Journalist Heath Druzin’s new podcast Extremely American examines the American militia movement through first-hand interviews with militia members and their opponents. In this episode, Heath joins Bob and Ben for a discussion about what he learned while spending time with individuals in the movement, how the militia movement has changed in the last few years, and the way that these groups draw on historical events to shape their worldview.
Heath Druzin is a journalist who covers the intersection of far-right movements and mainstream politics for Boise State Public Media and Postindustrial Media. He previously covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for Stars & Stripes. You can follow him on twitter at @HDruzin.
Extremely American (NPR/Postindustrial Media) is available anywhere you get The Road to Now. Click here to visit the podcast page on Postindustrial Media.
If you enjoy this episode, check our episode on American militias with Vanderbilt Sociologist Dr. Amy Cooter.
This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
The Constitution empowers the electoral college to select the President, but the process for counting electors’ votes remains in the hands of Congress. In this episode, Constitutional Law Professor Edward Foley explains the origins of the electoral college, how and why the 12th Amendment changed the process for electing Presidents, and the concerns that led Congress to codify the procedure for counting electors’ votes in 1887. Edward also offers some specific ways that updating the Electoral Count Act of 1887 might help us avoid some of the potential problems that might arise in upcoming elections.
Edward Foley holds the Ebersold Chair in Constitutional Law at The Ohio State University, where he also directs its election law program. He is a regular contributor to The Washington Post and the author of multiple books, including Ballot Battles: The History of Disputed Elections in the United States (Oxford University Press, 2016) and Presidential Elections and Majority Rule (Oxford University Press, 2020). You can follow him on twitter at @NedFoley.
This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher.
Bob & Ben catch up to talk about the Presidential Records Act and how Trump's violations of the act stack up to other Presidents' handling of their records. They also discuss Neil Young and other artists' decision to pull their music from Spotify as a response to Joe Rogan's prominent position on the platform, as well as recent evidence that the 1776 report still matters.
This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.
For more on The Road to Now: https://linktr.ee/RoadToNow
Bob speaks with Messiah College’s John Fea about Christianity in Early America and the ways that the founders viewed the relationship between faith and politics. Fea outlines the “5 Cs” of history, the importance of approaching history with an open mind, and explains why he thinks the title of his book Was America Founded as a Christian Nation? may not be the question in approaching Christianity’s role in the establishment of the United States.
John Fea is Professor of American History and Chair of the Department of History at Messiah College and host of the podcast The Way of Improvement Leads Home. He is the author or editor of four books, including Was America Founded as a Christian Nation: A Historical Introduction (Westminster/ John Knox Press, 2011) & Why Study History?: Reflecting on the Importance of the Past (Baker Academic, 2013) and his essays and reviews have appeared in a variety of scholarly and popular venues.
This episode originally aired in February 2018 as part of RTN Theology #2. We are releasing it as RTN #222 because it's an important conversation that we think should be featured on both feeds. A full list of RTN Theology episodes are available anywhere you're listening to The Road to Now.