Every Sunday at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT)
Upcoming Book Breaks
May
May 12 - James Traub on True Believer: Hubert Humphrey’s Quest for a More Just America
Hubert Humphrey defied segregationists and demanded that the Democratic Party advocate for civil rights. But as Lyndon B. Johnson’s vice president, his support for the war in Vietnam made him a target for radicals, conservatives, and reactionaries, and he suffered a shattering loss in the presidential election of 1968. This biography draws upon Humphrey’s life story to illuminate the promises and pitfalls inherent to political compromise and deal-making.
James Traub is a journalist and fellow of New York University’s Center on International Cooperation. He is also the author of What Was Liberalism?: The Past, Present, and Promise of a Noble Idea.
May 19 - Steve Inskeep on Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America
May 26 - Dylan Penningroth on Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights
History Scholar of the Week
Middle and high school students (age 13 and up), submit your questions for one of the historians being featured on Book Breaks! If your question is chosen, you will be named History Scholar of the Week, and it will be announced live on the program! In addition, both you and your teacher will win a $50 gift certificate to the Gilder Lehrman Gift Shop. Your question can be about the book or the topic in general. Please submit only one question per program.
Submit your question here.
The deadline to submit a question for the upcoming Book Breaks is Thursday.
Book Breaks Archive
The Book Breaks archive contains more than three years of past programs featuring historians such as David Blight, H. W. Brands, Ken Burns, Eric Foner, Annette Gordon-Reed, Peniel Joseph, Jon Meacham, Elizabeth Varon, and more. Still deciding whether to subscribe? You can watch Harold Holzer’s talk on Brought Forth on This Continent: Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration (winner of the Lincoln Prize) below to help you make up your mind.
View the full archive of past sessions
The Institute thanks Citizen Travelers, the nonpartisan civic engagement initiative of The Travelers Companies, Inc., for its support of Book Breaks.