He received a b. A. In government from dartmouth. That was followed by degrees in government from georgetown university. We were ten years as a newspaper journalist before becoming a professor, and has lectured widely on the news media, presidency and elections before u. S. And international audiences. A prolific scholar, he has written seven books including, president ial communication of character, nightly news nightmare, spinner and chief, and his most recent, late night with trump, political humor and the american presidency. Theres also the author and coauthor of dozens of scarlet early articles. U. S. Public opinion and virginia politics. His political commentary has appeared in a wide range of Media Outlets including the new york times, Washington Post, pbs, unusual, politico, cspan and bbc world. His current professor of Political Science and International Affairs and instead of leadership in the media studies at the university of mary washington. He is also taught courses of Political Science, journalism and political communication at the georgetown university, Mcgill University and george mason university. He has earned the reputation of being an outstanding teacher, as evidenced by his winning the universitys three most prodigious wards. That distinction further attached 2017 recipient of the virginia, outstanding faculty award from the council of higher education. He will be firmly recalled by create four previous presentations on president s harry truman, lyndon johnson, Richard Nixon and ronald reagan. Hes truly a pleasure to introduce one of washingtons most distinguished professors, doctor steven farms worth. There has never been anyone like Johnny Carson and there never will be. From 1962 to 1992, more than 5000 episodes over 30 years, Johnny Carson walked through the rainbow colored curtains as he hosted americas top late night show. He talked americans in at night with his signature mix of mostly gentle barbs, directed at the leading lights of politics and culture and his curated lists have always interesting guest. He offered a non stop parade of the key personalities of the sixties and seventies and the eighties and the nineties. They were the leading lights of film, television music, books and politics and more than a few amazing animals in the train areas. He introduced the nation to many comedians all the way up and reminded them of people who were already at the top of their game. To say he dominated the television of his era is actually to understate the case, by every measure, he was not only first but he was so far ahead that it did not matter who was second. Rise and fall on the basis of second. Whether a performer could get a booking on the tonight show. If the set went well in the comic at a chance to sit next to the desk for a chat with the king of late night, then their careers would be made. The list of people Middle America met thanks to carson is an immense one. And its hard to imagine some of these people were once upon a time unknowns, but they include barbra streisand, george karlyn, richard prior, jerry seinfeld, robin williams, eddie murphy, ellen generous, chris rock, and david letter man. Carson also advanced the careers of emerging comics like steve martin, woody allen, joan rivers, and provided a venue for established performers like don wrinkles, buddy hackett, and jimmy stewart. There are four ways to measure carsons success. First of all, his tenure. 30 years at the head of the tonight show, compared to 22 for gelato and six so far for jimmy fallon. The tonight show is the longest running entertainment show in the United States. It started in 1954, at the dawn of television. In the 66 years, even though he has long been off the air, the late night format still looks a lot like the way carson built it. In terms of audience, the second measure, carson had an audience of 15 Million People at his peak. Thats an astonishing number for his time, and for hours. Jimmy fallons tonight show, which ranks third at 11 30, has less than 2 Million Viewers a night on average. A lot of that has to do with the rise of cable, and the rise of the internet, where audiences have splintered. But make no mistake about it. Its an astonishing difference compared to the past. Johnny carson was also a gold mine for nbc. At its peak, the tonight show is generating 17 of all the profits for nbc. Thats an astonishing share of income for one 90 minute show, after prime time. Noshow ever made more money and carson was well paid for his efforts, particularly in his later years. But nbc made a great deal of money off of carsons approach. I also want to bring to your attention the fourth issue that really demonstrates the importance of Johnny Carson as a political and cultural figure of the 20th century. It has drawn very little attention from his biographers. In the 1960s, when segregation still dominated many parts of this country, the early carson quietly made the tonight show one of the most integrated places in america. His respectful treatment and promotion of a range of political and cultural voices normalized the changes that American Society was about to make two and jim crow. Carson smoothed over much of the conflict of the early 20th century, the late 20th century, by offering a refuge for the troubles of ones they, even as the comedy and conversation suddenly paved the way towards Greater Public understanding of difference, and of the political and cultural changes that rocked the nation in the years he held court at 11 30. A parading in an environment with a little competition, carson named for the great middle of the national audience. With monologues and guests that were generally comforting and inoffensive, but every now and then pushing the envelope