In Part 5 of The Great Speeches of History, Sam analyzes a commencement speech by Chief Justice John Roberts through the lens of Stoicism. What exactly is this ancient philosophy that has guided leaders throughout the generations (from Theodore Roosevelt to Tom Brady), this philosophy that was founded by two of the most powerful men in Ancient Rome? What are its basic principles? And why did the Chief Justice of the United States wish a group of 8th graders bad luck on the day of their graduation? All this, plus another musical performance, in "I Wish You Bad Luck."

Show notes:

Seneca, On the Shortness of Life (c. 49)

Seneca, On Providence (c. 64)

Seneca, Moral Letters (c. 65)

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations (c. 161–180)

Rolling Stones, "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (1969)

Chief Justice John Roberts, "I Wish You Bad Luck" (2017)

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Credits: Ad music taken from Zapslat.com

In Part 4 of The Great Speeches of History, Sam and Nick wax philosophical. First, they tell the story of the trial and death of Socrates. Why did the Oracle declare Socrates the wisest man of his time? Why did the elites of ancient Athens accuse him of crimes against the city? And what wisdom did he offer in his final speech, recorded by his student Plato, delivered just days before his execution? Then, they turn to the modern genius Steve Jobs, and his 2005 commencement address at Stanford. How was Steve Jobs like Socrates? How did dropping out of college lead to Apple's success? And how did a near-death experience change his perspective on life? All this, plus a couple surprises, in "Socrates and Steve Jobs on Death and Truth."

Show notes: 

Plato, Euthyphro and Apology (399 BC)

Jacques Louis-David, The Death of Socrates (1787)

Steve Jobs, "Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish" (2005)

Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs (2011)

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Sam and Nick introduce themselves, the podcast, and their mission, pledges, and principles. 

In Part 3 of their opening series on The Great Speeches of History, Sam and Nick discuss perhaps the definitive speech on equality in America, Martin Luther King's classic "I Have A Dream." How did King's experiences as a Black child in Atlanta, including losing one of his best friends and being sent to the back of a bus, shape his worldview? How did he end up writing a classic text about his philosophy of nonviolent resistance on scraps of paper in a jail cell? And how did the Queen of Gospel help him improvise the most famous section of his March on Washington address? Join us as we break down what Sam thinks is the greatest speech ever delivered. 

Show notes:

MLK, "I Have A Dream" (1963; text; video)

MLK, "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (1963)

MLK, "I've Been To The Mountaintop" (1968; text; video)

MLK, Autobiography (1998)

MLK, Why We Can't Wait (1964)

Henry David Thoreau, "Civil Disobedience" (1849)

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

Samarth Desai, "Looking Back: Nullification in American History" (2022)

Drew Hansen, The Dream: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Speech that Inspired a Nation (2005)

James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time (1963)

Credits: Mahalia Jackson, live performance of "How I Got Over" from the Internet Archive

In Part 2 of their "Great Speeches of History" miniseries, Nick and Sam explore a speech that rallied Great Britain — and the world — in its darkest hour: Winston Churchill's "We Shall Fight on the Beaches." How did Shakespeare, poetry, and music influence this masterclass in rhetoric? What unusual practices did Churchill develop to overcome his speech impediments and lack of improvisational ability? And how did this quintessential wartime speech, which we hear in the British Bulldog's own voice, inspire Great Britain to defeat Nazi Germany and predict America's rise to global supremacy? All this, and more, as we discuss the speech that, as JFK later put it, "mobilized the English language and sent it into battle."

Show notes: 

Churchill, "We Shall Fight on the Beaches" (1940)

Churchill, "The Scaffolding of Rhetoric" (1897)

Extracted example of Winston Churchill speech draft

Churchill, Memories of the Second World War, 6 volumes (1948–53)

William Manchester and Paul Reid, The Last Lion, 3 volumes (1983-2012)

Andrew Roberts, Churchill: Walking with Destiny (2018)

Darkest Hour, film (2017), starring Gary Oldman

Credits: Vera Lynn's "White Cliffs of Dover" courtesy of SWLing.com on the Internet Archive. 

In the opening volley of their opening series on The Great Speeches of History, Sam and Nick discuss the most iconic speech ever delivered by an American president: Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. How did a man who never graduated from any school deliver a speech so great that middle schoolers memorize it 150 years later? What rhetorical tricks of the trade make the Gettysburg Address so impactful? And how did Honest Abe outclass an eminent statesman and former Harvard president at Gettysburg? All this, and more, in the inaugural episode of In Pod We Trust. 

Show notes:

Lincoln, Gettysburg Address (1863)

Lincoln, Autobiography Written for John L. Scripps (1861)

Noah Feldman, The Broken Constitution: Lincoln, Slavery, and the Refounding of America (2021)

John Stauffer, Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln (2008)

The Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association

Garry Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg (1992)

David Herbert Donald, Lincoln (1995)

Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals (2005)