Historian and broadcaster Professor Adam Smith explores the America of today through the lens of the past. Is America - as Abraham Lincoln once claimed - the last best hope of Earth?
Produced by Oxford University’s world-leading Rothermere American Institute, each story-filled episode looks at the US from the outside in – delving into the political events, conflicts, speeches and songs that have shaped and embodied the soul of a nation.
From the bloody battlefields of Gettysburg to fake news and gun control, Professor Smith takes you back in time (and sometimes on location) to uncover fresh insights and commentary from award-winning academics and prominent public figures.
Join us as we ask: what does the US stand for – and what does this mean for us all?
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Historian and broadcaster Professor Adam Smith explores the America of today through the lens of the past. Is America - as Abraham Lincoln once claimed - the last best hope of Earth?
Produced by Oxford University’s world-leading Rothermere American Institute, each story-filled episode looks at the US from the outside in – delving into the political events, conflicts, speeches and songs that have shaped and embodied the soul of a nation.
From the bloody battlefields of Gettysburg to fake news and gun control, Professor Smith takes you back in time (and sometimes on location) to uncover fresh insights and commentary from award-winning academics and prominent public figures.
Join us as we ask: what does the US stand for – and what does this mean for us all?
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A year on, what does Trump’s comeback say about Biden’s understanding of the country he led? Was his vision of America already obsolete — a relic of the bipartisan consensus forged in the 1950s when young Joe was coming of age?
In this episode, we trace Biden’s life through the long arc of American politics over the last 80 years, examining the forces that shaped him and the decisions that defined his time in office, his personal story—tragedy, perseverance, and decades of political ambition—and his commitment to a particular vision of America, as the last best hope of earth.
In the end, what do Biden’s undoubted successes and ultimate, era-defining failure tell us about that optimistic, exceptionalist vision of America in which he so passionately believed?
Adam Smith is joined by Franklin Foer, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future. And Bruce Schulman, William E. Huntington Professor of History at Boston University, and pre-eminent scholar of American political history.
The Last Best Hope? is a podcast of the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford. For details of our programming go to rai.ox.ac.uk
Producer: Emily Williams. Presenter: Adam Smith
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.