Hear Abigail Adams' 1786 letters—reporting from London on politics and society

Abigail Adams sailed to Europe to join John during his diplomatic posting in Paris in 1784

This podcast chronicles Abigail's voyage across the Atlantic to join John in Paris during his diplomatic service, then follows the couple's return to America and their rise to the White House.

More than 1,100 letters between Abigail and John Adams have survived

Their correspondence is a rich collection of American history. The letters provide a personal glimpse into the Revolution, the early republic, and the dynamics of one of America's most significant marriages.

Abigail Adams was a shrewd and largely self-taught financial investor

While John was away during the Revolution and his diplomatic career, Adams managed the family's finances and investments skillfully. When John urged her to buy farmland in 1783, she refused—investing instead in government bonds and earning up to 25% annually, compared to his farmland's 1%.

Abigail and John Adams married in 1764 and maintained a decades-long partnership

Abigail Smith married John Adams on Oct. 25, 1764, beginning a partnership that would last for more than five decades. Despite long separations during the Revolution and John's diplomatic career, the two maintained a deep intellectual and personal bond throughout their lives.

Both Abigail and John Adams had complicated relationships with Thomas Jefferson

This podcast examines the complex history between the Adams family and Thomas Jefferson—a relationship that fluctuated between close friendship and fierce rivalry, influenced by political conflicts and personal loyalties.

Abigail Adams received no formal schooling, but educated herself through reading

Despite receiving no formal education—standard for women of her era—Adams became well-read, largely through self-directed reading and extensive correspondence with leading political thinkers of her time, such as Thomas Jefferson and Mercy Otis Warren.

Laura Linney played Abigail Adams in HBO's acclaimed 2008 miniseries 'John Adams'

HBO's 2008 miniseries "John Adams" cast Laura Linney as Abigail, depicting her as the moral and intellectual force behind her husband's career. This podcast revisits the series, covering the Boston Massacre, the Continental Congress, and Abigail's important role in the Revolution.

Adams was so involved as first lady that some nicknamed her 'Mrs. President'

As first lady, Adams took an active role in her husband's presidency—advising on appointments, critiquing his speeches, and corresponding extensively with politicians. She supported the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts and pressed for war with France during the XYZ Affair.

Read biographies of 3 generations of the Adams family

The Massachusetts Historical Society provides biographical profiles covering three generations of the Adams family—using its extensive archive of family papers and correspondence to trace one of the most notable dynasties in American political history.

Adams' famous 1776 letter urged the Founders to 'remember the ladies'

In a March 1776 letter to John, Adams urged the Founders not to grant husbands unchecked power over their wives. Historians note it was not a demand for suffrage but a challenge to coverture—the legal doctrine that denied a married woman an independent identity.

Adams was a vocal opponent of slavery during the Revolutionary era

In letters written during the Revolution, Adams clearly opposed slavery—calling it an unjust scheme and highlighting the contradiction of fighting for freedom while enslaving others. Read it in her own words here in a letter to John Adams.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

Explore what 20,000 letters to an advice columnist tell us about US anxieties and concerns.

This interactive story breaks down common themes—and specific questions—that were posed to Dear Abby, America's longest-running advice column.

Hear why the Continental Congress decided to declare independence—and how the text took shape

In this episode of "Ben Franklin's World," historians Danielle Allen, Patrick Spero, and Peter Onuf examine why Congress pursued a declaration, how Congress chose the drafters, and how Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin shaped its language and Revolutionary intent.

Hear the story of Truth's life

This podcast traces Truth's life from slavery in New York to her status as an abolitionist icon—covering her daring escape, legal victories, landmark speeches, and lasting impact on racial equality and women's rights.

President Abraham Lincoln was inspired by a novel to create the holiday

A writer and abolitionist from New Hampshire, Sarah Josepha Hale was instrumental in cementing many of the Thanksgiving traditions we celebrate today. Her 1852 novel "Northwood, a Tale of New England," described a feast with a roasted turkey, stuffing, plum pudding, and pumpkin pie. She wrote dozens of editorials and letters to politicians campaigning for the day to become a national holiday. In 1863 she was finally successful in convincing President Lincoln to make it official.

