July 2, 2024
For Vanity Fair, Jonathan explored whether Lyndon Johnson’s momentous 1968 decision to forego re-election could provide a model for Joe Biden and the Democrats in 2024.
May 18, 2024
For Air Mail, Jonathan reviewed SAILING ALONE: A SURPRISING HISTORY OF ISOLATION AND SURVIVAL AT SEA Richard J. King
February 10, 2024
For Air Mail: Jonathan reviews DIPLOMATS AT WAR, the journalist Charles Trueheart’s gripping memoir of life in Saigon in the early 1960s and a generations-long family feud.
November 18, 2023
For Air Mail: Jonathan reviews AMERICAN CONFIDENTIAL a new book on Lee Harvey Oswald’s relationship with his mother.
September 9, 2023
For Air Mail: Jonathan reviews PASSIONATE MOTHERS, POWERFUL SONS, a new dual biography of Jennie Churchill and Sara Roosevelt, two women known for their famous offspring who were formidable, and fascinating, in their own right
August 5, 2023
For Air Mail: Does R.F.K. Jr.’s campaign represent what America is becoming—a strange new land where conspiracy theories rule the day—or is it simply a reflection of the country it’s always been?
June 17, 2023
CSPAN’s “American History TV” broadcast Jonathan’s conversation with Jonathan Alter on BECOMING FDR. The conversation took place at Roosevelt House, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt’s New York City townhouse.
June 10, 2023
For Air Mail: Jonathan reviewed BATTLE OF INK AND ICE, Darrell Hartman’s new book on the still-unresolved feud over who exactly was the first person to reach the North Pole.
May 29, 2023
Jonathan appears as a commentator in HISTORY’s new 3-part docu-series “FDR.”
March 22, 2023
Jonathan and White House Historical Association President Stewart McLaurin talked about how polio shaped FDR’s presidency.
March 4, 2023
For Air Mail: Jonathan reviewed Rebecca Boggs Roberts’s UNTOLD POWER: The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson
February 1, 2023
At the Rancho Mirage Writers Festival, Jonathan joined Doris Kearns Goodwin, Eddie S. Glaude Jr., and Jon Meacham for a discussion of current threats to our democratic norms.
January 30, 2023
On the anniversary of Franklin Roosevelt’s birth, Jonathan discussed BECOMING FDR with FDR Library Director Bill Harris.
December 10, 2022
For Air Mail, Jonathan reviewed Shahan Mufti’s AMERICAN CALIPH: THE TRUE STORY OF A MUSLIM MYSTIC, A HOLLYWOOD EPIC, AND THE 1977 SIEGE OF WASHINGTON, DC
December 7, 2022
Jonathan joined “The Art of Manliness” podcast to discuss BECOMING FDR.
September 16, 2022
Jonathan joined host Marhsall Kosloff on “The Realignment” podcast.
September 13, 2022
In the Wall Street Journal, John P. McConnell reviewed BECOMING FDR.
September 9, 2022
On the podcast “Skullduggery,” Jonathan discussed Biden, FDR and the challenges a president faces inspiring hope in challenging times.
September 8, 2022
Jonathan joined the Atlanta History Center’s Claire Haley for a conversation about BECOMING FDR
September 6, 2022
Jonathan joined biographer Evan Thomas for a discussion of BECOMING FDR at Washington’s Politics & Prose. Watch the full event here.
August 27, 2022
Jonathan answered “Eight Questions” from Air Mail on how polio prepared FDR for the presidency — and saved his marriage.
August 11, 2022
July 23, 2022
June 17, 2022
July 13, 2022
May 21, 2022
June 1, 2022
May 4, 2022
From the newsletter: After the break-up of the USSR, an early Cold War Cassandra, warned of the lingering threat of a humiliated Russia. Should we have paid more attention?