The past isn’t even the past: questions and debates remain fierce about such things as the locus of legitimate political power: should it be federal or state sovereignty? Did America really ever face up to the evils of slavery? In what ways was the white settlement of the west all about the ticklish balance between north and south? And must America be a country of extreme poverty living side by side with vast wealth? Guest on this show is Brenda Wineapple; her new well reviewed book is Ecstatic Nation. Listen in to life in the mid 19th century.