''The Thomas Jefferson Hour'' is a syndicated public radio program and

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

produced in Bismarck,

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

. It features author-historian Clay S. Jenkinson in a first-person portrayal of

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

, the third

US President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

, and is co-hosted by David Swenson. Jenkinson remains in-character as Jefferson throughout the first half of the program, delivering monologues and answering listener questions regarding Jefferson's personal and political life and the history of early America. The character of Jefferson generally confines his discussion to matters of

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

, and philosophy as indirect context for modern times, but at times provides a limited analysis of current events (carefully attempting to limit his analysis to matters on which the actual Jefferson's view might be meaningfully determined). In the second portion of the program, Jenkinson steps out of character to discuss his in-character answers during the first half of the show and also to talk generally about the topic of the episode.

History

The Jefferson Hour began production in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

in the 1990s. For 12 years, Jenkinson collaborated with co-host Bill Chrystal (not to be confused with commentator Bill Kristol), a Congregational pastor and fellow historical interpreter. Chrystal was not the original co-host of the program, however. Jenkinson moved back to North Dakota in 2005, and introduced himself at Swenson's Makoché Recording Studios. Swenson agreed to co-host the program for a few transitional weeks, but has now been the "semi-permanent guest host" for .

Notes

References

External links

''The Thomas Jefferson Hour'' website
American talk radio programs American public radio programs 1994 radio programme debuts Bismarck–Mandan Cultural depictions of Thomas Jefferson {{US-radio-show-stub