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Revolution 250 Podcast

Revolution 250 Podcast
Author: Robert Allison
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© 2025 Revolution 250 Podcast
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Revolution 250 is a consortium of organizations in New England planning commemorations of the American Revolution's 250th anniversary. https://revolution250.org/Through this podcast you will meet many of the people involved in these commemorations, and learn about the people who brought about the Revolution--which began here. To support Revolution 250, visit https://www.masshist.org/rev250Theme Music: "Road to Boston" fifes: Doug Quigley, Peter Emerick; Drums: Dave Emerick
268 Episodes
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Join Bradley Jay, Bob Allison & Jonathan Lane as they discuss the events surrounding the Boston Massacre Trials, Pope's Day, and Crime & Punishment in 1770 Boston. Tell us what you think! Send us a text message!
Emily Sneff, author of When the Declaration of Independence Was News explores how the Declaration spread across the colonies and the wider world—not as a sacred founding text, but as breaking news. Her book traces how printers, sailors, and town criers turned Congress’s resolution into headlines that shaped the very idea of independence. Historian of the Declaration of Independence, Emily Sneff is of the curators of the new exhibit, "Declaration's Journey, at the Museum of the Am...
Join host Professor Robert Allison as he speaks with historian and author Edward Andrews about his new book, Newport Gardner’s Anthem: A Story of Slavery, Struggle, and Survival in Revolutionary America. Together, they explore the remarkable life of Newport Gardner—born Occramer Marycoo in Africa, enslaved in Newport, and later freed to become a composer, community leader, and founder of one of America’s first Black churches. This story is a powerful look at how music, faith, and freedom inte...
Donna Curtin, Executive Director of Pilgrim Hall Museum, the oldest continuously operating public museum in America, tells us about the surprising links between Plymouth’s Pilgrims and the Revolution. They spotlight the bold voices of James and Mercy Otis Warren, and explore Pilgrim Hall’s Revolutionary collections that connect 17th-century ideals to the fight for independence. On October 11, they are hosting a performance of "Revolutionary Voices: Plymouth Debates Liberty & L...
We are just months away from the 250th Anniversary of Henry Knox's Noble Train. Join Professor Robert Allison in conversation with Revolution 250 Executive Director Jonathan Lane as we review the history of the Knox Trail and discuss plans for the coming commemorations. Tell us what you think! Send us a text message!
Due to a technical difficulty this morning we are offering a "Revolution 250 Re-Podcast." Today's podcast will be from December 7, 2021 on the epic biography of King George III by Andrew Roberts, the Bonnie and Tom McCloskey Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. In this podcast, Professor Allison and Professor Roberts discuss the many remarkable qualities of George III as a monarch which are overshadowed by the events of the American Revol...
Johnson Hall, designed in 1763 by noted colonial architect Peter Harrison, was the grand estate of Sir William Johnson, the influential British Superintendent of Indian Affairs in New York. From this stately home, Johnson shaped alliances that helped keep many Indigenous nations aligned with the Crown during the struggle for American independence. Today, the Johnson Hall is preserved as a New York State Historic Site, offering a window into the complex relationships between empire, Native peo...
Host Robert Allison talks with Ron Peterson and David Martin about dramatic and little-known stories from Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket during the Revolution. From the fierce 1779 Battle of Falmouth to Nantucket’s divided loyalties, British shipwrecks, and the vital roles of African American and Native American patriots, this episode reveals how the Cape and Islands were anything but quiet backwaters in America’s fight for independence. To order a copy of the Book, The Revolution...
It is easy to see the Franklin stove as just an invention to improve the lives of colonial Americans. The stove, like many of Franklin's inventions, went through a series of improvements as he explored the science of heat convection and thermal dynamics. Other changes and considerations came about as Franklin changed the fuel from wood to coal. This is just one aspect of the impact of Franklin's stove on the 18th-century world. We talk with Professor Joyce Chaplin about her new bo...
