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The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict w/ Laurence Broers (#248)

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Welcome to The Road to Now

Welcome to
The Road to Now

We're glad you've arrived.

The Road to Now is a history podcast that explains the story behind important events and outstanding individuals of today's world. Created in 2016 by Dr. Benjamin Sawyer and Bob Crawford, a founding member of the Grammy-nominated band The Avett Brothers, The Road to Now has brought historians, politicians, journalists and artists to the table for conversations that illuminate the map that brought us to where we are today.

Subscribe to The Road to Now on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, and anywhere podcasts are available. Don't have a podcast app? You can listen right on your computer and smart phone on our episode page by clicking play at the top of the page.

Keep up with show news and updates by following us on twitter, facebook, and instagram.

If you have any questions or show suggestions, please write to us at [email protected].

Thanks for joining us on the road,

Ben Sawyer and Bob Crawford

Latest Episodes

The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict w/ Laurence Broers (#248)

September 26, 2022

No commentArmenia and Azerbaijan were once fellow Republics within the USSR, but in the Soviet Union’s last days tension between them led to bloodshed and animosity that continues today. For decades, Russia played the role of peacekeeper in the region, but Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has opened the door for a new wave of Azerbaijani attacks on Armenia and both sides say the other is to blame. Laurence Broers has spent the last twenty years working as a scholar and peacemaker in the region, and has built relationships with leaders in both countries. In this episode, Laurence joins Ben for a conversation about the history of the conflict, the state of affairs today, and the impact that the international community has (and can) have on the people and politics of the region. Dr. Laurence Broers is Associate Fellow at the Russia-Eurasia Program at Chatham House, and the author of the book Armenia and Azerbaijan: Anatomy of a Rivalry. You can follow him on twitter at @LaurenceBroers. This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.

The French Revolution w/ Peter McPhee

September 5, 2022

No commentOn August 4, 1789, the National Assembly of France adopted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which asserted the Enlightenment ideals of universal rights and democracy. Though the French Declaration shared a common ideological lineage with the American Declaration of Independence, the French Revolution took a very different path: fifteen years after their founding revolutionary documents, the US had George Washington and France had Napoleon. In this episode of The Road to Now we talk to Dr. Peter McPhee, an expert on the history of the French Revolution at the University of Melbourne (Australia) to learn how geography, religion, and the French effort to fundamentally redefine society, shaped the complex course of the French Revolution. Peter explains how the French Revolution changed the world and left a legacy that is all around us today. (And for all you Hamilton fans- if you ever wondered what happened to the Marquis de Lafayette after Hamilton died, Dr. McPhee has the answer!) This is a rebroadcast of episode 78, which originally aired on November 9, 2017. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.

Rank Choice Voting w/ Scott Huffmon (#246)

August 29, 2022

No commentCould the structure of elections in the US be feeding the polarization in modern politics? Currently only about twenty percent of voters show up to the polls for what are often closed primaries, meaning that the general election is often a showdown between candidates who have appealed to the most extreme elements of their party’s base. This is far from an optimal outcome in a country where few voters identify with political extremes. Most voting experts believe that the way to reduce the influence of the most extreme voices in our political system would be through open primaries in which voters can choose any candidate regardless of party affiliation. This system would favor candidates who speak to a broader swath of the American public and give voters a more representative general election ballot. In this episode, Bob welcomes back to the show his former Political Statistics Professor, Dr. Scott Huffmon, to discuss Rank choice voting and the 2022 election primaries. Dr. Huffmon is a professor of political science as well as the founder and director of the Center for Public Opinion & Policy Research (CPOPR) at Winthrop. Dr. Huffmon also directs the Winthrop Poll initiative, which is the most important poll focusing on the south. You can follow him on twitter at @HuffmonPolitics. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

Cryptocurrency: A Brief History w/ David Hollerith (#245)

