{"podcast":{"title":"The American Idea","slug":"the-american-idea-3723802","podcast_index_feed_id":3723802,"rss_url":"https://media.rss.com/amideapodcast/feed.xml","website_url":"https://rss.com/podcasts/amideapodcast","image_url":"https://media.rss.com/amideapodcast/20221108_061125_bfec74f0f38da83852b24c4693542ed7.jpg","author":"Ashbrook Center","episode_count":237,"summary":"The American Idea explores America's history and principles and what they mean today. The podcast is a production of the Ashbrook Center and hosted by Dr. Jeff Sikkenga.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-25T00:20:17.135791+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-american-idea-3723802"},"episode":{"title":"Thomas Jefferson: Essential American Founder","slug":"thomas-jefferson-essential-american-founder","published_at":"2026-02-04T12:27:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-american-idea-3723802/thomas-jefferson-essential-american-founder","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-american-idea-3723802","url":"https://rss.com/podcasts/amideapodcast/2462556","audio_url":"https://content.rss.com/episodes/44047/2462556/amideapodcast/2026_01_15_19_26_21_2222a47b-a88b-4549-be1e-1905e81ba12d.mp3","summary":"Thomas Jefferson: “Author of the Declaration of American Independence [and] of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom & Father of the University of Virginia.” So says his tombstone, as he requested. Who was Jefferson, beyond the Declaration’s author? What were his beliefs and hopes? What else did he write and how can we better understand this essential American Founder today? Join Jeff as he discusses Jefferson with Todd Estes, Professor of History. Read “A Summary View of the Rights of British America”: https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/a-summary-view-of-the-rights-of-british-america-2/ Read the Rockfish Gap Report: https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/03-13-02-0197-0006 Read this excerpt from the Notes on the State of Virginia: https://tjrs.monticello.org/letter/2260 Host: Jeff Sikkenga Executive Producer: Jeremy Gypton Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/theamericanidea Homepage: https://ashbrook.org/the-american-idea-podcast/","meta_description":"Thomas Jefferson: “Author of the Declaration of American Independence [and] of the Statute of Virginia for religious freedom & Father of the Universit…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3186,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-american-idea-3723802/episodes/thomas-jefferson-essential-american-founder/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-american-idea-3723802/thomas-jefferson-essential-american-founder.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}