The American Idea podcast looks “to restore an understanding of the history and principles that show us what it means to be an American,” says Ashbrook Center executive director Jeff Sikkenga.
Presented by Ashbrook, the podcast “explores America’s Founding principles and their effect on American history and government.” Sikkenga notes that it “elevates lively and thoughtful conversations with renowned academics and public figures based on questions rooted in the fundamental documents and debates of America.” It’s what he calls “the Ashbrook way of teaching and learning.”
This approach, he says, transcends “accidents of time, place, class, and gender to pursue the truth with others through conversation.” It is an old idea of education, stretching back at least as far as Socrates and summarized in the Jeffersonian principle that “Almighty God hath created the mind free.” It’s neither about simply amassing information nor being subjected to indoctrination – rather, it amounts to a joint effort by teachers and students to pursue truth.
