Chatter: Lincoln, Leadership, and Difficult Conversations with Steve Inskeep

Many will recognize the voice of Steve Inskeep from his nearly two decades-long role hosting NPR's Morning Edition. But he's also the author of what is now a trilogy of books about political relationships in the United States during the 19th century, including his newly published Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America. His newest book uses a unique framework to study Lincoln's leadership and growth: Describing in detail difficult interactions Lincoln had with sixteen individuals, ranging from generals to political opponents to his wife Mary Todd Lincoln.

David Priess spoke with Steve about what drew him to Lincoln as a subject; the challenges of recreating private exchanges from long ago; the links between Differ We Must and his earlier books; Lincoln's difficult conversations with Joshua Giddings, Frederick Douglass, Jessie Benton Frémont, Lean Bear, and others; and enduring lessons of Lincoln's pragmatic leadership.

Among the works mentioned in this episode:

• The book Differ We Must by Steve Inskeep
• The book Instant City by Steve Inskeep
• The book Jacksonland by Steve Inskeep
• The book Imperfect Union by Steve Inskeep
• The book series Abraham Lincoln: A History by John Nicolay and John Hay
• The book series Abraham Lincoln by Carl Sandburg
  

Chatter is a production of Lawfare and Goat Rodeo. This episode was produced and edited by Cara Shillenn of Goat Rodeo. Podcast theme by David Priess, featuring music created using Groovepad.