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#1530 A Conversation with Jeffersonian Gardener ...

This week on the Thomas Jefferson Hour, Clay Jenkinson visits with Pat Brodowski, formerly the head gardener at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Pat explains how she found her way to Monticello, what she learned about Thomas Jefferson from working every day in his extensive garden, and how she is occupying her time now as a retiree. Plus, Pat gives tips to our listeners about how to grow something in the next year.

#1530 A Conversation with Jeffersonian Gardener Pat Brodowski
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#1515 Ten Things About Jefferson's Daughters ...

Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky and Clay Jenkinson discuss Jefferson's daughters. Thomas Jefferson was highly expectant of their behavior and let them know it through a series of letters. When he died in bankruptcy, his daughter Martha was left nearly penniless and had to deal with the aftermath of Jefferson's poor money management.

#1515 Ten Things About Jefferson's Daughters with Lindsay Chervinsky
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#1511 The Densmore Repatriation Project

Clay Jenkinson speaks with David Swenson about the ethnomusicologist Frances Densmore and her work with the Lakota in the Dakotas beginning in 1911. David has spent the last year working on The Densmore Repatriation Project, re-cataloging and restoring her wax cylinder recordings.

At Standing Rock in 1911, Frances Densmore met with dozens of tribal elders and recorded traditional songs on wax cylinder. Densmore documented this work in her book Teton Sioux Music which became a touchstone for learning about Lakota/Dakota culture. The Densmore Repatriation Project reintroduces the songs with new recordings made by contemporary Native singers.

#1511 The Densmore Repatriation Project
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#1502 Ten Things About the Supreme Court

Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky and Clay Jenkinson present ten things about the Supreme Court.

#1502 Ten Things About the Supreme Court
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#1492 Ten Things About King George III

Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky and Clay Jenkinson discuss King George III and his effect on the American Revolution. According to the British historian George Otto Trevelyan, the King was determined to "keep the rebels harassed, anxious, and poor, until the day when, by a natural and inevitable process, discontent and disappointment were converted into penitence and remorse."

#1492 Ten Things About King George III

#1362 Gardens to Miniatures

#1362 Gardens to Miniatures

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.

The Republic on the Brink of Collapse

The Republic on the Brink of Collapse

The words constitutional crisis are thrown about too often, but I must tell you we are in one now. The Trump White House has said it will not comply with the House of Representatives impeachment investigation. What if the Senate removes the last guardrail—legal eviction—and the President realizes that there is no further check on his behavior?

#1361 Constitution in Crisis

#1361 Constitution in Crisis

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.

Robinson Crusoe

Robinson Crusoe

Over the past few days I have had the wonderful guilty pleasure of sitting down to read Robinson Crusoe cover to cover. I know I should have been doing other things, some of them pressing, but I just sat there and read this famous and fabulous account of a man who is shipwrecked on a small island off of Venezuela and spends 28 years there, 26 alone with a parrot and some semi-domesticated flocks of goats.

#1358 Robinson Crusoe

#1358 Robinson Crusoe

"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.

#1357 The Dempster Highway

#1357 The Dempster Highway

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.

Meriwether Lewis on the Ohio

Meriwether Lewis on the Ohio

The extension of the Lewis and Clark Trail from St. Louis all the way to Pittsburgh is an invitation for all of us to reboot our understanding of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The late Stephen Ambrose deserves credit for giving ample space to the Ohio River portion of the transcontinental journey in Undaunted Courage and for penning a sentence that has been much reproduced in Lewis and Clark literature, especially by those who wish to bring greater prominence to the Eastern Legacy: “When they shook hands, the Lewis and Clark Expedition began.”

#1356 Considering Exceptionalism

#1356 Considering Exceptionalism

"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.