For the Ages: A History Podcast
The New York Historical
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About This Podcast
Explore the rich and complex history of the United States and beyond. Produced by The New York Historical, host David M. Rubenstein engages the nation’s foremost historians and creative thinkers on a wide range of topics, including presidential biography, the nation’s founding, and the people who have shaped the American story. Learn more at nyhistory.org.
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Recent Episodes
S5E19 Mark Twain
Mark Twain was America’s first literary celebrity, a master of his craft whose legacy hangs over our literary tradition. Twain’s words captured the nation’s imagination because the life he led…
S5E18 Baseball's Past and Present
Known as “America’s pastime,” baseball is much more than a game in the United States. Both a source of national pride and symbol of our identity, the sport is also a window into our past. Born out of…
S5E17 An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s
It’s been said that if you remember the ‘60s, you weren’t really there, but when Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and her late husband, Dick, started to go through his papers…
S5E16 The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America
The argument over states’ rights versus a strong federal government is far from a new debate in this country. Before the divisions of today, two men represented contrasting visions of what America…
S5E15 A Conversation with Oscar Tang on Business, Art, and Civic Leadership
Born in wartime Shanghai and brought to the United States at age eleven with no knowledge of English, financier and philanthropist Oscar Tang reflects on a life shaped by displacement, ambition, and…
S5E14 Conducting New York’s Legacy
From his childhood in Venezuela’s famed El Sistema music education program to his rise as one of the world’s leading conductors, Gustavo Dudamel reflects on the experiences that shaped his musical…
S5E13 Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters
At the beginning of 1776, virtually no one in the colonies was advocating independence. What changed over the course of one year? From Thomas Paine’s Common Sense in January to the Continental…
S5E12 McNamara at War: A New History
Secretary of defense and friend and ally to two presidents, Robert S. McNamara was one of the most controversial men in American history for his role in the Vietnam War. Beyond his time at Harvard…
S5E11 The American Revolution: An Intimate History
The American Revolution was three wars rolled into one: a fight for independence, a civil conflict, and a struggle between nations. In this conversation with David M. Rubenstein, bestselling author…
S5E10 Annapolis Goes to War: The Naval Academy Class of 1940 and its Trial by Fire in World War II
The teenagers who made up the US Naval Academy class of 1940 arrived in Annapolis as boys on the eve of Hitler’s aggression and graduated as Europe collapsed, only to find themselves thrust into…
S5E9 Glorious Lessons: John Trumbull, Painter of the American Revolution
History may be written by the victors, but it is illustrated by its painters, and perhaps few so famously or evocatively as John Trumbull—American Revolution army officer, spy, artist. In this…
S5E8 A Place Called Yellowstone: The Epic History of the World’s First National Park
Covering 2.2 million acres, Yellowstone National Park is a geographic behemoth and, as the birthplace of America’s national park system, a cultural giant as well. But since its official establishment…
S5E7 Dinner with the President: Food, Politics, and a History of Breaking Bread at the White House
Some of the most significant moments in American history have occurred over meals, as US presidents broke bread to strengthen alliances, diffuse tensions, and broker peace: Thomas Jefferson’s…
S5E6 Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution
Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton’s gravestone identifies her merely as the daughter of Philip Schuyler and the widow of Alexander Hamilton, while her sister, Angelica, has only a marker next to the…
S5E5 John Adams: His Life and Legacy
In addition to being America’s first vice president and second president, Founding Father John Adams was a diplomat, the father of another president, and an avid diarist. In this conversation with…
S5E4 The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of US History
For generations, the teaching of American history has often glossed over the important role Native communities have played in shaping the nation, but contemporary historians are reframing the…
S5E3 Friends Until the End: Edmund Burke and Charles Fox in the Age of Revolution
If ever there was proof that opposites attract, it was the friendship between the personally and politically conservative Edmund Burke and the liberal-leaning libertine Charles Fox, who formed a…
S5E2 Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic
Shaped by crises at home and abroad, John Adams’s presidency became a proving ground for the nation’s fragile new government. Historian Lindsay M. Chervinsky sits down with David Rubenstein to reveal…
S5E1 The Lyndon B. Johnson Years
Irrevocably tied to the tragedy of the Vietnam War, President Lyndon Johnson’s political legacy is also marked by his radical push to reimagine American life. Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Caro,…
The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote (RE-RELEASE)
Please enjoy this re-release of a past episode of For the Ages. New episodes will return Fall 2025. The women’s suffrage movement was a hard-fought, decades-long campaign to extend that most…
Frequently Asked Questions
For the Ages: A History Podcast has published 166 episodes since June 2021, covering topics in Education, Government.
For the Ages: A History Podcast is currently highly active with new episodes every 2 weeks. Average episode length is 29m.
