Letters from an American - Podcast Rankings and reviews

I’m so excited this is now a podcast! I rely on Heather Cox Richardson every day to give me a run down of the day’s important events, often to put them into context of history. She is an American History Professor, and if you want to get a real grasp on what’s going on and cut through all the noise, just give her 10 minutes a day. She also has an ability to create calm, as she’s not jumping up and down about what may be the daily hot topic being reported on by the press. She instead looks from a historian’s perspective of what’s actually important, and what’s likely to still be important 10 years from now. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

I started following Letters From An American during the pandemic and found the cited sources, details about history, and straight forward communication to be so refreshing and exactly what I was needing. I’ve continued to find Heather Cox Richardson’s work to be truly educational and I have learned a lot about history, current politics, which people are making decisions, and what decisions they’re making. I always know I can count on this source for knowledge informed by history, data, context, verifiable sources.

Heather Cox-Richardson’s “Letters from an American” series is literally the most important content being produced and distributed today. Her ability to stand up historical facts next to current events makes me feel more well-informed than I ever have in my life.

I’ll go a step further and say if civics, history, poli-sci, and social studies teachers and professors aren’t starting off every day’s class by listening to and debriefing an episode or newsletter issue, then shame on you.

Heather Cox-Richardson’s unique voice and superb, clear writing is entirely what our country needs right now. I’m so grateful for her (and for the friend who first told me to check her out during the pandemic).

I have been an avid reader of Heather’s letters for years. I discovered them in September of 2021 and actually went back to the very first one to read them all from the beginning. We had been living overseas for a few years and I felt a bit adrift returning to America and experiencing the political chaos first hand. Heather’s letters were a calm and coherent summary to keep me abreast of the important issues without having to spend hours searching out all the different news stories. I especially love how she consistently ties current events back to historic events to really show the big picture. I began sharing them with my autistic son, who was becoming increasingly interested in history and politics but was often feeling hopeless about the state of things. He called it the “daily report” and I would read them aloud to him every day. Not only did they calm him and give him hope, but he will be a much better informed and conscientious voter when he turns 18. Plus, there was the added bonus that he learned about so many of the important historical events and Supreme Court decisions from the Letters that he got super high grades in AP US History. Having access to them in audio format means that I can add them right into our daily routine and my son and I can listen in the car or while I’m making dinner if I don’t have the time to sit and read it out loud that day. Thank you thank you thank you, Heather, for your tireless work in this space. And for whoever had the brilliant idea of offering it in audio format.