Sundays at 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT) on Zoom
Upcoming Session: November 24, 2024
Author: Doris Kearns Goodwin
Book: The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President
Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President
Book Breaks
Book Breaks
Free
All Audiences
Every Sunday
About Book Breaks
Every Sunday at 2:00 pm ET (11:00 am PT) on Zoom
Each week our hosts interview renowned scholars and discuss their acclaimed and frequently award-winning works, followed by a Q&A with the at-home audience. Please click any of the upcoming episodes to register. You can purchase any of the books featured on our bookshop.org page, for which we receive an affiliate commission.
Upcoming Episodes
Richard Haass, Council on Foreign Relations
The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens
Ana Lucia Araujo, Howard University
Humans in Shackles: An Atlantic History of Slavery
Richard Haass, Council on Foreign Relations
The Bill of Obligations: The Ten Habits of Good Citizens
Ana Lucia Araujo, Howard University
Humans in Shackles: An Atlantic History of Slavery
Student Competition
Students: Submit your question for the upcoming Book Breaks guest. If your question is chosen, it will be answered live on the show and you will be named History Scholar of the Week! 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. Students should be in middle or high school and at least 13 years old.
In Case You Missed It: Last Week's Episode
Justene Hill Edwards, University of Virginia
Savings and Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank
About the book: Shortly after the Civil War, tens of thousands of formerly enslaved people—veterans, sharecroppers, tradespeople, and small business owners—entrusted millions of dollars to the Freedman’s Bank. The bank’s northern board members pledged to make conservative investments, but just nine years later, account holders discovered that the institution was bankrupt. The board had funneled deposits into risky ventures benefiting their own friends, families, and political cronies. Historian Justene Hill Edwards illuminates a pivotal moment in economic history, one that discouraged generations of potential investors but also rallied Black banking entrepreneurs.
What Our Fans Say
As a High School History teacher, I love Book Breaks for so many reasons. It allows my students to listen to some of the world’s preeminent History scholars from the comfort of their own homes. The History Scholar of the Week contest adds an element of excitement and recognition that I think young people in particular, can look forward to. In so many ways, Gilder Lehrman has made the latest and greatest scholarship so much more accessible to ordinary teachers and learners.
—Martina Madden, Stuyvesant High School in New York
Book Breaks is an important and novel instructional modality that high school history teachers should embrace. I see each Book Breaks author as a co-teacher for my class and a way for students to feel more connected to the historians who wrote their textbook–Give Me Liberty!–or helped them understand historical people, sources, and events.
—Glenn Whitman, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Maryland
I’m a retired teacher, now serving as a volunteer researcher for several local historical societies. I know of no other Internet offering that compares in scope to Book Breaks. I look forward to an author interview every Sunday afternoon. It’s like attending a one-hour graduate seminar each week where viewers can ask questions via the chat. It would be a shame if I had to miss a Book Breaks broadcast, but no worries . . . they’re all there on the Gilder Lehrman website to view again anytime.
-Don Gallagher, Jr., Retired Teacher in Pennsylvania
The Institute thanks Citizen Travelers, the nonpartisan civic engagement initiative of The Travelers Companies, Inc., for its support of Book Breaks.