On jefferson between 1809 to 1826. I work with a total of ten people to do that. Our job is to take jeffersons letters and papers and produce an authoritative edition for those years that will enable future scholars to rely on that and not have to go back to the originals. So then, what exactly do you do as a documentary editor . One of the most important things is to make it clear what we are not. You hear of a documentary editor and you think either that you are creating film documentaries, and we have in fact have people apply for jobs who were baffled at first because the application was all about how they could splice film, and that was not what we were after. We are also not editors like in a newspaper, would take an who would take an incoming letter to the editor and market through and make all sorts of corrections. Our job is to give as accurate a representation of the materials that we are editing as possible, so as to convey what was on the handwritten page to the reader so t
I am the editor of the papers of Thomas Jefferson at monticello. We are here today to talk about jefferson and his correspondents. My moderator will be my steamed colleague who handled questions for us. I will turn it over to her. Thanks, jeff. Can you start by telling us what is your role in working with jeffersons correspondents . Im in charge of a project to produce a total of 24 volumes between 1809 in 1826. I work with a total of ten people to do that. Our job is to take jeffersons letters and papers and produce and authoritative addition for those years that will enable future scholars to rely on that and not have to go back to the originals. So then, what exactly do you do as a documentary editor . One of the most important things is to make it clear what we arent. You hear of a documentary editor and you think either that you are creating them documentaries, and we have in fact have people apply for jobs were baffled at first because the application was all about how they could
Joining us this hour. Heres an interesting thing. Sort of a personal thing, but also a news thing. Right before President Trump was impeached the first time, i published a book called blow out and the weird surprising to me thing about blow out is that tended up being oddly well timed. I had no idea it was going to be well timed when i set out to write it, but thats how it landed. It was a book about the Oil And Gas Industry and the political power and geopolitical power of that industry. And a big chunk of that book was about all of the craziness and Corruption In Ukraine. And of course, then, right at the time the book came out, all the craziness and Corruption In Ukraine ended up being the setting, like the Playing Field for what President Trump got impeached for the first time he got impeached. I did not intend it to land that way. It was fortuitous and i hope helpful to people trying to figure out that landscape while we were looking at that first impeachment. Now, of course, mr.
Well timed. That is how it landed. A book about the Oil And Gas Industry and a big chunk of the book was about the craziness and the corruption in the ukraine. Then it was the playing field. I didnt intend it to land it that way. Well, now of course mr. Trump is being impeached for a second time. And it is kind of uncanny, a lot of the things that i wrote about in the book that came out in the first trump impeachment. The whole reason that i wrote the book is because we were consistently underestimating the sway of this one industry. How much sway it has over politicals and governments here and around the world. I thought there was a need for a explainer and how the industry could explain. If something is happening that does not make sense on the surface it helps to look at the industry and see if they are maybe The Hidden Hand, when politics fail or governments are bad. This is a place to look. One thing to say here is the hidden power that is making it possible or impossible and call
All about the craziness and Corruption In Ukraine. And of course, then, right at the time the book came out, all the craziness and Corruption In Ukraine ended up being the setting, like, the Playing Field for what President Trump got impeached for the first time he got impeached. I did not intend it to land that way. It was foretuittous, and i hope, helpful to people trying to figure out that landscape while we were looking at that first impeachment. Well, now, of course, mr. Trump is being impeached for a second time, and its kind of uncanny a lot of the things that i wrote about in that book that came out during the first trump impeachment. Theyre sort of coming home to roost now. The whole reason i wrote that book is because i think we were pretty consistently underestimating the sway of this one industry, how much sway the Oil And Gas Industry has over politics and whole governments, both here in the United States and around the world. And so, i thought it would be helpful. I thoug