Episode 12: The Great Arsenal of Democracy

03/23/20 • 30 min

Give Me Liberty: The Making of American Exceptionalism

Around the time of World War II, the United States once again faced the question of what it means to be a force of power on the world stage and preserve liberty both at home and abroad. In this episode, Rick and Luke explore how Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s fireside chat “The Arsenal of Democracy” combined the necessity for both national security and the safety of liberty.

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Episode 11: The Practical Meaning of Economic Equality

Famously proclaiming that we “shall not crucify mankind on a cross of gold,” William Jennings Bryan delivered a plea for the coinage of silver, which he believed would help combat the rampant economic inequality of the late 19th century. Rick and Luke examine how one of the most famous pieces of American political oratory changed the meaning of economic equality.

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Episode 13: Across Europe This Wall Will Fall

The late 1980s saw a new kind of threat to liberty — one that infected sovereign nations far and wide. In one of the most famous speeches delivered by Ronald Reagan, he issued a rallying cry for liberty, exclaiming “tear down this wall!” In the final episode, Rick and Luke reflect on the everlasting power behind the words of Ronald Reagan as he worked to defeat one of the world’s most evil forces — socialism — in the name of liberty.