Ben Franklin's World
চ্যানেল বিস্তারিত
Ben Franklin's World
This is a multiple award-winning podcast about early American history. It’s a show for people who love history and who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world. Each episode features conversations with professional historians who...
সাম্প্রতিক এপিসোড
478 টি এপিসোড
429 Coffee in Early America: Why Americans Really Drink Coffee
Think the Boston Tea Party made America a coffee-drinking nation? Historian Michelle McDonald reveals the truth: colonists were already choosing coffe...
428 America's Forgotten Quest to Link Two Oceans
In the 1820s, American entrepreneurs, engineers, and politicians dared to dream big. They believed they could cut a canal, not through Panama, but thr...
427 How States Are Planning the 250th: Commemorating the American Revolution in 2026
As we look ahead to the 250th anniversary—the semiquincentennial—of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, communities and commissions across the Un...
BFW Revisited: The Mayflower
Each November, we Americans come together to celebrate Thanksgiving, a holiday that invites us to reflect on gratitude, community, and the stories we...
426 Indigenous Agriculture and the Hidden Science of Native Foodways
As Thanksgiving approaches, many Americans are gathering to reflect on gratitude, family—and of course—food.
It's the time of year when...
425 Ken Burns' The American Revolution
What does it take to bring the American Revolution to life?
How can an event that took place 250 years ago be conveyed to us through mode...
424 Dunmore's Proclamation & the American Revolution in Virginia
In November 1775, as tensions between the British Empire and its rebellious colonies continued to escalate, Virginia’s royal governor made a radical—a...
BFW Revisited: Disruptions in Yorktown
What did it take to end the War for Independence?
When we think of the American Revolution’s final chapter, we think of the Siege of York...
423 The Forgotten Artists of the American Revolution
Have you ever noticed how conversations about the American Revolution often center on great battles, founding documents, and famous statesmen?
<...
BFW Revisited: The World of John Singleton Copley
What does it mean to be caught between two worlds? Between loyalty and liberty, artistry and commerce, and between the British North American colonies...
422: Plantation Goods: How Northern Industry Fueled Slavery
When we talk about slavery in Early America, we often focus on plantations: their large, fertile fields, their cash crops, and the people who labored...
BFW Revisited: Origins of American Manufacturing
When we picture the early United States, we often imagine a young nation fighting for political independence. But what about economic independence—and...
421 Loyalism and Revolution in Georgia
What if loyalty, not rebellion, was the default position in revolutionary British North America?
It’s easy to forget that before 1776, mo...
BFW Revisited: Loyalism in the British Atlantic World
When we think of the American Revolution, we often focus on the patriots who fought for independence. But what about the Loyalists—those who chose to...
420: Creating the U.S. Federal Government
When we think about the founding of the United States, we often focus on the Constitution, the Founding Fathers, and those first landmark elections.
BFW Revisited: Women & the Constitutional Moment of 1787
Each September, Constitution Day marks the signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787.
But beyond celebration, this commemora...
419 The North Carolina Regulator Movement
What happens when the very people meant to uphold justice become the ones exploiting it?
In the 1760s, North Carolina farmers watched she...
BFW Revisited: The Tory's Wife
Revolutionary upheaval didn't just reshape governments—it transformed daily life for ordinary families across colonial America.
In this...
418 The Driver's Story
We often learn about slavery in early America through broad economic or political terms—cotton, sugar, markets, revolutions. But what happens when we...
BFW Revisited: The Business of Slavery
When we think about slavery in early America, we often rightfully focus on the human toll–the violence, the exploitation, the dehumanization that defi...
417 Roger Williams, Rogue Puritan
When we think of early American champions of religious liberty, one name often rises above the rest: Roger Williams.
Best known as the fo...
BFW Revisited: The History of Genealogy
Why do we trace our family histories? What drives our desire to know who our ancestors were and how we’re connected to past people and events?
<...
416: Lineage: Genealogy in Early America
Have you ever wondered why genealogy captivates so many people?
Whether it’s tracing a family tree back generations or holding on to stor...
BFW Revisited: A Declaration in Draft
The Declaration of Independence is one of the most iconic documents in United States history. But what do we really know about how it came to be?
Lineage Book Preview
Preview of Karin Wulf’s book, Lineage: Genealogy and the Power of Connection in Early America.
In eighteenth-century Ameri...
415: The Many Declarations of Independence
When you picture the Declaration of Independence, what comes to mind?
Most people envision a single, iconic document–parchment, signature...
414 Queerness and Reputation in Revolutionary America
How do we uncover queer lives from the distant past, especially in an era when language and records often erased or obscured them?
What d...
413 Dr. Joseph Warren & the Battle of Bunker Hill
June 17, 2025, marks the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill, the first full-scale battle of what would become the American War for Indepen...
BFW Revisited: On Juneteenth
Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States, is nearly upon us, and it offers us the perfect moment for reflecti...
412 The Franklin Stove
It might surprise you, but in the 18th century, people across the globe were reckoning with colder-than-usual weather brought on by the Little Ice Age...
BFW Revisited: The Early History of the U.S. Congress
To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Second Continental Congress, this episode revisits the origins of the United States Congress and how early...
411 Philadelphia: An Early History
Two hundred fifty years ago, in May 1775, delegates from thirteen British North American colonies gathered in Philadelphia for the Second Continental...
BFW Revisited: Founding Friendships
What did friendship between men and women look like in the decades following the American Revolution? Could emotional closeness and intellectual kinsh...
Ben Franklin's World Trailer
This is a 30-second trailer for Ben Franklin's World.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
410 The World's First Personal Advice Column
When did people begin seeking anonymous advice for their most profound personal dilemmas? What can the answers to their early questions tell us about...
BFW Revisited: Paul Revere's Ride Through History
Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride is one of the most famous events in American history. On the night of April 18, 1775, Revere set out to warn the Massachus...
409 The Battles of Lexington & Concord, 1775
April 19, 2025 marked the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord—the moment the American Revolution turned from protest to war.
BFW Revisited: The Road to Concord
April 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
One of the lesser-known catalysts for these battles was t...
408 The Memory of 1776
The American Revolution was more than just a series of events that unfolded between 1763 and 1783, the American Revolution is our national origin stor...
BFW Revisited: Samuel Adams
This month, we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the “shot heard round the world” that ignited the Revolution...