In this bonus episode of the podcast, recorded on July 5 from Marlborough, Massachusetts, host Roger Berkowitz reflects on Fourth of July patriotism, baseball, and a Lapham’s Quarterly podcast series, Revolutionary America, edited by Donovan Hohn. Berkowitz highlights Lewis Lapham's archival conversations with Jill Lepore on historians’ duty to face complexity and humility, and with Gordon Wood, who cites Lincoln’s claim that America’s unity comes not from nationality but from the Declaration’s creed of equality. Berkowitz connects this to Arendt’s argument in On Revolution and The Origins of Totalitarianism that the United States, at its best, is a non-national constitutional republic able to sustain “hyphenated” citizenship, unlike European nation-states that render minorities vulnerable. Marking America’s 250th anniversary, he argues the republic’s strength lies in pluralism, federalism, and liberty amid friction, even as these freedoms also risk disunity and violence.
Learn more and support our stewardship of Lapham's Quarterly at Bard College here.
ABOUT:
Produced by the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College, this podcast offers close readings of Arendt's books alongside engaging interviews and thought-provoking conversations. Released weekly, each episode provides listeners with a deeper understanding of Arendt's philosophy and its relevance to contemporary issues. Available on all major podcast platforms, listeners join us on a captivating intellectual journey through the mind of Hannah Arendt.
New episodes every Friday morning! Join Roger Berkowitz, Founder and Academic Director of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College, as he discusses the works of German Jewish political theorist Hannah Arendt (1906-1975).
THE HANNAH ARENDT CENTER:
The Hannah Arendt Center provides an intellectual space for passionate, uncensored, and nonpartisan thinking that reframes and deepens the fundamental questions facing our nation and our world. Become a member and enjoy several benefits including live access to our Virtual Reading Group that takes place most Fridays, and upon which this podcast is based: https://hac.bard.edu/membership/
More information can be found on our website: https://hac.bard.edu/ Follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/hannaharendt/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hannaharendtcenteratbard/
THE HOST:
Roger Berkowitz is the Founder and Academic Director of the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College. He is the author of the forthcoming A WORLD WE SHARE: Hannah Arendt and the Power of Friendship in a Broken World (Yale University Press; Oct. 6), editor of On Civil Disobedience: Henry David Thoreau and Hannah Arendt (2024), The Perils of Invention: Lying, Technology, and the Human Condition, and co-editor of Thinking in Dark Times: Hannah Arendt on Ethics and Politics (2009), and Artifacts of Thinking: Reading Hannah Arendt’s Denktagebuch (2017). Berkowitz edits the HA: Yearbook and the weekly newsletter Amor Mundi. He is the winner of the 2019 Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought given by the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Germany.
EDITED BY:
Alex Fox Tschan is the editor & co-producer of the “Reading Hannah Arendt with Roger Berkowitz” podcast. He is a working musician, creative producer, & audio/visual editor at his Brooklyn-based studio, The Fox & The Sound. With 25 years of recording & performance experience, Tschan’s recent projects range from indie-pop albums to audiobooks for McNally Jackson. A full spread of his work & collaborations can be found at pastelhell.com.