a bit forward. As noted film director billy wilder put it, carson is the cream of middle class elegances. He has captivated the americans without ever offending the highbrows. He has never said anything that wasnt liberal or progressive. Carson included political material in his monologues, but usually in a way that would not offend most viewers. That meant making fun of politicians who are embroiled in scandals, committing gaffes and then carson would move on his apparent centrism and relatively light touch when it came to politics left to his various competitors to try to tap for more contentious or ideological or partisan material. But carson lasted on the air much longer than any of them, including mirth griffin, and dick cabinet, who are otherwise pretty successful on television, but not when they went up against Johnny Carson. Johnny carson was always one to say that you analyze a joke and then you kill it. He always thought that it was a wasted exercise to analyze jokes. If it gets a laugh, its funny. That is the vision that carson had. When we talk about political humor in american culture, we have to appreciate two things. First of all, america is a very iconoclastic place. Our political system was built by revolutionaries and even down to the present day, we do not like people who have too much putting on airs of themselves, mocking authority is a part of the American National pastime. Nobody did it better than Johnny Carson. But it wasnt just an american dynamic, even though we can look to will rogers and mark twain before carson. Its also a global reality. You can look back to the ancient egyptians and the romans, and they to mock the authorities of the day. Its a key way of perhaps lifting the burdens of daily life. Like the jesters or fools of european courts, late night comics have some license to speak truth to power in a way that other political figures would find difficult to do. There is a space of play that allows for the exaggerations to create an environment where you can remind people that you are only kidding if the jokes seemed to go too far. But if you look across the 30 years of Johnny Carsons career, rarely did he go too far for his audience, largely because he knew them so well. Societies relished the opportunity to cut political leaders down to size. A joke, even a sharp one, can reduce the arrogance and perhaps the creeping authoritarianism thats at risk in modern centralized, powerful governments with extraordinary capacity to build standing armies and extraordinary capacity to have a discourse domination from the national leadership. The more arrogant the leader, the larger the target that leader represents. Political comedy in carsons time, and in our own, reflects this harsher nature of politics of the modern age, where political insult and ridicule are key tools of political discourse and attack ads and elsewhere. In many ways, late night comedy is a mirror of American Society, as much as it may be shaping the discourse. If you go too far for your audience, you dont have an audience anymore, and Johnny Carson understood that better than anyone. One of the things that really spoke to carsons success as an entertainer was his modesty. If you look at carsons preparation for the show, he wrote many of the jokes himself. For those that he didnt, he often tinkered with them. He was always extraordinarily well prepared. If a guest wrote a book, carson read it. He didnt just look at notes scrambled by a producer. If they were starving in a film, carson saw it. He knew what questions to ask. He made his guess look good. He played straight man to the comics, and interviewer to the other guests. Everyone, even the most odd and uncomfortable late night gassed, were made to feel welcome and sound compelling, even if it was something of a stretch. When one appreciative fan said his show was the best on television, carson said they forgot about rumple room. His political jokes could be rough for his time, perhaps, but they seem tame went compared to todays political humor. What you see with carson is the criticism of people in regardless of their political persuasion. He followed the basic comedy maxim, good humor punches up. He always made fun of the people at the top of power and culture. In addition to his mockery of political figures, carson also enjoyed attacking elites in the private sector, out of touch corporate executives, arrogant tax evaders, bombastic politicians, and celebrities who didnt behave. List of targets defies easy ideological or partisan categorization. And thats just the way that carson wanted it. Carson was a bipartisan political critic, but a critic with bite. In the 1988 democratic president ial campaign, there was a fellow named gary hart. His campaign ran aground because of a sex scandal and because of carsons subsequent mockery of gary heart. Carson quipped, its hard to be funnier than whats happening sometimes. So much for the president ial fortunes of gary heart. A few years later, carson turned to another name on the 1988 ballot, republican dan quail, who was elected Vice President. Carson shape the narrative of the Vice President as an unprepared half with, it received attention across the land as over and over the mockery continued, and this shape the publics identity of Vice President quail, because Vice President s dont get a lot to do, and they dont get a lot of media attention. The area where the impact for framing is greatest is where there is less known about a person. In all honesty, quail means serious political figure when he criticized murphy brown, a fictional character on television, on a popular sitcom, for contributing to the moral decline of the United States. Carson quipped, do you get the feeling than quails