Our story begins on the island of Pharos, where Menelaus sat stranded with treasure in his hull and no wind in his sails. He discovered the reason for his misery only when the old sea god revealed the truth. Menelaus had been so focused on gathering wealth that he forgot the sacrifice owed to the gods. His neglect trapped him. His arrogance stalled him. His failure of duty held him in place.
That ancient lesson fits our moment with uncomfortable precision. While Menelaus wrestled for a way forward, our own leaders seem content to count their gold on the shore. Two modern politicians have enriched themselves while forgetting the tribute owed to the Republic and to the people who sent them to serve. Their actions reveal capriciousness, not duty.
Today we will explore why this keeps happening and whether the nation still deserves better leadership.
Today we are heading into the marble halls of the United States Senate to trace the long, tangled story of the filibuster and the rule that was supposed to control it. From a mistake in 1806 to the crisis of 1917, from Strom Thurmond’s twenty-four-hour speech to the silent filibusters of today, the Senate has perfected the art of doing nothing at great length.
We will look at how cloture was born in wartime, how it was abused in the fight over civil rights, and how it finally became the 60-vote rule that defines modern gridlock. Along the way, we will ask the question that every frustrated citizen already knows the answer to: how did the world’s greatest deliberative body forget how to deliberate?
Thomas Paine wasn’t what you’d call a religious man, but he couldn’t escape the language of faith. In The American Crisis, he wrote of Providence—the hand of God guiding history—and he believed that God favored the cause of liberty over tyranny.
He saw divine justice not in miracles, but in moments: a sudden fog that saved the army, a storm that protected Washington’s retreat. He called these signs of Providence, the quiet proof that Heaven stands with those who fight for what’s right.
As a Chassid, I see it a little differently, but I understand him. Paine’s Providence is what we call hashgacha pratis, divine supervision—the belief that nothing happens by accident. Every hardship, every victory, every candle burning in the dark has purpose.
Faith in divine justice isn’t passive. It’s trust that God works through those who act with courage and righteousness. Paine believed it, and so do I.
In the darkest winter of the American Revolution, Thomas Paine wrote words that stirred a struggling people back to life. His essays, known as The American Crisis, called for unity and courage at a time when the cause of independence seemed doomed. Paine urged Americans to set aside their differences, stand together, and refuse to be ruled by fear.
He warned that division and apathy would only prolong their suffering, and that freedom could only be won through shared sacrifice and steadfast resolve. His words were not lofty speeches, but direct, heartfelt appeals to farmers, soldiers, and citizens alike.
In this episode, we explore how Paine’s call to unity helped transform a desperate army into a nation bound by purpose. His reminder still rings true today: liberty survives only when people have the courage to stand together, even when the world around them seems ready to fall apart.
In early 1776, Thomas Paine set fire to the old world with his pen. His pamphlet Common Sense didn’t just argue for American independence; it attacked the very idea of monarchy itself. Paine called King George III “the royal brute of Britain” and dismissed hereditary rule as absurd, insisting that no man was born to govern another.
He wrote in plain, direct language that ordinary people could understand, mocking the pomp and privilege of kings while reminding readers that real power belongs to the people. His words stripped away the illusion of divine right and exposed monarchy as a system built on fear and habit.
In this episode, we explore Paine’s fearless assault on tyranny, his scathing humor, and how his ideas helped ordinary colonists see themselves as citizens instead of subjects. Paine didn’t just challenge a king; he challenged an entire way of thinking—and changed the world forever.
In the winter of 1776, when the American Revolution seemed on the verge of collapse, a voice rose from the darkness. Thomas Paine, armed only with ink and conviction, wrote words that would reignite a nation’s spirit: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” His pamphlet, The American Crisis, was not written for comfort. It was written to remind a weary people that freedom demands perseverance.
Paine believed liberty was not a gift to be enjoyed, but a cause to be earned. His words gave Washington’s soldiers the courage to march through snow and hunger toward an uncertain victory.
In this episode, we explore how Paine’s message of endurance still speaks to us today. The idea that freedom requires sacrifice remains as true now as it was on that freezing night in 1776. Paine’s challenge endures: liberty survives only through the strength of those who refuse to quit.
In December of 1776, when the Revolutionary cause seemed all but broken, a pamphlet appeared that lit a spark across the colonies. Thomas Paine’s The American Crisis began with a line that still echoes through history: “These are the times that try men’s souls.”
It was not a statement of despair, but of defiance. Paine challenged Americans to find courage in the midst of defeat, to prove their loyalty not in comfort but in hardship. His words were read aloud to Washington’s troops before the daring attack at Trenton, and for many, they rekindled the will to fight.