August 22, 2022

No commentWhen Bitcoin launched in January 2009, few people took it seriously and even fewer had the means to mine, buy or spend it. By the end of 2021, the Pew Research Center reported that 16% of Americans had held cryptocurrency and 86% had heard of it. Despite all of this, many of us remain perplexed by the topic, so Ben and Bob invited Yahoo! Finance’s David Hollerith to join us for a conversation about the origins and potential of crypto. We hope this helps! David Hollerith is a senior reporter who covers cryptocurrency for Yahoo! Finance. To keep up on his reporting, make sure to follow him on twitter at @DsHollers. If you enjoy this episode, check out #192 The History of Financial Bubbles w/ William Quinn. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher. David Hollerith’s Crypto Reading list: The summer's liquidity crisis:

‘Things start to break:’ Crypto faces 'liquidity crisis' (Yahoo Finance)

'I trusted them with my savings:' Crypto investors scramble after accounts frozen (Yahoo Finance)

The Crypto Geniuses Who Vaporized a Trillion Dollars (NY Mag)

Crime and Privacy:

U.S. sanctions crypto mixing service Tornado Cash, citing North Korea ties

Major institutional investors not done yet:

BlackRock announces new bitcoin trust, sends small token up 35% (Yahoo Finance)

Here are two explainers on what crypto is:

Latecomer’s guide to crypto (NYT) (helpful guide, no need to read all of it!)
Short video of how the crypto industry’s biggest players explain what it is (3:39 minute)

Presidential Rhetoric: The last one hundred years w/ Bruce Carlson (#244)

August 15, 2022

No commentPolitical rhetoric has become increasingly divisive in the 21^st century, but many of the themes and rhetorical strategies we see today have deep roots in American history. In this episode, Ben and Bruce Carlson (My History Can Beat Up Your Politics) discuss the impact that technology, society and other factors have had on Presidential rhetoric from the 1932 contest between Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt to the election of 2020. A lot has changed since the Great Depression, but the similarities between then and now might surprise you. Bruce Carlson is the host of My History Can Beat Up Your Politics. For more on his podcast, follow @myhist on twitter, check out his website here and subscribe to MHCBUYP anywhere you get The Road to Now. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

Out of the Trenches: What a World War I Truce Can Teach Us About Modern Politics w/ Curt Stedron (#243)

August 8, 2022

No commentPartisanship in politics has become increasingly tense in the 21^st century, and while many Americans lament this polarization, few seem convinced that a rapprochement is possible. Yet history is full of proclaimed enemies striking mutually beneficial deals even in the toughest conditions. In this episode, NCSL Director Curt Stedron explains how a deep examination of the Christmas truce struck between Entente and Allied powers during World War I can reveal some core lessons for finding common ground in even the most horrific conditions. Curt Stedron is Director on the Legislative Training Institute at the National Conference of State Legislatures, a non-pa

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rtisan organization whose mission is “to advance the effectiveness, independence and integrity of legislatures and to foster interstate cooperation.” He is a graduate of West Point and previously served as an Officer in the US Army. This conversation grew out of his talk “Lessons in Trust: The Christmas Truce of 1914,” which he delivered at the 2022 NCSL Legislative Summit and can be viewed via NCSL’s linkedIn page here. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

The Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East w/ Eugene Rogan (#112 Rebroadcast)

August 1, 2022

No commentAt the beginning of the 20th century, most of the territory that we call the Middle East- including Syria, Iraq, Israel and Turkey- were part of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman alliance w/ Germany and Austria-Hungary during World War I provided Britain and France w/ the opportunity to divide the once-great empire into many states based on European imperial ambitions. In this episode Bob and Ben speak w/ Eugene Rogan to learn more about why the Ottoman Empire was divided, how that process shaped the Middle East, and how this history helps us understand the world today. Dr. Eugene Rogan is a Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. He is author of The Arabs: A History (Penguin, 2009, 3rd edition 2018), which has been translated in 18 languages and was named one of the best books of 2009 by The Economist, The Financial Times, and The Atlantic Monthly. His new book, The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East, 1914-1920, was published in February 2015. We’d also like to say a special thanks to the family of Roscoe L. Strickland Jr. for providing the support that brought Dr. Rogan to MTSU as part of the Strickland Scholars Program. Additional thanks goes to Dr. Susan Myers-Shirk for her work in arranging for MTSU’s Strickland Scholars to appear on our podcast. This is a rebroadcast of episode 112 which originally aired on November 19^th, 2018. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.

