# The Book Club: A History of the United States in 15 Speeches

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-spectator-45373/the-book-club-a-history-of-the-united-states-in-15-speeches
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-spectator-45373/the-book-club-a-history-of-the-united-states-in-15-speeches.md
Podcast: [Best of the Spectator](https://stenobird.com/podcast/best-of-the-spectator-45373)
Published: 2026-07-01T23:01:00+00:00
Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/best-of-the-spectator/episodes/the-book-club-a-history-of-the-united-states-in-15-speeches
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/68358fb5e1abc4be6b0308eb/e/6a43df0c06fb5d326d29b369/media.mp3?tk=eyJ0ayI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJhZHMiOnRydWUsInNwb25zIjp0cnVlLCJzdGF0dXMiOiJwdWJsaWMifQ==&sig=r2TV4N4DD05ntIMQMDcf7wb1BDnLwgMwIUv4YI16XBs
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Duration seconds: 2548

## Resource

My guest in this week's Book Club podcast is the former Obama speechwriter Ben Rhodes, talking about his new book All We Say: A History of the United States in 15 Speeches. Ben tells me why a debate between two visions of what makes the US special has been playing out since the nation's conception, what Frederick Douglass has to say to the America of the 21st century, and why Ben Franklin didn't think the constitution was sacred.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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## Transcript

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