Heather Cox Richardson

Monday, February 16th, 2026 Today, the feds got caught lying again about an assault on ICE officers and are forced to dismiss the charges; Homeland Security is demanding social media sites hand over data on anti-ICE users; Ring cameras cut their ties to Flock surveillance after political backlash; Russ Vought is using USAID funds to pay for his security detail; the puppy killer side piece Corey Lewandowski demanded a government issued firearm; a judge ends the deportation case for the father of three marines; another judge rebukes the feds for denying counsel for detainees; in a victory for Democrats the Virginia Supreme Court rules the 10 to 1 redistricting can move forward; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News. Thank You, Helix 27% Off Sitewide Helix Flash sale, when you go to HelixSleep.com/dailybeans Thank You, HoneyLove Save 20% Off Honeylove by going to honeylove.com/DAILYBEANS #honeylovepod #sponsored Guest: Heather Cox Richardson Letters from an American | Heather Cox Richardson Heather Cox Richardson - YouTube instagram.com/heathercoxrichardson @hcrichardson.bsky.social - Bluesky @HC_Richardson - Twitter ​​ Democracy Awakening Notes on the State of America by Heather Cox Richardson Heather Cox Richardson and Allison Gill Discuss Republican Spying and Weaponized Justice The Latest Allison Gill and Katie Phang Discuss the Republican Surveillance State Beans Talk | DHS is Watching You Stories DOJ drops charges against 2 men accused of assaulting ICE officers in Minneapolis | CBS News Homeland Security Demands Social Media Sites Reveal Names Behind Anti-ICE Posts | The New York Times Noem adviser Lewandowski sought to carry a firearm at DHS, alarming officials | MS NOW Exclusive: White House uses USAID funds for budget director Vought's security, documents show | Reuters Trump insider Tom Barrack kept in regular contact with Jeffrey Epstein for years, files show | CBS News In victory for Democrats, Virginia Supreme Court says redistricting vote can go forward | Democracy Docket Good Trouble Wednesday, February 24 at 6 PM in Funkstown, MD. State of Maryland and Washington County residents have an opportunity to voice our outrage at ICE's expansion in our great community. Kate For The People → How to Film ICE | WIRED →<a href="http://w

Against the backdrop of the shocking U.S. capture of President Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela, renowned historian and Substack superstar Heather Cox Richardson is back with Nicolle, bringing her unique capacity to explain our current state of play through a historically tinted lens. As Trump’s actions abroad rattle the post-World War II international order, Heather warns of a political era that adheres more to the strongman politics of autocratic leaders like Vladimir Putin than it ever has before. Together, Cox Richardson and Nicolle trace an evolving list of national concerns: a president in clear decline, a Congress unwilling to act, and a Republican Party abandoning its core principles in real time. And if you haven't heard Nicolle’s first conversation with Heather, please give it a listen here: Heather Cox Richardson:“People are Starved for Facts” Note: This episode was recorded on January 7, 2026. Sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts to listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads. You'll also get exclusive bonus content and early access to new episodes of "The Best People." Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Every once in a while, a voice emerges that helps us see clearly through the fog of confusion and fear. Historian Heather Cox Richardson , professor at Boston College, is one of those voices. She doesn’t just teach history, she connects it to the moment we are living in, revealing how the patterns of the past are unfolding before our eyes today. In this powerful conversation first shared by Red Wine & Blue , Richardson reminds us that what we’re witnessing in America is not unprecedented, it’s the familiar rise of authoritarianism we’ve seen before in history. The danger is real, but so is our power to stop it. She makes one thing clear: our best chance to save democracy is in the 2025 elections, not years from now. This episode explores how we, as citizens, can push back against the forces behind Project 2025—a blueprint for dismantling democratic institutions from the inside out. It begins with local action: electing leaders in our towns, school boards, and statehouses who will defend truth, equality, and justice. Across the country, women are standing up—winning Supreme Court races in Wisconsin, flipping Senate seats in Iowa, and proving that courage and conviction can overcome extremism. Heather Cox Richardson’s brilliance lies in her ability to bring calm reason to chaos. She helps us understand not only what is happening, but what each of us can do to change the course of history—one conversation, one friend, one vote at a time. Her words will give you hope, clarity, and direction. She reminds us that each of us holds the power to make a difference—and that by acting where we live, we can shape the future of our nation. Listen. Reflect. Act. Because saving democracy begins with you. If the content in this episode resonates with you, feel free to reach out to: jackalyn@dtp-leadership.com. Support the show on Patreon - https://patreon.com/drjackalyn