golf bag doesnt have a full set of irons . When he retired in may 1992, Johnny Carson used his final monologue to thank dan quail for providing him with so much comedic material, and especially including the spat with that fictional tv character. People were wondering what carson was going to do next after the tonight show, and in his last weeks performing, he told them. Ive made a decision. Im going to join the cast of murphy brown. Im going to become a surrogate father to that kid. The kid was born out of wedlock. Thats where quail found unacceptable. During the run of the tonight show, there have been seven United States president s. Thankfully, for comedy, there have been eight Vice President s. I know ive made some jokes at the expense of dan quail, but i want to thank him for making the final week so fruitful. The contrast between the way carson talked about political figures and the comedians who followed him is really quite dramatic. A study of jokes on the tonight show and the late show on cbs from january 1989 through september 1991 found the dan quail was the subject of 417 jokes. He ranked number one during that period as the source of comedic merriment. President george h. W. Bush was a distant second with 331 jokes during that period of time. But that volume of humor represents nothing more than an appetizer for the way the political figures were treated by comics in the years that followed. As i describe in my new book, late night with trump, political humor and the american presidency, my coauthor and i identified 1841 jokes on President Trump, during his first year and office on the same two programs. Its a much, much more relentless focus on politics today. Carsons treatment of quail had one other impact that was lasting and really shaped the growing importance of late night to political discourse in american politics, starting with carsons attacks on quail. News organizations increasingly turned to comedy clips and use them as a way to shape their own news reports. This increases the linkage between news and entertainment, and helped make late night comedy a key source of political discourse, and even, polls show, political learning by viewers. Now, i think one issue that i think its important to i think one issue that i think is important to touch important to touch on as we talk about Johnny Carson and his impact on latenight comedy and their political culture in the United States is talking about how his background help explain his success. In many ways carson was ideally suited to become a latenight host. He was touch on, as we talked about joining carson and his impact on late night comedy and on political culture of the United States is the talk a little bit about how his background helps explains his success. In many ways, carson was ideally suited to become really night host. He was born in a small town in iowa in 1925, his father worked for an Electric Company and a very extroverted mom. So carsons family moved from small town to small town across his early years as a student. And his father, as his father was transferred from one Electric Company station to another. And young johnny, as he was making new friends found that he has the talent from using them. By the age of 12, jordan carson was performing magic tricks and chokes for his classmates. He made his professional debut as the great car sony and at the age of 13 at the local rotary. On sunday nights, he would sit before the radio and take notes on the comedy stylings of jack bending. Benny, by the way would later become both a model and for carson. Johnny carson, like many people of his generation graduated from high school and almost immediately was shipped off to world war ii. He trained as a naval and spent the final year of world war ii in the pacific on the u. S. Has pennsylvania. Ball on board, he offered entertained his ship makes with jokes and card tricks. Carsons biographer is credited his early experience in navy, as one of the keys to understanding his broad wide ranging appeal as a comic. Military service, after all, provided a window to that very diverse regional cultures of the United States, like no other experience for no other young man. After the war, carson ruled at the university of nebraska, where he wrote a senior thesis on comedy writing. And work for radio stations in lincoln while in college, and then moved to omaha after graduation in 1949. With two Years Experience on television and on the radio in omaha, carson left behind his 15 minute humor show. The very forgettable show called the squirrels nest. And headed west and got a job as an announcer on a television station in los angeles. He convinced the station to give him at that sunday afternoon time slot where he could put together a program called carson cellar, which specialized in imitations of celebrities and mock commercials. After carson ad libbed are joke about red skeleton running across the set, skeleton, who actually happen to be watching the episode hard carson as a comedy writer. Carsons big break came when skeleton injured himself during a rehearsal. Scalp and said, carson had to replace him on the show that night and carsons one night starter unconvinced cbs to establish the carson show. You may have not have heard of this because it only lasted 39 weeks. Carson always complained that the show failed because he didnt have enough control over his content and he made sure when he took control of the tonight show that he had that control. In the years leading up to the tonight show, carson was host of the game show, who do you trust . For carson in present Television Producers with his banter with guests and his ability to ad lib, making witty comments on the fly. When jack par decided to leave the tonight