Debunking the myth of Dickinson's antisocial seclusion

It's true that the poet largely kept to herself in her late-30s, spending nearly all her time at her father's house, and when she did venture out into the world, she'd wear white, facts that led American history to label her a strange, antisocial recluse. But, as this essay shows, that image is not entirely true, evident in the many relationships she maintained through her letters.

Hear three critics discuss why they love Jane Austen

In this podcast, the New Yorker's Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz discuss their favorite Austen novels in celebration of the legendary writer's 250th birthday. Fans of Austen will appreciate the spirited discussion of what distinguishes her masterworks from her lesser works, but even newcomers will get a solid overview of what the writer offers readers.

Watch someone follow an early American recipe using 19th-century technology

Following an old cookbook, one woman makes meatballs, pastries, potatoes, and spinach over her fireplace. The springtime dinner is taken from a 1778 book titled The Art of Cookery, which remained a bestseller throughout the 1820s.

Thomas Jefferson delivered his 1801 State of the Union address in writing

In 1801, President Jefferson ended in-person State of the Union addresses, feeling they were too monarchial, and sent written messages instead—a practice that lasted until 1913. His first message was written and sent via his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, who later led the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Hear a quick but insightful analysis of Mary Cassatt's 'The Boating Party'

Karen Jackson travels to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., to study an oil painting from 1893, walking listeners through a close reading of the canvas. Even if you can't make it to the museum, you can pull the image up and follow her guided analysis.

Journal entries by a 10-year-old girl living through the Civil War

So much of war history is written by politicians, officers, and soldiers. Less often heard from are civilians who witnessed the effects and bigger events of a war. Carrie Mabry Berry was a 10-year-old girl who lived in Atlanta during the Civil War who kept a diary. In it she recorded events like General Sherman's shelling of Atlanta and more. This article provides a peek in Carrie's diary.

Queen Elizabeth's 70-year pen-pal in North Dakota

Adele Hankey, 96, a resident of Park River, North Dakota, has exchanged letters with the late Queen Elizabeth II for 70 years on their shared birthday.

An adultery and poisoning case examined whether federal treaty power supersedes state law

This Radiolab podcast unpacks Bond v. United States, where a local love-triangle assault became a federal case under an international treaty—forcing the Supreme Court to confront a founding question: How far can federal power reach into crimes traditionally handled by the states?

Meet the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence—most of whom didn't put pen to paper until August 2, 1776—and see their original signatures.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

Dickens' first novel was a satire informed by his reporting

"The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club" was a series of illustrations and accompanying stories serialized in newspapers from 1836 to 1837. Dickens drew on his previous experiences as a Parliamentary reporter to flesh out the story of Samuel Slumkey, a politician running for office. He wins the election thanks to a well-timed bribe.

Olivia Nuzzi serves as a modern example of New Journalism

Writer Lily Isaacs argues that Nuzzi, a political journalist known for engaging in personal relationships with her subjects, can be viewed as an inheritor of New Journalism. Isaacs claims Nuzzi’s departure from purely objective reporting has informed her profiles, leading to intimate insights into her subjects' psychology.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

Abraham Lincoln was almost assassinated weeks before his inauguration as he traveled from Illinois to DC through Baltimore in 1861; it took two independent claims for Lincoln to be convinced the threat was real

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

The story of Dollree Mapp, whose legal challenge over her 1957 conviction for possessing "obscene material" led to a major strengthening of the Fourth Amendment

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

American short story writer Flannery O'Connor raised 40 peacocks, which became potent symbols for her fiction's elegant violence

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

Comedy legend Catherine O'Hara, star of 'Schitt's Creek' and 'Home Alone,' quit 'Saturday Night Live' after just one week to return to her old job.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

When caught in the mouths of cardinal fish, seed shrimp release glowing, bioluminescent chemicals, which alert predators of the cardinal fish, prompting the shrimp's ejection.