Telling Jefferson Lies, Episode 3: The Cataclysm (Warren Throckmorton)

In 2012, only four months after release, publisher Thomas Nelson removed David Barton's book The Jefferson Lies from publication. Many people blamed or credited a book by Warren Throckmorton and Michael Coulter titled Getting Jefferson Right for moving the publisher in that direction. What happened?

Building on the foundation of the first two episodes, this installment in the Telling Jefferson Lies series provides the backstory to what was an unprecedented event for one of the largest Christian publishers in the nation. Warren Throckmorton interviews many of the people who were involved and supplies his perspective on what happened and why it happened.

Interviews with historians Greg Forster, Glenn Sunshine, Gregg Frazer, Glenn Moots, Troy Jackson, David Austin Walsh, journalist Bob Smietana and Getting Jefferson Right co-author Michael Coulter pull back the curtain on an event that exposed the deficits in Christian nationalist story telling.
Interview: 

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8yMjg2NzUyLnJzcw/episode/QnV6enNwcm91dC0xNDQxNzk0OQ?sa=X&ved=0CAYQuIEEahcKEwjgwOz_qZCEAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

Show Notes:

For more information about Getting Jefferson Right, go to gettingjeffersonright.com.

Telling Jefferson Lies is written and produced by Warren Throckmorton. Today’s installment was hosted by Warren Throckmorton and Michael Coulter. The podcast is brought to you by the second edition of Getting Jefferson Right: Fact Checking Claims About Thomas Jefferson by Throckmorton and Coulter and available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Bookshop.org or just about anywhere books are sold.

For more information, go to gettingjeffersonright.com.

Today’s closing song is Sparkle by Dustin Blatnik. Telling Jefferson Lies Theme song is The World Awaits Us All by Roman Candle. Background music was provided by Jonathan Swaim, Dustin Blatnik, Larry Norman and Warren Throckmorton.

For more information about Dustin Blatnik, go to www.DustinBlatnik.com

For more music from Roman Candle, go to Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3V65gQpFTfYzIOqjOf18eS

At the end of the series, watch for a playlist of as many songs from the series as I can compile on Spotify and Amazon.

Dreams on a Grey Afternoon appears courtesy of Charles Norman and the Larry Norman estate.

Please like the podcast and spread the word on social media. Every podcaster says that but it really does help and it makes us feel good too.

Telling Jefferson Lies, Episode 2: Where's Waldo the Anointed? (Warren Throckmorton)

"You know, he is the where's Waldo of the movement. He's a little bit everywhere." Katherine Stewart, author of Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Christian Nationalism.

"He's managed to create a kind of brand in a way for himself through Wallbuilders of being a trusted authority on the American past." Randall Stephens, professor of American Studies at the University of Oslo in Norway.

In this episode, we examine how David Barton bounced back from his early problems and thrived by creating a brand as a trusted authority on American history. His packed schedule of activities and organizations made him indispensable to the Christian right.

We also examine what makes the Christian nationalist message so attractive to evangelicals and why many may not care about allegations of bad history or faulty facts.

This episode sets up the next episode, The Cataclysm, which will tell what happened to David Barton's book The Jefferson Lies, the book that was pulled from publication by Thomas Nelson after only being out for 4 months.
Interview: 

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8yMjg2NzUyLnJzcw/episode/QnV6enNwcm91dC0xNDM2OTI0MQ?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwiI667XxIuEAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQEw

Telling Jefferson Lies -- Episode 1: America’s Premier Historian: Origin Story (Warren Throckmorton)

In April 2012, Thomas Nelson published The Jefferson Lies, a book about Thomas Jefferson written by David Barton. By August of the same year, the publisher had removed the book from publication. What happened?

This series tells that story and so much more.

Just over a decade later, the Speaker of the House of Representatives declared his thanks to the same David Barton for his work in history.

This series explores how historical revisionism persists even when it can be demonstrated that the facts are not there.

First, I provide some context for the current characters. In this initial installment, I go back and pick up the origin story of David Barton and his entrance into Christian nation storytelling. Although he has no academic preparation as a historian, that fact hasn't dissuaded evangelicals from flocking to hear him. As is sometimes the case, evangelicals use religious similarity as a misleading signal of expertise. This sets up the story of how The Jefferson Lies was pulled from publication and the role of Getting Jefferson Right in that event.

More broadly, the expert historians and scholars I have interviewed will help us understand the pitfalls of Christian nationalism and the revisionist history which sustains it. Ultimately in the series, I want to explore the remarkable American story of religious pluralism and freedom of conscience.

In this episode, Julie Ingersoll, John Fea, Rob Boston, and Gregg Frazer provide insightful commentary.
Interview:

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8yMjg2NzUyLnJzcw/episode/QnV6enNwcm91dC0xNDMyMTAxMw?sa=X&ved=0CAYQuIEEahcKEwj45q-Yv4uEAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

Getting Jefferson Right – fact-checking Claims About Our Third President

Warren Throckmorton's has a Ph.D. in History, whereas the favorite history commentator of the Christian nationalists actually only has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religious Education from Oral Roberts University.

Barton gets a lot of things very wrong, so wrong that the Bible publisher of one of his books felt morally obligated to recall the book when a real historian pointed out all the lies.

Throckmorton has a book and a podcast to debunk the lies Barton has been telling for years about The Founding Fathers and American history.

The book: Getting Jefferson Right

gettingjeffersonright.com

The podcast: Telling Jefferson Lies begins in January. Hear the trailer here — https://gettingjeffersonright.com/telling-jefferson-lies-podcast-series/  — or Apple Podcasts, where you can also subscribe for free.