Vox Media Podcast Network and Cafe Launch New Weekly Podcast With Historians Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman

Vox Media Podcast Network and Cafe announced the launch of Now & Then, a new weekly podcast hosted by historians Heather Cox Richardson and Joanne Freeman. Every Tuesday, Richardson and Freeman will explore current events in the larger context of American history, making sense of the week in news by looking back at resonant parallels. Now & Then is the first show to launch since Cafe, led and co-founded by former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara (also host of the popular podcast Stay Tuned), joined Vox Media last month.

“Plunging into the past to understand the present is vitally important at a time of crisis,” says Freeman of the show. “Doing so with a friend and fellow historian (who shares my sense of humor) is a total pleasure.” Richardson adds: “At its most basic, history is about hanging out with good friends and telling stories about the past to make sense of the present. In Now & Then, Joanne and I are doing that... with doctorates and a modern twist.”

Richardson is a professor of history at Boston College, the bestselling author of several books on the Civil War and reconstruction, and the writer of the breakout hit Substack newsletter “Letters From An American.” She’s a contributing writer at The Guardian and Slate, and previously co-hosted the NPR series Freak Out and Carry On with journalist Ron Suskind.

Freeman is a professor of history and American studies at Yale University, specializing in the politics and political culture of revolutionary and early national America. An award-winning author, Freeman previously hosted the popular American history podcast BackStory, and is a frequent lecturer on America’s founding period. She’s one of the nation’s leading experts on Alexander Hamilton, and serves on the board of the National Council for History Education, the Library of America, and the International Center for Jefferson Studies.

Listen to the show trailer here, and follow Now & Then on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

About Vox Media Podcast Network

Named by Adweek as 2020’s “Podcast Network of the Year,” Vox Media Podcast Network has over 200 active shows featuring industry-leading editorial voices and storytellers from Vox Media’s networks and beyond. From daily news and tech, to culture and sports, and from talk and interview shows to news and rich narrative storytelling, the Vox Media Podcast Network is one of the largest, fastest-growing, and most topically-diverse collections of premium podcasts. Learn more about the Vox Media Podcast Network here.

About Cafe

Cafe creates premium content filtered through the lens of the law. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network, Cafe’s mission is to better inform the public about the most critical issues of our time by exploring how law and justice intersect with politics, national security, technology and beyond. Its free and paid offerings include podcasts, columns and events hosted and written by the foremost experts in their fields. Cafe’s flagship podcast is Stay Tuned with Preet, hosted by Preet Bharara, Cafe co-founder and creative director who served as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.