Political pressure and personal bias have hounded American journalists since the first newspapers were printed. Interpreter Dennis Watson talks about the Virginia Gazette.

Paul Aron, author of We Hold These Truths, discusses examples of famous American rhetoric, particularly dating from the American Revolution.

Colonial Williamsburg museum educator Anne Willis discusses the youths and marriage of Edmund Randolph and Elizabeth Nicholas, a colonial couple, married in 1776, whose families stood on opposites sides of political and religious ideology.

Note: this podcast is no longer available. To view a transcript of the original podcast, click here.

Bill Barker, a Jefferson scholar and interpreter at Colonial Williamsburg, discusses the political philosophy of Thomas Jefferson, in relation to the launch of a new blog publishing Jefferson quotes on the Colonial Williamsburg website.

Note: this podcast is no longer available. To view a transcript of the original podcast, click here.

Colonial Williamsburg public sites interpreter Alex Clark details the effect of Thomas Paine's pamphlet "Common Sense" on the American colonies.

The American rebels stood to lose a lot by winning the war. Colonial Williamsburg sites interpreter B.J. Pryor discusses the risk of success, and the importance of the Fifth Virginia Convention in the move to war.

Historian Nancy Milton describes the English influences on the U.S. Constitution, including documents reaching as far back as the Magna Carta.

Britain's tax on paper goods was unremarkable in itself, but the colonies' furious response surprised two continents. Historian Linda Rowe talks about the Stamp Act.