show, Johnny Carson who had done some guest appearances on the show and had even served as a guest host here and there was selected as the replacement. And what you saw in Johnny Carsons rise to the tonight show is what you see on the tonight show, is witty banter, that he needed something to say to distract people from his magic acts between the various acts of the magic show. And help from a success on the late night for. One time, and animal trainer, jim fowler brought a tarantula to the show and told carson, as she placed this on his arm not to worry because tarantulas really arent as poisonous as theyre often marketed to be. And so, carson shot back, so i wont be vaccinated. Now, Johnny Carson started off with the show when he was 36 in october of 1962, and he stayed until may of 1992 when he was 66. And the real secret to a success, according to ed, his sidekick throughout those years and in fact his side kick back in the days of who do you trust said that johnny knew who he was and he stay true to it. Unlike some comics, he never really imagined himself a star in the movies, or even on his fifth column. He was actually offered the rule of petri, really famous by cbs is second choice, dick van dijk. A frequent guest on the and, unnatural brooks, wanted to be inflating sandals, carson said thanks but no thanks on the roll went to gene wilder. He was very inhibited man and use drums and tenants for vehicles of his aggressiveness. Success never cooled that anger. That was at the core of the man. One journalist said that talking with carson was like addressing and elaborately wired security system. Carson carried himself as a midwest protestant every man. He occupied that sweet spot on television. He was described as one media observer as less hollywood than hollywood. Last nebraska than nebraska. He was physically fit. He conveyed an earnest charm. He was a world war veteran. He shared many real world experiences with the viewers of his generation. His personal aspirations, including his marriage troubles, his uneasy relationship with his bosses at msnbc, his feud with the local Electric Company, they were all discussed on the show. These are very common human experiences. Trouble in marriage, trouble with utility company, is a bad boss. They humanized him in a way that self deprecating humor kid. He also made light of the jokes that bombed. He demented about one thing that everyone can relate to, a bad day at the office. For us, our bad days do not involve millions of viewers. As i mentioned at the start of the top, i think that carsons efforts to expand the discourse between the turbulent 1960s sorrowfully deserves far more attention than generally provided for byebye odd refers. The carson decades were a rough time in american politics. There is the vietnam war, civil rights, and civil unrest. There is violence, procession, and an immense change that roiled the nation. Who better to guide us through these uncertain, troubling, and unfamiliar times than the unflappable and moderate voice of Middle America, Johnny Carson . In his subtle way, carson very carefully expanded the understanding of his audience. I want to give you some examples from the pivotal year of 1968. I want to demonstrate just how much carsons talent for covering controversial ground with minimum controversy would help pave the way for greater understanding in the United States. During five nights of february of 1968, carson turned over his show to harry a superstar singer, actor, and civil rights activist. He had complete control over the guest. He took the opportunity to bring in an extraordinary range of African American artists and news makers as well as their white allies. In a single week, you saw aretha franklin, Martin Luther king, Bobby Kennedy, nipsey russell, diane lena moore, and bill cosby. Carson created an astonishing moment where African Americans could burst forward into a cultural identity of their own. He created an astonishing moment and of opening white americas eyes to black culture and black politics on a show and timeslot that was generally treated as a lighthearted prelude. It seems to me that only carson had the wisdom to appreciate how important that week was. There were the modesty to understand he should not be hosting the show when this message was being provided. Years later, well be goldberg viewed that programming as one of the key wake up calls for white america. What she says that show says, those were the programming shows. They were here when americans were part of this country. They were not going anywhere. For those interested in this week, there is an nbc documentary called the sitin that i would recommend. Now, carson did not stop their 1968 was about to get much, much, worse. Carson adjusted his programming in response to the tragic developments. Martin luther king was slain in 1968. Carson, the next night, canceled the monologue and replaced it with a tribute to the slain civil rights leader. Two months later, Bobby Kennedy was killed. Carson again offered a tribute to a slain activist. They brought in journalists, artists, and find the Bobby Kennedy to reminisce and to mourn the death of robert kennedy, who may well have been elected president in 1968 had he not been murdered. The 60s, for carson, wasnt all a matter of serious consciousness racing. Far from it. One of his highest rated shows, in fact the highest rated show of the 60s for carson wentz actually the wedding of an iconic figure of the 1960s known as tiny tim tiny tim was famous for his falsetto rendition of tiptoe through the tulips, and his unusual clothing style, unusual even by the standards of the 1960s. When he tied the knot, 58 Million People tuned in to the special wedding show of the tonight