Historian Heather Cox Richardson joins us today to explain how fascism is on the rise in America. As one of the country’s foremost experts on the Civil War, she’ll reveal how the GOP went from the party of Lincoln to the party of Trump. Support independent journalism by becoming a Democracy Docket premium member: https://newsletters.democracydocket.com/member-youtube Stay up to date on the fight for democracy with our free newsletter: https://hubs.ly/Q03jcbrc0 Books by Heather Cox Richardson: Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/717588/democracy-awakening-by-heather-cox-richardson/ To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/heather-cox-richardson/to-make-men-free/9780465024315/?lens=basic-books How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America https://global.oup.com/academic/product/how-the-south-won-the-civil-war-9780190900908 Follow Democracy Docket: Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/democracydocket.com Instagram⁠: https://instagram.com/democracydocket Facebook⁠: https://facebook.com/democracydocket X/Twitter⁠: https://twitter.com/DemocracyDocket TikTok⁠: https://tiktok.com/@democracydocket Threads: https://www.threads.net/@democracydocket Shop Democracy Docket merch: https://store.democracydocket.com #MarcElias #politics #democracy #news

424. We’re Taking Patriotism Back with Heather Cox Richardson Historian, writer, and truth-teller Heather Cox Richardson joins us to expose how patriotism has been hijacked by those undermining democracy, equality, and truth—and to show us how to reclaim it as a force for justice, unity, and hope. -Debunking the myth of rugged individualism—and revealing why community has always been our greatest strength-How the far Right hijacked patriotism, demonized equality, and rebranded justice as socialism-The $50 trillion heist: How the top 1% looted the wealth of 90% of Americans—and got away with it Find Heather Cox Richardson’s Substack at https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/ . Heather Cox Richardson is a professor of history at Boston College and an expert on American political and economic history. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning How the South Won the Civil War and her latest, the New York Times bestseller Democracy Awakening . Her work has appeared in The Washington Post , The New York Times , and The Guardian , among other outlets. Her widely read newsletter, Letters from an American , synthesizes history and modern political issues.

In Berkeley Talks episode 221, American historian Heather Cox Richardson joins Dylan Penningroth , a UC Berkeley professor of law and history, in a conversation about the historical evolution of the Republican Party, and the state of U.S. politics and democracy today. Richardson, a professor of history at Boston College, is the author of the popular nightly newsletter Letters from an American, in which she explains current political developments and relates them to historical events. With more than 3 million daily readers, Richardson says Letters has grown a “community around the world of people who are trying to reestablish a reality-based politics.” Topics in the conversation include: The origins of the Republican Party : President Lincoln had a vision of a government serving the common person, including equal access to resources like education and land. After the Civil War, Republicans under Lincoln created a national taxation system, which former Confederates argued was an unfair redistribution of wealth from white people to Black people and from rich people to poor people. The backlash after Lincoln : After Lincoln, there was a rise of robber barons — industrialists whose business practices were considered ruthless and unethical — and a group of people who argued that intervention for ordinary people was a form of socialism. Wealth began to concentrate at the top and led to an inevitable crash. As a consequence, the Republican Party had to repeatedly rethink the way it did business and the way it worked. How Donald Trump changed the Republican Party: Richardson says President Trump took oligarchs' language about government overreach and "stripped away the veneer," appealing directly to racism and sexism. This empowered a new base of supporters and led to a movement encouraging violence and anti-authority sentiment. What gives Richardson hope: Richardson says the current moment in politics reminds her of the 1850s, when it appeared that elite enslavers, who made up 1% of the U.S. population, had completely taken over the country. But over the next decade, the nation went on to elect Lincoln and form a government by the people and for the people. “I believe that all of us coming together in the 21st century can do it again,” she says. The event took place on Feb. 26 in Zellerbach Hall, and was presented by Cal Performances and the Graduate Division at UC Berkeley as part of the Charles M. and Martha Hitchcock Lectures . More about the speakers: Richardson has written for The Washington Post , The New York Times and The Guardian , and is the author, most recently, of the best-selling 2023 book Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America . Penningroth is the author of the award-winning 2023 book Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights . He serves as associate dean of the Program in Jurisprudence and Social Policy at UC Berkeley Law; his scholarship focuses on African American and legal history. Listen to the episode and read the transcript on UC Berkeley News (news.berkeley.edu/podcasts). Music by Blue Dot Sessions. Screenshot from a UC Berkeley video. Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='h

