Every Sunday at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT)
Upcoming Book Breaks
April
May 5 - Anastasia C. Curwood on Shirley Chisholm: Champion of Black Feminist Power Politics
Shirley Chisholm was an early childhood educator. How did she also become the first African American congresswoman and the first Black major-party presidential candidate? Curwood interweaves Chisholm’s public image, political commitments, and private experiences to create a definitive account of a consequential life.
Anastasia C. Curwood is Hallam Professor of History and director of the Commonwealth Institute for Black Studies at the University of Kentucky. She is also the author of Stormy Weather: Middle-Class African American Marriages between the Two World Wars (2010).
May 12 - James Traub on True Believer: Hubert Humphrey’s Quest for a More Just America
May 19 - Steve Inskeep on Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America
History Scholar of the Week
Middle and high school students (age 13 and up), submit your questions for one of the historians being featured on Book Breaks! If your question is chosen, you will be named History Scholar of the Week, and it will be announced live on the program! In addition, both you and your teacher will win a $50 gift certificate to the Gilder Lehrman Gift Shop. Your question can be about the book or the topic in general. Please submit only one question per program.
Submit your question here.
The deadline to submit a question for the upcoming Book Breaks is Thursday.
Book Breaks Archive
The Book Breaks archive contains more than three years of past programs featuring historians such as David Blight, H. W. Brands, Ken Burns, Eric Foner, Annette Gordon-Reed, Peniel Joseph, Jon Meacham, Elizabeth Varon, and more. Still deciding whether to subscribe? You can watch Harold Holzer’s talk on Brought Forth on This Continent: Abraham Lincoln and American Immigration (winner of the Lincoln Prize) below to help you make up your mind.
View the full archive of past sessions
The Institute thanks Citizen Travelers, the nonpartisan civic engagement initiative of The Travelers Companies, Inc., for its support of Book Breaks.