WBUR Launches New Political Podcast, “Freak Out And Carry On,” Addressing Urgent Issues Of Our Time

WBUR, Boston’s NPR news station, announces the launch of Freak Out and Carry On, a new politics and history podcast that addresses the urgent issues of our time through a historical lens. Hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and best-selling author Ron Suskind and noted Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson, the podcast examines the national political landscape and explores the historical context for today’s events. New episodes are available every Thursday starting June 15.

Freak Out and Carry On is meant to address the incessant, and often unexpected news coming from the White House that has caused hand wringing and anxiety among both Democrats and Republicans.

“This podcast will elevate the current political discourse and provide context from some of the smartest observers of our politics,” said Iris Adler, Executive Director for Programming, Podcasts and Special Projects at WBUR. “Freak Out and Carry On will delve into what’s happening in the Trump administration and ask has this ever happened before? Ron and Heather have the intelligence, the gravitas and insight to help us all gain perspective.”

Listeners will get a new understanding of Washington events beyond the current news cycle. By hearing analysts and historians, they’ll learn about the historical antecedents to current events in Washington, and better understand how we ended up here and where we are in the cycle of American history. Notable guests on the podcast so far include Matt Bai, Yahoo News; Rick Perlstein, historian; Yoni Appelbaum, The Atlantic; Matthew Dallek, historian, George Washington University; and McKay Coppins, The Atlantic.

“Our political culture of pitched combat and exploding news cycles has left much of America in a constant state of freak-out,” said Suskind. “In 20 years reporting from Washington about power and perfidy, you can’t help but develop context – context that allows us to exhale and carry on. That’s why I wanted to do this show: to deepen listeners understanding of events…and help them sleep at night!”

“In 1939, with the maelstrom of WWII on the horizon, the British government issued a poster reminding citizens that victory depended on their faith that the nation would endure. ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ voices the quiet truth that principles survive catastrophe so long as people continue to believe in them. That message rings true in America today, hence the title of our podcast,” said Cox Richardson. “It’s easy to freak out about the relentless cascade of crises coming from Washington. But America’s long history has seen plenty of crises before this, and we too have always found a way to ‘carry on.’ ”

Freak Out and Carry On is produced by WBUR. You can follow the program on Twitter and visit the website at wbur.org/freakout. Freak Out and Carry On is available on iTunes, Stitcher and other podcasting apps.

About 90.9 WBUR

On your radio, laptop, phone or tablet, WBUR is a leading source of news, information, analysis and sophisticated entertainment. WBUR is Boston’s NPR news station and the home of national programs On Point, Here & Now, Only A Game and Car Talk, reaching millions of listeners each week on NPR stations across the United States. The WBUR iLab is the eighth largest producer of podcasts in the country with audience favorites including Modern Love: The Podcast, Dear Sugar Radio and Kind World.

About Ron Suskind

Ron Suskind is the author of The New York Times bestsellers Confidence Men, about the fall of the U.S. economy and the presidency of Barack Obama; The Way of the World, about the forces fighting the global ‘hearts and minds’ struggle at a time when awesomely destructive weapons are available to the common man; The One Percent Doctrine, about the U.S. government’s frantic improvisation to fight a new kind of war after 9/11; The Price of Loyalty, about the inner workings of the American government and Presidency of George W. Bush; and A Hope in the Unseen, a nonfiction narrative that helped redefine national debates on race, class and achievement. From 1993 to 2000, he was the senior national affairs writer for the Wall Street Journal, where he won the Pulitzer Prize. His newest book, Life, Animated, chronicles his family’s twenty-year journey raising and connecting to their autistic son. Ron lives in Cambridge, Mass., and lectures about narrative and justice at Harvard University.

About Heather Cox Richardson

Heather Cox Richardson is Professor of History at Boston College and the author of several [or else change word “including”] books about American politics including, To Make Men Free: A History of the Republican Party (2014), Wounded Knee: Party Politics and the Road to an American Massacre (2010), West from Appomattox: The Reconstruction of America After the Civil War (2007), The Death of Reconstruction (2001) and The Greatest Nation of the Earth: Republican Economic Policies during the Civil War (1997). Richardson writes widely for popular publications and is a national commentator on American political history and the Republican Party. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, Quartz and Salon.com. She recently attracted national attention when one of her Facebook posts went viral: a post on how Americans could respond to what she called the “shock events” of the Donald Trump presidency.