Why Bushwick Bill Matters w/ Charles Hughes (#242)

July 25, 2022

No commentYou might know Bushwick Bill as a member of the iconic Houston rap group The Geto Boys, but his contributions to rap music, his role in the debates over free speech in the 1990s, and his overall influence are far more substantial than you probably realize. In this episode, we welcome Charles Hughes back to the show to discuss his new book Why Bushwick Bill Matters (Univ. of Texas Press) and to get a better understanding of the challenges and triumphs that shaped one of rap history’s most influential artists. Dr. Charles Hughes is the Director of the Lynne and Henry Turley Memphis Center at Rhodes College. His previous books include Country Soul: Making Music and Making Race in the American South which Rolling Stone named one of the Best Music Books of 2015. You can hear our previous conversation with Charles in episode #25 The History of Country and Soul Music in the American South w/ Charles Hughes. You can follow Charles on twitter at @CharlesLHughes2. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

Basically Anybody Can Do It (#241)

July 18, 2022

No commentBen tells Bob how Thai food became so prominent in the US and shares the story of the bizarre origins and sudden demolition of the Georgia Guidestones. Ben also gives an update on Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn’s (of 1776 Commission fame) recent comments that teachers come from “the dumbest parts of the dumbest colleges in the country” and that he wants to “demonstrate that you don’t have to be an expert educate a child because basically anybody can do it” (all of which he said as Tennessee Governor Bill Lee sat quietly next to him.) Sources and Relevant Material Phil Williams, “REVEALED: Teachers come from ‘dumbest parts of dumbest colleges,’’ Tenn. Governor’s education advisor tells him.” News Channel 5 Nashville, June 30, 2022. The Goods from the Woods podcast #337 “Zagnut Factory w/ Ben Sawyer” (July 13, 2022). This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

Surrender in the American Civil War w/ David Silkenat (#135 Rebroadcast)

July 11, 2022

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Robert E. Lee’s surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865 marked the end of the American Civil War, but it was just one of many times that officers and soldiers faced the reality of surrender. Throughout the four years of the war, approximately one in four soldiers surrendered to the opposing army. In this episode, David Silkenat explains how looking at surrender as both an experience and a set of codes offers a new and insightful perspective on the Civil War and those who lived through it.

Dr. David Silkenat is Senior Lecturer in American History at the University of Edinburgh and author of four books, including Waving the White Flag: How Surrender Defined the American Civil War (UNC Press, 2019). He is also the cohost of The Whiskey Rebellion podcast alongside Frank Cogliano. You can follow David on twitter at @davidsilkenat.

This episode is a rebroadcast of RTN #135, which originally aired on July 8^th 2019.

This episode was originally edited by Gary Fletcher. This rebroadcast was edited by Ben Sawyer.

When the People Decide: A History of Ballot Initiatives w/ Jenna Spinelle (#240)

July 4, 2022

No commentJenna Spinelle joins Ben & Bob for a discussion about her new podcast, When the People Decide, which traces the origins of ballot initiatives in the United States and their impact on American politics in recent years. Jenna Spinelle is the Communications Specialist for the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State, where she also teaches classes in the college of communications. You can follow her on twitter at @JennaSpinelle. To learn more about the differences between initiatives and popular referenda and which states allow citizens to directly propose laws, visit The National Conference of State Legislatures’ guide to the Initiative and Referendum Processes. This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.

The Best History Stories You’ve Probably Never Heard w/ Greg Jackson (#239)

June 27, 2022

No commentOne episode. Two historians/podcasters. Four stories from American history that you’ve probably never heard. And an unknown number of listeners that we hope will find these stories as fascinating and surprising as we do. Greg Jackson is the creator of History That Doesn’t Suck and a Professor at Utah Valley University. Ben Sawyer hosts this podcast and has been teaching history at the university level for over a decade and a half. You might think that at this point they’ve heard it all, but when you keep digging into history, it just keeps surprising you. In this episode, Greg and Ben each share two stories that they discovered in the last year that they found to be the most fascinating. Enjoy! This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.