." — Clay S. Jenkinson portraying Thomas Jefferson Prompted by a letter from a listener, President Thomas Jefferson shares his views on American exceptionalism and his hope that America will stand as a strong and good example for the rest of the world to follow.
39.	#1357 The Dempster Highway 55:47	lyrics	buy track
We are joined this week by David Nicandri, one of the most respected Lewis and Clark scholars in the country. His book, "River of Promise: Lewis & Clark on the Columbia" fills a significant gap in our understanding of Lewis and Clark’s legendary expedition. Nicandri joins us not so much to speak of that journey, but one of his own. In a fascinating conversation, Nicandri tells us about the journey he and his son took on the Dempster Highway all the way to the arctic ocean.
40.	#1358 Robinson Crusoe 01:01:47	lyrics	buy track
"It’s a classic enlightenment story: a novel in the history of ideas about how civilization is created from nothing." — Clay S. Jenkinson We present another installment of the Jefferson Hour Book Club this week, and the selection is Robinson Crusoe, written by Daniel DeFoe and published in 1719. It is a book Thomas Jefferson had in his library and reportedly read twice.
41.	#1359 To Oxford 54:06	lyrics	buy track
Thomas Jefferson Hour creator Clay S. Jenkinson is joined by his daughter Catherine who serves as this week’s guest host. Among the many topics discussed is Catherine's upcoming trip to England where she will become a student this fall at the University of Oxford.
42.	#1360 To Cuba 56:19	lyrics	buy track
We are joined again this week by Catherine Jenkinson acting as guest host for a delightful conversation about Cuba, Clay’s upcoming cultural tour to Cuba, Thomas Jefferson’s connection to Cuba, and Theodore Roosevelt’s time there. Catherine questions Clay as to whether or not Roosevelt was really the “man in the arena” during his exploits on San Juan Hill.
43.	#1361 Constitution in Crisis 59:27	lyrics	buy track
We speak with President Jefferson about the role of government in the oversight of elected officials. He tells us that because of the times they lived in, the founding fathers had great concerns about foreign involvement and influence on our government, and accordingly provided a mechanism to protect against it: impeachment.
44.	#1362 Gardens to Miniatures 59:47	lyrics	buy track
We are joined this week on the Thomas Jefferson Hour by three of our favorite friends: Pat Brodowski, Beau Wright, and Brad Crisler. Pat Brodowski is Monticello’s Head Gardener. Beau Wright is a council member at large for the city of Lynchburg, Virginia. Brad Crisler is an award-winning Nashville-based songwriter, who now operates Truman B. Crisler Fine Portrait Miniatures.
45.	#1363 The Social Contract 58:01	lyrics	buy track
"Average people have a voice, and often left important records that we have systematically ignored until very recently." — Clay S. Jenkinson President Thomas Jefferson speaks about the formation of the government of the United States. Jefferson explains the social contract theory that when you are alone, you are sovereign, and when you join with others you have to negotiate what is for the commonwealth, and negotiate what natural rights you get to keep after adjustment by the government.
46.	#1364 Listener Questions 56:04	lyrics	buy track
In this week's out-of-character program, our conversation is spent answering and responding to listener questions. Subjects included are Catherine Jenkinson’s recent hosting of the show, hot air balloons during Jefferson’s time, Theodore Roosevelt, and the rights of women, the LGBTQ community, and people of color.
47.	#1365 Back From France 57:01	lyrics	buy track
"Jefferson admits [to John] Adams, you were right and I was wrong about the French Revolution." — Joseph J. Ellis We welcome Clay Jenkinson back from his recent cultural tour to France, and speak with author Joesph Ellis about what Jefferson learned in France, and how it changed his outlook of the American dream.
48.	#1366 American Creation with Joseph Ellis 59:57	lyrics	buy track
"Understand him for his flaws as well as for his greatness." — Joe Ellis We welcome historian Joseph Ellis to the program this week to talk about his book American Creation. In the book, Ellis notes a series of five contributions the founding fathers made and Clay Jenkinson asks how those contributions are holding up during our time.
49.	#1367 Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson 56:32	lyrics	buy track
"For Franklin, knowledge was important, but application of knowledge ... mattered to him as much as any pure science." — Clay S. Jenkinson Thomas Jefferson had an immense respect for Benjamin Franklin, who was nearly 37 years his senior. Franklin became one of the most respected Americans during the revolution and was, in a sense, pushed there by British arrogance.
50.	#1368 Benjamin Franklin's Puffy Rolls 56:29	lyrics	buy track
"What's the use of a newborn baby?" Benjamin Franklin was considered "the grand old man" of the American Revolution, and when questioned about what the men of the Constitutional Convention had delivered, he answered, "A republic, if you can keep it." This week, in an out-of-character program, we talk more about Benjamin Franklin.
51.	#1369 Four Scholars 01:01:11	lyrics	buy track
"I take absolutely no joy in any of this. This is a national catastrophe, a tragedy." — Clay S. Jenkinson On December 4, 2019, four constitutional scholars gathered to testify before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in public hearings. This week in an out of character program we listen to selected portions of that testimony. Clay Jenkinson responds and provides his unique insight. He notes how often the founders are referred to during the hearings and says that the scholars "gave us an unbelievably important civics lesson on the intention of the founding fathers."
52.	#1370 Jefferson's Impeachments 59:15	lyrics	buy track
We speak with President Thomas Jefferson about the impeachments that took place during his presidency. There were two impeachments of federal judges, Thomas Pickering and Samuel Chase. In the out-of-character segment, Jenkinson shares the story of Aaron Burr, who had recently killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, presiding over the trial of Chase.
53.	#1371 The New Year 58:56	lyrics	buy track
This week, we welcome back Catherine Jenkinson as guest host. She and Clay Jenkinson discuss the celebrations of the new year and how the calendar has changed over the course of several millennia. They also discuss new year's resolutions, and the ways celebrations have changed since Jefferson’s time.

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released January 1, 2019

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Listening to America with Clay Jenkinson

The Thomas Jefferson Hour is a weekly radio program dedicated to the search for truth in the tradition of Thomas Jefferson.

Nationally acclaimed humanities scholar and award-winning first-person interpreter of Thomas Jefferson, Clay S. Jenkinson, portrays Jefferson on the program, and he answers listener questions while in the persona of our third president. ... more

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