In this episode, we explore the power behind Paine’s words, the desperate winter that inspired them, and the moral fire they ignited in a weary army. Paine reminded a struggling nation that true freedom demands endurance, and that the soul of liberty is tested most fiercely when hope runs thin.
It is October 10, 1775, and Norwich can feel the weight of the war pressing closer than ever. Prices rise, faith stretches thin, and the news from Boston and Philadelphia gives as much worry as hope. General Gage has sailed home in disgrace, replaced by the iron-willed General Howe, while Washington clings to his siege lines with more resolve than rations.
In Philadelphia, Congress takes a daring step — authorizing the first ships of a Continental Navy, a fleet born more from courage than coin.
Across the ocean, King George prepares to brand us as rebels, and Norwich listens for what comes next.
Tonight on Revolutionary Talk, we ask what liberty truly costs, what faith it takes to hold a nation together, and whether ordinary people can weather extraordinary times. The Revolution is stirring, and the tide is turning.
Welcome to Revolutionary Talk on WREV 760 AM. It is October 9, 1775, and today the tide quite literally turns. In Philadelphia, the Continental Congress has voted to arm two ships and send them against British supply vessels. Out of quills and parchment, a navy is born.
John Adams declared that a nation cannot defend its liberty without command of the sea, and tonight his words begin to take shape in oak and canvas. From small harbors to great rivers, shipwrights and sailors are ready to trade cargo for cannon and turn commerce into courage.
While the King in London sharpens his edicts and readies more troops, America quietly builds her first defense. The fleet may be small, but its purpose is vast. Liberty now flies upon the water, and every sail that fills with wind carries the promise that this rebellion has become a revolution.
Welcome to Revolutionary Talk on WREV 760AM. It is October 8, 1775, and General Washington has called a council of war in Cambridge to decide the future of the Continental Army. The debate over numbers and enlistments has turned into a debate over principle. Today, the army ruled that no Black man, free or enslaved, may serve in the ranks.
The decision is said to preserve order among the colonies, but it has drawn a line that liberty itself may not cross. From Norwich to Philadelphia, men are asking what freedom truly means if it does not belong to everyone.
Tonight, we will look inside that council chamber, where maps and muskets shared the table with fear and compromise. We will hear from those who defend the choice and from those who call it what it is, a betrayal of the very cause we claim to serve.
Welcome back to Revolutionary Talk on WREV 760AM, Norwich’s voice of the times. It’s October 7, 1775, and the Revolution has just taken a hard blow. In Cambridge, General Washington has uncovered the unthinkable—Dr. Benjamin Church, surgeon general of our own army, has been exposed as a British spy. The man who bound our wounds has been sending our secrets to the enemy. The shock runs deep, and trust runs thin.
And while our army reels from betrayal, word reaches us from Boston that General Gage is gone, recalled in disgrace, replaced by the King’s new hammer, General William Howe. London calls him the man to finish this rebellion once and for all.
Tonight we’ll ask: who can we trust, and what comes next when treason and tyranny share the same week? Stay tuned. This is Revolutionary Talk, and the war just got personal.
Welcome back to Revolutionary Talk on WREV 760AM, Norwich’s voice for liberty and reason. It’s October 6, 1775, and the talk around town isn’t just about muskets and marches anymore. It’s about money. Prices are climbing, salt is scarce, and paper bills from Congress are multiplying faster than they’re worth. Folks here in Norwich are paying more and getting less, and they’re starting to wonder whether the promise of liberty comes with an empty purse.
In Philadelphia, Congress debates foreign alliances and secret correspondence, hinting at a war that might stretch across oceans. Washington holds the lines at Boston, Benedict Arnold pushes deeper into the wilderness, and in London the King’s men polish the words that will soon brand us rebels.
The fighting may still be far away, but the struggle is already here—in every coin, every market, and every hungry table.
Welcome back to Powder to Parchment on WREV 760AM, where we bring you Revolutionary Talk straight from the heart of 1775. Today we turn our attention to Benedict Arnold, and not the man remembered for betrayal, but the soldier who was still a hero.
On October 3, 1775, Arnold and more than a thousand men began their march north through the wilds of Maine, bound for Quebec. They carried bateaux that leaked, maps that lied, and provisions that would soon rot, yet they carried also the hopes of General Washington and the survival of the Revolution.
Arnold had already seized Fort Ticonderoga, yet Congress treated him with suspicion and scorn. Washington, however, saw fire and trusted him with a bold gamble. If Quebec could be taken, Canada might join the American cause.
