Wide Awake: The Forgotten Force That Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War

Jon Grinspan is the curator of political history at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. Author of three books and numerous articles, Greenspan says, "I study the deep history of American democracy, especially the wild partisan campaigns of the 1800s. At the same time, I collect objects from contemporary protests, conventions, elections, and riots for the Smithsonian, to try to preserve our own heated moment for generations to come. Together, it involves a bit of time-traveling, explaining the past to the present, and the present to the future." Talking with us a week after the election, his bifocal view of past and present should be a treat for all listeners.