RTN is coming to Washington DC on May 29! Join us for a night of stories of murder and mayhem with guests Major Garrett, Margaret Talev, and Doug Heye at the Hamilton Live! You can get tickets and details at RTNpod.me/liveindc – hope to see you there!
The “Amazon economy” seems like something new, but it rests on the physical and intellectual infrastructure built by those who came long before the age of the internet and leaves many of the same marks on the environment. Prominent in this story are five companies- Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, Walmart, Bank of America, and FexEx- all of which have global reach and southern roots. In this episode, Bart Elmore joins us to talk about his new book Country Capitalism: How Corporations from the American South Remade our Economy and the Planet (UNC Press, 2023), and how understanding the history of American business can help us address the environmental challenges that are undeniably facing humanity today.
Dr. Bartow Elmore is Associate Professor of History and a core faculty member of the Sustainability Institute at The Ohio State University. In addition to Country Capitalism, he is also the author of Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism (W. W. Norton, 2015) and Seed Money: Monsanto's Past and Our Food Future (W. W. Norton, 2021). You can hear his discuss these books in RTN episode 140 and episode 208 respectively. Bart is also a 2022 winner of the Dan David Prize.
This episode originally aired as episode #272 on May 15, 2023. This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.
With tariffs, the Enemy Alien Act, and politically driven calls for judicial impeachment in the headlines, Ben & Bob decided to sit down and put these developments in historic context. We’ve never been so disappointed to have such a great reason to discuss the history we love!
Some recommended readings:
This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.
Libertarianism has had a tremendous influence on American politics, but according to Andrew Koppelman, its most prominent adherents have stripped libertarian philosophy of its more humane intentions. In this episode, Andrew joins Bob and Ben for a discussion about his book, Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed (St. Martin’s Press, 2022) and why he contends that libertarian philosophers such as Friedrich Hayek have been stripped of their original intent by those who have ulterior motives.
Dr. Andrew Koppelman is John Paul Stevens Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University. You can learn more about his work at AndrewKoppelman.com
This is a rebroadcast of RTN #249 which originally aired on October 10, 2022. This version was edited by Ben Sawyer.
Come see us May 29th at the Hamilton Live in DC! Click here for tickets.
Kathryn Olivarius joins Bob & Ben to explain the powerful role that Yellow Fever played in shaping all aspects of life in New Orleans during the 19th century. Kathryn is Associate Professor of History at Stanford University and the authorNecropolis: Disease, Power & Capitalism in the Cotton Kingdom, (Harvard University Press, 2022).
This episode was edited by Ben Sawyer.
Our next live show is in Washington, DC on May 29! Click here for tickets.
Anne Tindall is Special Council at the non-partisan group Protect Democracy, where she works to ensure that elections are free and fair, to prevent political violence, and to secure accountability for abuses of power at the federal and state level. In this episode she joins us to talk about the still unsettled results of North Carolina’s Supreme Court election from November, and Republican Jefferson Griffin’s attempt to convince the courts to throw out sixty thousand ballots in a race where his challenger, incumbent Allison Riggs, won by just 734 votes. Anne explains what makes this case unique in the history of American elections and why it may set a dangerous precedent that could weaken voting rights for citizens across the country regardless of political party.
Click here to read the Electoral Integrity Project data that Anna discussed in this episode.
This conversation was recorded on February 27, 2025. Gary Fletcher edited this episode.