Mike welcomes back Heather Cox Richardson, a professor of history at Boston College and author of the “ Letters from an American ” Substack. Professor Richardson is also the author of Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America , which has recently come out in paperback. Topics Mike & Heather discuss include: - why the elections went so well for Republicans - why Harris’ messaging failed to carry the day - the media and political misinformation - leftism and liberalism in contemporary America - voter (mis)understanding of economics - why Heather is still optimistic Here's Mike’s 2023 interview with Heather Cox Richardson. The Politics Guys on Facebook | X Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support . On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys. The Politics Guys is part of The Democracy Group , a network of podcasts that examines what's broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Even before her explosively popular Substack Letters from an American, which has grown to more than two million subscribers since it began in 2019, historian Heather Cox Richardson was an important voice in discussions around post-Civil War American history. The author of seven books, Richardson’s writing has focused on race, economics, and political ideology, including the story of the Republican Party and the Wounded Knee Massacre. Most recently, she published the book Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, a deep dive into how a small group of wealthy people pushed the government towards authoritarianism, and how understanding the real history of America’s most marginalized people can help us move back towards a real democracy. On September 19, 2024, Heather Cox Richardson came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco for an on-stage conversation with Steven Winn.

Heather Cox Richardson joined the National Writers Series at Lars Hockstad Auditorium on October 17, 2023 with guest host Neal Rubin. Heather Cox Richardson is a Professor of History at Boston College. She has written about the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, and the American West in award-winning books whose subjects stretch from the European settlement of the North American continent to the history of the Republican Party through the Trump administration. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post , the New York Times , and The Guardian , among other outlets. She is the cohost of the Vox podcast, Now & Then . She began writing a daily Facebook essay in the midst of the 2019 impeachment crisis, providing historical context for the daily churn of news. It soon became a chart-topping Substack newsletter, Letters from an American , which now reaches more than 2 million subscribers – passionate, dedicated readers who rely on Richardson’s plainspoken, insightful take on America, past and present, as a much-needed dose of sanity in today’s insane world.

Welcome to this special episode of "No holding Back"! We're thrilled to have renowned historian and political commentator, Heather Cox Richardson, joining us. Heather brings her wealth of expertise in dealing with the media and reporting on critical issues shaping our world. In this episode, Heather will share insights into her approach to navigating the media landscape, offering invaluable advice on distinguishing fact from fiction in today's fast-paced news environment. As a historian, she brings a unique perspective to current events, helping us understand the historical context that shapes our present reality. We'll also delve into the timely topic of the collapse of the Republican Party. Heather will unpack the seismic shifts occurring within the party and explore whether it can ever return to its former status or if it's undergoing a fundamental transformation. With her keen analytical skills, Heather will provide thought-provoking commentary on the future of American politics. Join us as we dive deep into the intersection of media, politics, and history with the insightful Heather Cox Richardson. Stay tuned for an engaging and enlightening discussion that's not to be missed! All this and more on No Holding Back with Susan Estrich . Sign up to receive updates by email when a new episode drops at: www.noholdingback.fm/ Produced by 1985 Productions

This week, Big Books and Bold Ideas is launching an election year series that asks: What is American democracy in 2024? Americans come to that question with significantly different views. And what American democracy was when this country was founded isn’t necessarily what it is today or what it will be in the future. Democracy is dynamic. Heather Cox Richardson spends a lot of time thinking about democracy. She’s a historian and the force behind the most popular newsletter on Substack , with more than 1.3 million subscribers. In 2023, she released her latest book, “ Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America ,” which is a reflection on the the evolution of American democracy. On this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas, Richardson joined host Kerri Miller to parse the current condition of democracy in America and lay out how the system can be exploited by authoritarians or supported by the populace. Guest: Heather Cox Richardson is an author, a historian, a professor Boston College and the writer of Letters from an American , the most popular newsletter on Substack. Her latest book is “ Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America .” Subscribe to Big Books and Bold Ideas with Kerri Miller podcast on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , RSS or anywhere you get your podcasts. Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.