First hour: Journalist Amy Goldstein, and her new book, Janesville
Second hour: Historian Walter Stahr and his new book, Stanton: Lincoln's War Secretary
A new book from longtime Washington Post journalist Amy Goldstein tells the true story of a Midwestern town whose foundation was rocked with the closing of auto giant GM's plant during the Great Recession. In Janesville, Goldstein illustrates the domino effect the closing of a major factory can have on the lives of individuals. As the New York Times reports, the book also offers "sobering takeaways" about how ineffective job retraining can be for workers forced to reinvent their careers. Goldstein will be a guest of MCC next week, but first, she joins us to share her intimate portrait of a working class town and what policymakers today can learn from a community like Janesville.
Then in our second hour, historian and author Walter Stahr has written a new book about President Lincoln's Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton. You may remember Stahr from his remarkable book on William Henry Seward, and you may remember Edwin Stanton because of what he did after President Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. As Lincoln lay dying, Stanton got to work: he issued orders to protect other leaders and initiated a search for the assassin. In Stanton: Lincoln's War Secretary, Stahr describes the complex relationship between Stanton and Seward -- one of trust and suspicion -- and the complex reputation held by Stanton. Was Stanton an aggressive opportunist using tragedy to empower himself? Or was he a progressive problem solver looking to resolve conflicts? Among other things, he was known to press for equal pay and status for African Americans in the Union Army. Stahr will be in Auburn next week to discuss Stanton's life during the Civil War and how it relates to political discourse today, but first, he joins us on Connections. Our guests:
- Walter Stahr, author of Stanton: Lincoln's War Secretary
- Jeff Ludwig, director of education at the Seward House Museum