This is the story of ambition, boldness, and the making of a Revolutionary hero.
Welcome back to Powder to Parchment on WREV 760AM, Norwich’s home for Revolutionary Talk. Today, October 2, 1775, we turn to Philadelphia, where the Continental Congress takes up an idea as bold as it is dangerous: creating a navy.
John Adams rises and declares, “Without a navy we cannot do much.” His words cut through the dust and hesitation of the chamber. Yet the room divides. Adams sees survival in schooners and privateers; John Dickinson sees danger in expense and provocation. Boldness against caution, liberty against reconciliation.
Meanwhile, across the ocean, King George drafts his speech branding us rebels and his ministers hire Hessians to finish the job. So which will it be, Norwich? Ships or speeches? Schooners or supplication? Stay tuned... Revolutionary Talk begins now.
It's October 1, 1775, and WREV 760AM is on the air, bringing you "Revolutionary Talk" with your firebrand host, Dave Diamond.
Word from Cambridge is not good. Shocking even. And from London the King has waddled in as he gets ready to open the session of Parliament. It doesn't look like he's in a conciliatory mood.
Grab a mug of ale and fill your pipe, settle back in front of the fire as Dave brings you the news of the day as only he can.
This episode starts with a couple of stories that probably only I care about, like the lawsuit over Seattle’s homeless shelter hotels and yet another IT failure that managed to make life harder for the people caught in its web. But then the show turns inward.
I take you through the long story of my right shoulder, which goes all the way back to Navy sports in the 1980s, took a bad turn with a fall in 2018, and now has doctors listing off arthritis, cartilage tears, and tendon problems like they are reciting baseball stats. The plain English translation? It hurts, it is weak, and it makes life a whole lot more complicated.
Surgery might be on the horizon, and that means five weeks of forced immobility. So today’s show is about pain, persistence, and trying not to lose sight of what matters most.
Washington State just handed a Florida shipyard a contract worth $714 million dollars to build three new hybrid-electric ferries. For the first time in decades, these boats won’t be built here at home, and the ripple effects are already hitting taxpayers, local shipyards, and the reliability of our ferry system.
The story is bigger than dollars and steel. It’s about climate mandates, political choices, and whether Washington’s Climate Commitment Act is driving policy off course. Supporters call this progress. Critics say it’s a hidden tax that inflates costs, outsources jobs, and delivers little global impact for a very high local price.
Is this really in our best interest, or is it a case study in failed public policy?
Cracker Barrel has long been a roadside favorite, a place for biscuits, rocking chairs, and a slice of nostalgia. But today the chain is at the center of a high-stakes corporate fight. Activist investor Sardar Biglari is challenging Cracker Barrel’s leadership, arguing that the company has wasted money, lost touch with its customers, and needs a drastic overhaul. His plan is blunt: cut waste, sell off weak side ventures, fix operations, and return money to shareholders.
At the same time, customers are grumbling about smaller portions, slower service, and management that seems disconnected from the brand’s roots. Analysts have turned cold, with no buy ratings left on the stock. And looming over it all are the power brokers at BlackRock and Vanguard, whose votes will decide the outcome.
Lena Marlowe and Graham Calder unpack what this battle means for Cracker Barrel and for the future of legacy American brands.
This week on Dave Does History, Dave is out, but the show rolls on with Lena Marlowe and Graham Calder in the host chairs. Together, they tackle one of the thorniest questions in American public life: should the National Guard be used to police our cities? Chicago often takes center stage in this debate, with violent crime making national headlines and sparking calls for action beyond what local law enforcement can manage. But bringing in the Guard isn’t as simple as it sounds. From the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 to the Insurrection Act and beyond, the legal and historical backdrop is a minefield. Lena and Graham weigh the potential benefits of increased manpower and order against the dangers of militarizing our neighborhoods and blurring the lines between soldier and police officer. Stay tuned, because this is one conversation that reaches far beyond Chicago.
What do Achilles, Odysseus, and the Founding Fathers have in common?
In this episode we explore how flawed heroes—from mythic battlefields to the halls of Independence—can still shape the world. Drawing from Stephen Fry’s Troy, we unpack the pride, grief, and imperfection of ancient warriors and connect them to the real, complicated men who signed the Declaration of Independence.
Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin—none of them were saints. But like the heroes of legend, they carried heavy contradictions while laying the foundation for liberty.
As we launch the Liberty – 250 series in the lead-up to America’s 250th birthday, we are not polishing halos—we are pulling back the curtain on greatness born from imperfection.
Subscribe, share, and join the conversation as we ask the big question: Can flawed men still forge freedom?
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