The World in Time

Joseph J. Ellis

Friday, February 04, 2022

The Phoenix or the Resurrection of Freedom, by James Barry, c. 1776. Photograph © Tate (CC-BY-NC-ND 3.0).

In order to understand the American Revolution, historian Joseph J. Ellis writes in The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773–1783, “we must be capable of thinking paradoxically. The American Revolution succeeded because it was not really a revolution. Which means it succeeded because it failed.”

 

This week on the podcast, Lewis H. Lapham speaks with Joseph J. Ellis, author of The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773–1783, about the words, paradoxes, and local influences that powered the American Revolution.

 

Thanks to our generous donors. Lead support for this podcast has been provided by Elizabeth “Lisette” Prince. Additional support was provided by James J. “Jimmy” Coleman Jr.

Discussed in this episode

More Podcasts

The Populist Paul Revere, by J.S. Pughe, 1904.

August 14, 2020

The World in Time:

Thomas Frank

Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of The People, No. More

September 15, 2011

The World in Time:

Green Mountain Boy

Willard Sterne Randall and Lewis Lapham talk about the life and adventures of Ethan Allen.  More

June 15, 2018

The World in Time:

Steve Fraser

Lewis H. Lapham talks with Steve Fraser, author of Class Matters: The Strange Career of an American Delusion. More

April 17, 2017

The World in Time:

Andrew Bacevich

Lewis Lapham talks to Andrew J. Bacevich about America’s shift from the Cold War to war in the Middle East. More

September 23, 2022

The World in Time:

Andrea Wulf

Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of Magnificent Rebels: The First Romantics and the Invention of the Self. More

February 04, 2022

The World in Time:

Joseph J. Ellis

Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773–1783. More