From Lucifer’s rebellion to Adam and Eve’s expulsion, from Lancelot’s betrayal to Macbeth’s downfall, stories of greatness undone have gripped audiences for centuries. For America’s Revolutionaries, the cautionary examples of Julius Caesar and Oliver Cromwell warned of leaders who turned against the people. No figure embodies this tragic arc in American history more than General Benedict Arnold. Once a brilliant and passionate commander whose daring made him one of the Revolution’s most effec...
July 4, 2026 the United States of America will celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. There will be thousands of commemorations across the nation, but the national effort is being led by America 250, the Semiquincentennial Commission with its mission to Educate, Engage, and Unite for our national celebration. We had a chance to speak with Rosie Rios, Chair of America 250 and to learn more about America 250’s efforts to lead the nation in commemor...
What a story about the American incursion into Canada, 1774-1776! Mark R. Anderson learned about this episode in a military history class--and then, as an officer in the United States Air Force during the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns earlier in this century, he recalled what he had learned, and wanted to find a good book on the Canadian campaign. Finding none, he wrote The Battle for the Fourteenth Colony: America’s War of Liberation in Canada, 1774–1776, explores this fascinating cha...
How does a Boston-born, Philadelphia printer, scientist and entrepreneur, journey from the position of a proud member of the British Empire with many friends at Court, to a leader in the movement for American Independence. Join Professor Robert Allison (Suffolk University) as we delve into the life and experiences of Benjamin Franklin. Tell us what you think! Send us a text message!
John Trumbull's paintings have done more to etch the key events of the American Revolution into America's memory than perhaps anyone else. The son of the Governor of Connecticut and the brother of a Governor of Connecticut, Trumbull served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He knew many of the key figures of these events, and when he painted them, he painted them as he knew them. We talk with Damien M. Cregeau, author of "Portraits of Patriots: Colonel John Trumbull...
Taverns in the 18th century were more than watering holes: they were centers of cultural, political and social influence, gathering places for communities and conduits through which news was conveyed by traders and travelers from far away. We talk with Professor Malcolm Purinton, author of Globalization in a Glass: The Rise of Pilsner Beer through Technology, Taste, and Empire, about the role of taverns in the American Revolution, as well as about what people were drinking in...
Since parting ways 250 years ago, the United States and the United Kingdom have spent the intervening centuries building one of the most enduring and supportive international relationships. On today's Revolution 250 Podcast, Professor Robert Allison (Suffolk University) is in conversation with the UK Consul-General for New England, David Clay, MBE. Join us as we discuss two and a half centuries of diplomacy between our two nations. Tell us what you think! Send us a text message!
Join us as we uncover the remarkable, complex life of John Laurens—soldier, diplomat, abolitionist, and one of the most passionate idealists of the American Revolution. Gregory D. Massey speaks with us about his acclaimed biography John Laurens and the American Revolution. Together we'll explore the fiery convictions and bold actions of a young South Carolinian who fought not only against British tyranny but also against the hypocrisy of slavery in a nation proclaiming liberty.&nb...
We just celebrated the 250th Anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill in which the men of Connecticut under Colonel Thomas Knowlton played a pivatol part. Today we investigate the life of another Connecticut patriot, Colonel John Durkee of Norwich, Connecticut. To help us learn more about Col. Durkee and his friends and neighbors in eastern Connecticut Professor Robert Allison (Suffolk University) is in conversation with Dayne E. Rugh, author of John Durkee; The Forgotten St...
If Joseph Warren had lived, Peter Oliver said, no one would have heard of Washington. This might be an exaggeration, but few patriot leaders were as important to the cause as Joseph Warren—Roxbury physician, chair of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, chair of the Committee of Safety, Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge—he did not seek office, but his compatriots recognized his talents and put him to work. His death at the Battle of Bunker Hill, at the age of 34, deprived the ca...
For our 250th Episode, Pulitzer-prize winning author Rick Atkinson joins us to talk about his best-selling new book, The Fate of the Day: From Ticonderoga to Charleston, which focuses on the War between the British capture of Ticonderoga in 1777 to the fall of Charleston in 1780. HIs book, and our conversation, plumb the depths of the American Revolution and the characters who shaped the war. This is the second volume of his Revolutionary War trilogy, and leaves us wan...