My Fair Lincoln

The episode where Jonah admits to his Whig-ish bent.

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The Remnant further affirms itself as America’s leading podcast in book promotion today, as journalist and NPR host Steve Inskeep brings his velvety tones to the program to discuss his new book, Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America. Though studies of Honest Abe aren’t exactly in short supply, Steve’s has a unique hook: It tells Lincoln’s life story by examining sixteen of his encounters with prominent figures, each of whom disagreed with him in some way. The questions raised are significant: Why is there an abiding fascination with Lincoln in the American consciousness? How did Lincoln become a Republican? And could a novel about Lincoln fighting Nazis with a pet poodle in tow become an all-time bestseller?

Show Notes:

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  1. Avatar photo
    Brett Myers

    Count me as a hell yes for this podcast episode...

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  2. Francislyo

    An excellent podcast, Jonah and Steve!

    I especially appreciated learning more about the extraordinary Frederick Douglass and his interactions with Lincoln. Also about the obstacles each overcame to achieve the influence they had on ending slavery in the US.

    I wonder how history of race relation in the US, might have been different even up to today if Lincoln had not been assassinated. As was stated in the pod, the vote for Black men was very short-lived (removed and replaced with Jim Crow in the South where the vast majority of Black people lived).

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  3. FreddySez

    I enjoyed Jonah's conversation with NPR's Inskeep (and, yes, Charlie's as well). And I understand why Jonah forbore to indict Inskeep about NPR’s bias during what was supposed to be a friendly book plug.

    But in some other setting among these pages, that bias is an issue worthy of more attention. Not as a series of momentary gotchas, but as a big-picture analysis.

    If you listen to Inskeep and his colleagues every morning, you know they conduct two different kinds of interviews: There are people whom they coddle, and people whom they prosecute.

    Some newsmakers get softballs on a tee and “tough” follow-ups like “does it get to you sometimes, being surrounded by fools?”

    Other newsmakers get “yes, but aren’t you wrong?” and “'some say'(TM) you’re bad; how do you react?”

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  4. Pohl

    Very interesting discussion. Lovejoy seems someone to read up on now as I knew nothing about him before this. Would I turn in a fugitive slave? I like to think a big No. Would I turn in a Jew to the Nazis? I surely hope not. Lincoln seems a horrible temporizer at times, yet became a great president. Still, a bit of an enigma.

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    Ben Connelly

    This was fun. Steve has a great voice.

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    Charley Warns

    Jonah differentiates between Democracy and Republic: "When Lincoln says government of, by, and for the people, 'of' and 'by' is democracy; 'for' is republic."

    That the term "racist" didn't exist in Lincoln's time is a point to ponder over if you figure you'd be different (a civil rights legend) if born into that time. Likewise, don't give yourself too much credit for what you know as you would have figured the Earth to be flat if born into another time and place. "Bury the Chains" by Adam Hochschild is an amazing read! It was religious conservatives making their case with pamphlets (thanks to the printing press) that changed public opinion. So if you were born into one generation, you likely didn't care, but if born in the next, where you had access to those pamphlets explaining the evil, you would care.

    I'm trying to explain the fine tuning of G (it has to be the precise value it is for the possibility of life in the universe) to a friend (in his early 20s) and I'm assuming he is following me and cares ... that is until he interjects with this question: "How do you know the Earth is round?" Before I could respond with, "there are no pictures indicating otherwise," another young guy chimes in that it doesn't matter to him either way. My point being that I figure most kids coming out of school likely figure slavery is something only America had taken part in. On the Atlantic slave trade alone (not counting the much larger east African and Asian slave trade, the Sulu sultanate, etc.), google says this:

    "The major Atlantic slave trading nations, in order of trade volume, were Portugal, Britain, Spain, France, the Netherlands, the United States, and Denmark. Several had established outposts on the African coast, where they purchased slaves from local African leaders."

    From "Confronting Africa's Role in the Slave Trade" by John Campbell, consider this revealing passage: "Donald Duke, former governor of Calabar state and a good-government presidential candidate in the 2019 Nigerian elections, acknowledges that his ancestors participated in the slave trade. However, Duke says “I’m not ashamed of it because I personally wasn’t directly involved.” "

    OF COURSE it was a bad thing that America took part in the slave trade! That it was also a bad thing for all the others to take part in being my point. You can argue that America should have been different, but keep in mind that the term "racist" was not part of the vocabulary at that time as Jonah's guest points out. It's like that guy who doesn't care whether the Earth is round or not; your common man is focused on his and his family's survival and likely doesn't ponder over why the universe or anything has to exist and other big questions. Is it possible we're expecting too much from our ancestors? Few think like John Adams, after all. That said, 700k died in the Civil War maybe 3 generations after the founding.

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  7. Bigdonmck

    Good stuff. Bring Inskeep back soon.

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  8. Sarah

    Thanks for this great episode. And I too appreciated the bonus of the ad-free experience!

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  9. Avatar photo
    The Bell Tower

    No hesitation: “I would root for the poodle.” There’s a man who has his priorities straight. Another really insightful and interesting guest.

    Objective media as the expected norm (though perhaps not as real as we like to remember) was a product of the centralizing power of first radio and then television. Technology centralized our conversation and allowed it to be commanded by elite power brokers, leaders and professionals.

    Technology has now in turn splintered our conversation back to the fractious norm. Anyone can go viral regardless of qualifications, professionalism, skill or even sanity. The elite, the qualified the skilled and the professional are battling the cacophony for control along with the rest of us.

    I think part of the confusion of modern times is due to the sort of whiplash feeling this has created. Sort of like the rug was pulled out from under us. We were used to having the same conversation and generally trusting the information being communicated.

    That has radically changed and it turns out many people are incapable of discriminating between truth and fiction. Others are interested in self promotion at the expense of all else.

    Bad times.

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  10. Philebus

    Wow! No advertisements? Chime in if you are pleased.

    How nice; Steve Inskeep presenting his beautiful and interesting FM voice along with interesting perspectives about Lincoln – no blasts from Home Depot or some other such entity that we all hear so much of – what a pleasure.

    Say it, if you’re feeling it.

    I’m not one to tip my hand, but I’ll post an opening bid of $4 more a month for my subscription. I understand that “baby needs new shoes”, but possibly there is a better path. Just saying.

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      Charley Warns

      You could always move to a nation where there are no ads because everything is state run.

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      1. Philebus

        Well, that's a stupid idea. I financially support my local NPR radio affiliate - beyond begging for money every three months - no advertising. I financially support "The Dispatch" because I like what they are doing in the space - I'm willing to pay more to make it add-free for everyone (although, I don't think $4 more per month would cover it). Ha! Color me philanthropic - kind of.

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      John

      I noticed the lack of commercials, too, and I enjoyed it.

      I got my phone configured to subscribe to the new Skiff podcast feed. It would be nice to see all Dispatch podcasts in there, if that's what it takes to have an ad-free experience.

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