For the Ages: A History Podcast

Two hundred and fifty years after the country’s founding, political polarities, seismic wealth disparity, and challenges to free speech and artistic expression all seem to paint a picture of an America that is unsure of the identity by which it has long been defined. In this conversation with David M. Rubenstein, Darren Walker, drawing on his experience throughout his lifelong career in philanthropy and a decade of leading the Ford Foundation, reflects on America’s ongoing struggles with ineq...

Over the course of her 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II met and worked with thirteen American presidents—more than any other American or foreign leader. Journalist Susan Page sits down with David M. Rubenstein to discuss how, over nearly three quarters of a century, Queen Elizabeth collaborated with presidents from Truman to Trump, exerting political influence and growing from a shy young princess to a queen who came to define the modern British monarchy. Recorded on July 7, 2026

The 2024 presidential election cycle upended norms and expectations across the American electorate, with over 40% of Hispanic voters casting their ballots for Donald Trump. Reflecting on this unprecedented political moment, historian Geraldo Cadava explores the history of Hispanic American voters from the 1960s to the present, tracing their growth as a key demographic that has been courted across the political spectrum. Recorded on May 12, 2025

The story of the 1929 stock market crash and the Great Depression that followed goes far beyond the events of “Black Tuesday.” New York Times bestselling author Andrew Ross Sorkin joins David M. Rubenstein to discuss the speculation, greed, and ignored warnings that led to that epic economic meltdown, while examining the ways in which the economic and political state of the US in the late 1920s resembles our nation today. Recorded on November 11, 2025

One hundred and fifty years before the events of January 7, 2021, the 1872 Louisiana gubernatorial election—arguably the most contentious in American history, with both parties claiming corruption and neither candidate conceding—led to racial violence across the state and the deaths of at least 150 Black men in the Colfax Massacre. CNN’s Dana Bash and author David Fisher join David M. Rubenstein to discuss the little-known story of this violent moment in America’s history. Recorded on May 1, ...