show. Now, Johnny Carson loved his work, he was really not all that happy when he wasnt working. Carson was a perfectionist and invested a huge account of energy intro to making the show look at spontaneous and effort list as it seemed through television. He was not comfortable with the camera, even with family. As Johnny Carson said after the failure of his third marriage, if i had put that work into my marriage that i put into my show, they might have been successful. Carson was friendly with his guests, but it was more than that. He was a fundamentally curious person. He really was interested in what they were doing and what they had to say, thats one of the things that the most successful late night host often struggle to do, appear interested, no matter who we were talking to. But carson loved to explore and so, there was a built in level of interest that he conveyed regardless of who he was talking to and that, of course, made the guests more interesting, perhaps than they had a right to be on the carson show. Now, carson of course had a reputation as being very aloof, he was number one for the celebrity circuit of new york or l. A. He rarely entertained beyond a small circle of close friends, but he traveled, he and mrs. Carson of the moment traveled with another couple or two. He traveled sometimes with at mcmahon and his life for henry bush skin, the lawyer carsons longtime lawyer known from bombastic pushed in that launched 1000 monologues. Carson didnt lie that he was aloof, he just said that he was shy. As ed mcmahon once put it, carson was just uncomfortable with people he did not know well and he knew very few people all that well. As one frequent guest said, joining comes alive when the cameras on. Now, why are we still talking about china carson and the tonight show, decades after his final performance . Well, i think part of it is because a lot of people look at todays harsher political humor and think of carsons era as the golden age of comedy. Youll get no argument for me. Before the internet, carsons jokes shaped many conversation, achieved film and television careers, of the careers of comics for good and for ill with todays fragmented audience, no one will ever match carsons reach. And those who look back on carsons time also know that he was a kind figure compared to many of the late night hosts who followed him. Heres an example. There was a scandal that was very humor ready that occurred in 1974. The chair of the house ways and means committee, fellow by the name of wilbur mills was driving in washington and he was stopped by police, he didnt have his headlights on. The police suddenly find that the congressman was in the company of fanny fox, a professional stripper from argentina. And in order to avoid the police, she jumps into the title base on the washington mall. This was not a successful way to avoid the police, and it was certainly not a successful way to stay off the monologue on the tonight show. And so, carson started a regular 14 of starting will remills of conduct unbecoming a congressman. Although im not sure where that barr actually is. It becomes clear though that mills was suffering from alcoholism. I soon at this became openly known, carson stopped making jokes about the man, even as other comics continue to do so. Alcoholism should not be spooked, carson told an interviewer. Carson always worried that being too political would drive away half of his audience. If she sounded liberal, the conservatives have to know. If he sounded conservative, the liberals have to know. In some ways that is more or less what happened after he left the scene. Jay leno, his successor on the tonight show, retained many of carsons more conservative viewers while the more liberal viewers steadily migrated to late night on cbs, where David Lettermans sharper image, particularly during the george w. Bush years, lead to higher ratings for cbs. That trend has continued to the current day. Stephen colbert on cbs consistently exceeds the ratings of tonight show host, jimmy fallon. Who focuses less on humor. Jimmy fallon, of course, is particularly famous for his hair tussling interview with candidate trump the night before the 2016 election, critics say are little much more than trump. Trump, by the way, had starred on nbc on the apprentice before he became a president ial candidate. I think its fair to say that for all these positive accolades about Johnny Carsons program, its important to remember that it also had flaws. There are certain things that the modern viewer would not find all that funny today. He had a character, and blabbed be, an elderly woman who, shall we say, did not age gracefully. It would be attacked as extraordinarily ages today. He had another character, art fern, a leering parity of a sleazy Television Host that objectified women, from start to finish with the act. No modern comic whatever revive such characters today. It is also, i suppose, important to know that his personal life was for more turbulent than his professional life. In his youth, he was a heavy drinker. As he admitted a 60 minute interview to mike wallace, he often could become a mean drunk. His Extramarital Affairs were legendary, and frequent, even by the standards of the celebrity circles in which carson moved. He had three sons from his first marriage, did not have good relations with any of them. Particularly after he divorced his first wife, his college sweetheart. Perhaps you have heard more than once in the series, the definition of a great life did not necessarily mean a great personal life, or a personal life path that one should emulate. Ultimately though, the fact that he seemed like a decent guy on Television Made him a comforting presence in americas living