The American Idea Podcast

Now live: Natural Rights: The Declaration's Central Claim. The Declaration’s logic is simple but demanding: rights are unalienable, government exists to secure them, and power must be limited so it doesn’t become the chief threat. Listen: tinyurl.com/bp6p8yd2

Dropping tomorrow: Natural rights and limited government aren’t slogans. They’re a standard for judging power: rights come first, government comes second, and its job is to secure what it did not create. Subscribe: linktr.ee/theamericanidea

What causes a financial bubble? Why do some speculative booms end in collapse while others help fund real innovation? Learn about tulip mania, the 1929 crash, the dot-com bubble, the 2008 housing crisis, AI, and crypto. rss.com/podcasts/amide…

What causes a financial bubble? Why do some leave ruin behind, while others help build the future? This week learn about about tulip mania, the crash of 1929, the dot-com boom, the housing bubble, and whether AI or crypto fit the same pattern. Subscribe: linktr.ee/theamericanidea

FDR's civil liberties record: mass surveillance, press intimidation, internment camps, and a refusal to act on lynching. Historian David Beito joins Jeff Sikkenga for a reckoning with a celebrated presidency. Listen now: tinyurl.com/yeesme75

FDR: civil liberties champion or constitutional threat? Historian David Beito joins Jeff to examine mass surveillance, press intimidation, internment camps, and a president Harry Truman called "the coldest man I ever knew." Coming this week. linktr.ee/theamericanidea

Who financed the American Revolution? Thomas Willing secured gunpowder, managed war debt, and later became the first president of the Bank of the United States. Revolutionary War finance shaped the Constitution. Listen: tinyurl.com/5fuaz2p2

This week: Thomas Willing: The Revolution’s Forgotten Financier. How was the American Revolution funded? How did war debt shape the Constitution? Founding Era history + early American finance. Subscribe: linktr.ee/theamericanidea

The Anti-Federalists lost the ratification fight. But they forced a Bill of Rights, predicted judicial supremacy, and warned about executive power in terms we still use today. Were they wrong, or just early? 🎙️ Out now on The American Idea: tinyurl.com/bdb5eas7

The Anti-Federalists lost the ratification fight, but they forced the Bill of Rights, predicted judicial supremacy, and warned about executive power in terms we still use today. Were they wrong, or just early? 🔗 Subscribe: linktr.ee/theamericanidea

He helped write the Constitution, and lost some of the biggest fights over it. Then he defended it anyway, in essays no other founder could have written. New episode of The American Idea is out now. Listen: tinyurl.com/mr3hz43e

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James Madison was one of the two primary authors of The Federalist. What ideas did he promote through his essays? Did he disagree with some of the points he argued? Get to know Madison and The Federalist this Wednesday. Subscribe: linktr.ee/theamericanidea

The Federalist Papers changed American history. Most people have never actually read them. Today's episode of The American Idea is your guide: what they are, why they were written, and how to read them for yourself. 🎧 Listen now: tinyurl.com/2p9jdhrd

"The graveyards are full of indispensable men." Charles de Gaulle said it. But was he wrong about George Washington? New episode out now: Why the man who lost more battles than he won still held America together. tinyurl.com/fhxzd6u7

"The graveyards are full of indispensable men." Charles de Gaulle said it. But was he wrong about George Washington?New episode this week: Why the man who lost more battles than he won still held America together. linktr.ee/theamericanidea

Why did Thomas Jefferson left the presidency off his tombstone? He chose just three things to be remembered for: the Declaration, the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, and the University of Virginia. Today we dig into Jefferson's mind and ideas. rss.com/podcasts/amide…

Jefferson wanted only 3 things on his tombstone; being president wasn't one of them. This week on The American Idea, we explore what defines his legacy: the Declaration, the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, and the University of Virginia. Subscribe: linktr.ee/theamericanidea

NEW EPISODE: Was Huey Long a dictator or a champion of the common man? Author Thomas Patterson challenges the historical consensus on Louisiana's most controversial populist. 🎧 tinyurl.com/2xe3p548

Was Huey Long a dangerous demagogue or a misunderstood populist? This week our guest challenges the historical consensus, tracing Long's battles with Standard Oil, his feud with FDR, and his "capitalism with guardrails" philosophy. 🎧 linktr.ee/theamericanidea