Mercy Otis Warren - America's Forgotten Founding Historian and Thinker
Mercy Otis Warren not only wrote one of the first comprehensive histories of the American Revolution, she was also a leading Antifederalist thinker - and yet she is overlooked in most conventional histories of the era today. What makes her important and memorable? What can we learn from her today?Join Dr. Cara Rogers Stevens this week as she discusses this important American Founder with Brenda Hafera, Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation.Host: Jeff SikkengaExecutive Producer: Jeremy GyptonSubscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea
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Not the Arbiter of Truth - America's Complicated History of a Free Press
American press freedom has never followed a straight path. The Founding Fathers envisioned newspapers as partisan political weapons, not neutral truth-tellers. This "messy" approach let citizens decide truth for themselves rather than accepting government-approved narratives. Today's concerns about partisan media miss the point—embracing partisanship may produce healthier discourse than enforcing artificial neutrality. The real danger lies in government attempts to regulate speech through "disinformation boards," which risk transforming oversight into censorship tools. History reveals a pattern: wartime consistently triggers press restrictions, from the 1798 Sedition Acts that imprisoned journalists to Civil War censorship and World War I prosecutions. The choice remains between messy, chaotic free speech that challenges all perspectives, or organized, controlled information that serves those in power. Host: Jeff Sikkenga Executive Producer: Jeremy Gypton Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea
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Inside the Reagan White House: A Conversation with Ambassador Frank Lavin
Jeff discusses the inner workings of the Reagan White House with former AMB Frank Lavin, who had a front-row seat to many of Reagan’s key decisions and actions while president. Get to know Reagan as both a person and a leader; and read Frank’s book on the topic, linked below.Amazon link: https://a.co/d/fRQPTshHost: Jeff SikkengaExecutive Producer: Jeremy GyptonSubscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea
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2025 United States Supreme Court Decisions - Commentary and Analysis
Jeff is joined by constitutional law scholar Dr. Joshua Dunn to discuss the recently ended 2025 US Supreme Court term and some of the more interesting and potentially important decisions, as well as what seem like some friction between some of the justices.Get a free copy of Josh’s primary documents reader about the Judiciary: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/product/the-judiciary/Get a free copy of Jeff’s primary documents reader about the Supreme Court: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/product/the-supreme-court/Host: Jeff SikkengaExecutive Producer: Jeremy GyptonSubscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea
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America's First Core Document - The Declaration of Independence
In celebration of the 249th anniversary of America's independence, we look back not so much on the history of the Declaration of Independence, but on its meaning. And not just its meaning then, but its enduring meaning and what we can and should take from it now.This special episode contains the content of the first of three classes within our free, self-paced online course, "The American Idea." If you enroll, you can listen to thoughtful discussions of the Declaration of Independence, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, and Martin Luther King jr's "I Have a Dream" speech. You'll also be able to download a free PDF course reader so you can read these documents, and others, and discover their meaning yourself.Register here: https://courses.ashbrook.org/register/Host: Jeff SikkengaExecutive Producer: Jeremy GyptonSubscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea
The American Idea explores America's Founding principles and their effect on American history and government. Through thoughtful conversations with renowned academics and public figures from across the country, we examine the history and political thought behind our country’s greatest documents and debates, as well as contemporary issues, American popular culture, and political statesmanship. The podcast is a production of the Ashbrook Center and hosted by Jeff Sikkenga.
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