rooms and bedrooms night after night. That part wasnt an act. One little known fact about carson is that, and one that he always tried to hide, was how generous he was. He gave millions of dollars to his alma mater, the university of nebraska. If he heard about people facing rough times, he would write a check. Favorite restaurant tours of his days when the night show was based in new york city fell on hard times, even though carson had long ago move to los angeles, he gave the guy a six figure check. So too did he write a six figure check to the wife of a longtime producer who had died suddenly. One of his friends from college showed up in los angeles driving a car past its prime, carson went out and bought him a new buick. This was not part of the story of Johnny Carson i wanted to tell. He was private for the things that he did, that were positive, in private for other matters that most anyone would likely want to keep private. One of the things that you have to appreciate when you think about political humor is it is very much a reflection of the times in which it occurred. If Johnny Carson had sounded like Stephen Colbert back in the 1970s im not sure that wouldve gone very well at all. Person, who died in 2005 at the age of 79, provided humor that was very well suited to the last partisan times which marked his decades on the air. And political attacks, generally, were bipartisan. Very much expressed without meanness. Republicans could laugh with him as he joked about nixon, or ford, or reagan. Democratic loyalists could laugh at the jokes making fun of the carter family, lyndon johnson, or john f. Kennedy. As tom shells, the Washington PostTelevision Critic observed, anyone looking at the tonight show 100 years from now will probably have no trouble understanding what made carson so popular. What permitted him such longevity. He was affable, accessible, charming, and im using. Not just a very funny comedian, but the kind of guy you would welcome into your home. Carson worried not only that partisanship would hurt the show, but he also worried that nastiness could hurt the show. In a 60 minutes interview, he told mike wallace that people werent turning into the tonight show for an earnest debate over contentious policy matters. Quote, why do you think people why do people think that just because you have a tonight show you must deal and serious issues . That is a danger, a real danger. Once you start that you get to the self important feeling that what you say has great import. You know, strangely enough you could use that throw as a form. You could sway people but i dont think you should as an entertainer. In other words carson never wanted to go as far as Stephen Colbert or trevor noah continually do today. What would carson do with President Trump . Well, we have some sense. Trump was prominent as a new York Business leader during carsons time during the tonight show. Johnny carson did make a few jokes about trump and at trumps expense. In 1989 he rift on trumps short lived entirely failed game show quote, trump card. Hes on everything. Hes got his name on buildings. Hes got his name on boats. And the show, apparently, is a lot like wheel of fortune. Instead of vanna white, leona humbly comes out and flips a homeless person into the street. One of the features of the show is called eviction of the week. Trump stands under a tenement window with a bull horn and yells, come on down trump also included carson also included trump in another bid in 1991. Jokingly tied him to the clinton Genevieve Lowe or scandal. Dont worry about jennifer flowers, carson said. Shes got a new job today as Donald Trumps backup mistress. If carson were performing today, i think he would be very weary of trump. He wouldve moved, to some extent, with the audience. Harsher political times allow political comedians to go any more critical direction. Still, you would never expect something fully comparable to what you see today. Carson was never one to use a battle ax in his humor. He used a stiletto. One thing you would have certainly seen with carson, who was an extraordinarily gifted mimic would have been an imitation of President Trump, in all likelihood would have been much stronger than an alec baldwin imitation. I also imagine we wouldve seen a lot more of a character, a favorite carson foil. A fellow called floyd, are, turbo. A flannel coat wearing rubric or some portrayed, who was famous as offering up the most illconsidered reactionary values in sentence fragments and missed statements. Anyone who talks about Johnny Carson struggles it is simply impossible for me, at least, to create the same kind of timing. The same kind of witty remarks that marked the carson years. It is an extraordinary opportunity for us to contrast the political humor of today with the political humor of the past. I would encourage you to go online. You can see carson, even now, on late night cable television. And on social media. With an opportunity to look at youtube or the late night cable offerings of Johnny Carson, 30 years after the fact, you can see how that political humor is so different from the partisan narratives that we sometimes here on late night comedy tonight. If youre enjoying American History tv, sign up for our newsletter using the qr code on our screen to receive the weekly schedule of upcoming programs like, lectures in history, the presidency, and what. Sign up for the American History tv newsletter today. Be sure to watch American History tv every saturday, or anytime, online at cspan. Org slash history. Weekends on cspan two are an intellectual feast. Every saturday, American History tv documents america story. And on sundays, book tv brings you the latest in nonfiction books and authors. Funding