The Nation Was Born Bickering
Rick Atkinson on the Revolution we misremember
Rick Atkinson has spent thirteen years living inside the American Revolution. He talks about the founders like friends because he’s pored over letters and diaries from the patriots and the British. As Rick tells it, everyone in the story is more interesting than we imagine. King George is far more nuanced than the Hamilton portrayal (but we still love Jonathan Groff forever). British soldiers were more skilled and more emotionally strained than the “lobster backs” characterization captures. And the founders weren’t just fighting the British. The Revolution was also a terrible, violent, bloody civil war.
In Rick’s riveting, painstakingly-researched telling, America was born bickering and still manages to make progress. Rick doesn’t buy into American exceptionalism, but he sees parts of our past and our opportunities as exceptional. This conversation was the perfect semiquincentennial celebration for me. I hope it will be for you, too. - Beth
Topics Discussed
The Revolution as America's first civil war
Why Britain lost a war it was expected to win — and the role of allies
The human cost: Valley Forge and the letters of Sergeant Oliver Reed
The women of the Revolution and "remember the ladies"
Reliable and unreliable narrators in history
American exceptionalism, reconsidered
Outside of Politics: the glory of fair food
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Episode Resources
The Fate of the Day, Volume 2 of the Revolution Trilogy (Rick Atkinson)
The British Are Coming, Volume 1 of the Revolution Trilogy (Rick Atkinson)
The Liberation Trilogy, Atkinson’s WWII histories (Macmillan)
John Adams, the biography Atkinson references (David McCullough)
John Adams, the HBO miniseries with Paul Giamatti and Laura Linney (HBO)
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, full text (Library of Congress)
The Declaration of Independence, full transcription (National Archives)
Episode Transcript
Coming soon…
Show Credits
Pantsuit Politics is hosted by Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers. The show is produced by Studio D Podcast Production.
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SARAH AND BETH! You say you want to go to a classic Midwest state fair, and then talk about Iowa as a someday goal, when YOU’RE COMING TO MINNESOTA AT THE END OF AUGUST. It’s called The Great Minnesota Get Together and you’ll already be here! Go ahead and google it: we always come out as number one. Iowa gets so much attention every four years, but that’s just because of presidential hopefuls pretending to be folksy.
Great episode- Rick was fascinating! His remarks about the women landed with me as I just picked up this book - Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution by Denise Kiernan. I think it’s a great book to explore parts of our history during this 250th celebration.