Joseph Priestley

#1292 Common Sense

#1292 Common Sense

"Paine refused to take proceeds from this book."

— Clay S. Jenkinson

This week, we present another of our Jefferson Hour Book Club episodes and discuss Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.

#1236 Listener Letters

#1236 Listener Letters

"Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen people, whose breasts he has made his peculiar deposit for substantial and genuine virtue. It is the focus in which he keeps alive that sacred fire, which otherwise might escape from the face of the earth."

— Thomas Jefferson

This week, the entire episode — well, almost the entire episode — is devoted to answering letters from listeners. Questions received include the story of Jefferson's many talents, whether or not Jefferson had a bust of Alexander Hamilton at Monticello, and how to re-create experiments from Jefferson's age.

#1232 Listener Questions

#1232 Listener Questions

This week, we discuss listener questions about architecture, Sally Hemings, revolutionary war, Jefferson as a scientist, recommended books and how Clay's life has been affected by performing as Thomas Jefferson.

"What I discovered was that Jefferson embodies — in many respects, not in all of them — the world that I want to live in. I want to live in Thomas Jefferson's America." — Clay