Jon Meacham and Ambiguity in the Age of Outrage, #545 - The Fifth Column
February 19, 2026
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1:04:54Now PlayingJon Meacham and Ambiguity in the Age of Outrage, #545 - The Fifth Column
YouTube Description
as posted by the channelHistorian Jon Meacham joins the show to discuss his new book anthology, American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union.
Meacham argues that judging the past by modern standards is a disservice to the complicated, flawed humans who built the country. This is, in part, a conversation about why the establishment is exhausted, why history is kinetic, and why we cannot afford to give up on the constitutional order.
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Hosted by journalists Kmele Foster, Michael Moynihan, and Matt Welch, The Fifth Column provides a weekly rhetorical assault on the news cycle, the people who make it, and occasionally themselves.
(0:00) Intro
(4:55) Jefferson and Presentism
(6:34) Lincoln Not Abolitionist
(13:16) Weaponized History
(38:14) Despair Is Sin
(48:25) Executive Inheritance
(1:01:00) Lincoln vs Reagan
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