One of my teachers in graduate school, the great constitutional historian Leonard Levy, insisted that “a history must serve its readers with explanations that suit the horizons of their curiosity and with writing that entertains and stirs them.” No one exemplifies that vivid style of biography and history better than Andrew Roberts. I caught up with Andrew in San Francisco this week, where we had a wide-ranging conversation about Churchill, biographical writing, Brexit, Trump, and the prospects for Boris Johnson.

Our conversation was held in front of a live audience, so it has some “authenticity,” as we might say.

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Published in: History, Podcasts, Politics

There are 10 comments.

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  1. Goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    Goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    Fabulous!  I’m reading his book right now. 

    • #1
  2. The Cloaked Gaijin Member
    The Cloaked Gaijin
    @TheCloakedGaijin

    What in the world was going with the microphone?  Was sorting papers during the entire interview?

    It reminds me of when Michael Barone would call into Dennis Miller’s radio show.  Dennis would accuse Barone of washing his dishes during the interview. 

    • #2
  3. Rightfromthestart Coolidge
    Rightfromthestart
    @Rightfromthestart

    I’m moved to paraphrase the the old joke : How about the sound crew’s execution ?  Ans: I’d be in favor of it. 

    • #3
  4. Al Sparks Coolidge
    Al Sparks
    @AlSparks

    I listen to a lot of Steve’s podcasts, and I’ve concluded that when it comes to production values, they’re an afterthought to him.  Things like this aren’t uncommon amongst his many submissions.

    Another poster has mentioned the shuffling of papers that I also found distracting.

    I do support PowerLine financially with the standard subscription, and I’d ask that Steve pay more attention to the sound quality.  Perhaps get some expert advice if PowerLine can’t afford the technical help with a sound board.

    • #4
  5. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    I did not fully understand how bad Jeremy Corbyn is. Think of all of the members of the Democratic Party that associate with him.

    Republicans that support the EU make me ill. It’s so obviously overwrought. What is wrong with these people?

     

    • #5
  6. colleenb Member
    colleenb
    @colleenb

    @goldwaterwoman I admire that you are reading Mr. Robert’s book.  I am not a fan of biographies for no good reason.  However this one and Kotkin’s tomes on Stalin do tempt me.  The authors are so articulate and know their subjects so well.  @rufusrjones – Corbyn is an anti-Semitic, Communist nutcase which is the reason that the Tories remain in power.  He makes B Sanders look good which is extremely hard to do. 

    • #6
  7. Goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    Goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    colleenb (View Comment):
    @goldwaterwoman I admire that you are reading Mr. Robert’s book. I am not a fan of biographies for no good reason.

    Churchill is my hero, so I read everything I can about him. I love biographies about important characters from the past as history is all about people. 

    • #7
  8. Chris Hutchinson Coolidge
    Chris Hutchinson
    @chrishutch13

    Al Sparks (View Comment):

    I listen to a lot of Steve’s podcasts, and I’ve concluded that when it comes to production values, they’re an afterthought to him. Things like this aren’t uncommon amongst his many submissions.

    Another poster has mentioned the shuffling of papers that I also found distracting.

    I do support PowerLine financially with the standard subscription, and I’d ask that Steve pay more attention to the sound quality. Perhaps get some expert advice if PowerLine can’t afford the technical help with a sound board.

    I’ve never heard it that bad though. It was strangely bad.

    • #8
  9. Steven Hayward Podcaster
    Steven Hayward
    @StevenHayward

    Al Sparks (View Comment):

    I listen to a lot of Steve’s podcasts, and I’ve concluded that when it comes to production values, they’re an afterthought to him. Things like this aren’t uncommon amongst his many submissions.

    Another poster has mentioned the shuffling of papers that I also found distracting.

    I do support PowerLine financially with the standard subscription, and I’d ask that Steve pay more attention to the sound quality. Perhaps get some expert advice if PowerLine can’t afford the technical help with a sound board.

    Yeah, yeah, it was a cluster-you-know-what in the middle. Won’t happen again. Unusual circumstances: Andrew and I were standing on a landing together above the dinner crowd, with no podium, so I had to hold the recording device (there was no sound board to plug into) while receiving written questions from the audience at intervals. There was no way to filter out the shuffling papers in my hands in post-production.

    • #9
  10. Steven Hayward Podcaster
    Steven Hayward
    @StevenHayward

    The Cloaked Gaijin (View Comment):

    What in the world was going with the microphone? Was sorting papers during the entire interview?

    It reminds me of when Michael Barone would call into Dennis Miller’s radio show. Dennis would accuse Barone of washing his dishes during the interview.

    See the response below for an explanation of the unusual circumstances.

    • #10
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