In this episode, US Presidential Historian and best-selling author Douglas Brinkley talks history and current events to help us make sense of America today -- no easy feat, but Brinkley does it seamlessly, illustrating exactly why he's been dubbed "America's New Past Master" by the Chicago Tribune. Douglas Brinkley is the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities and Professor of History at Rice University, CNN Presidential Historian, and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. He works in many capacities in the world of public history, including on boards, museums, colleges and historical societies.   The Chicago Tribune dubbed him “America’s New Past Master”. The New-York Historical Society has chosen Brinkley as their official U.S. Presidential Historian. His recent book Cronkite won the Sperber Prize while The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast received the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award.   He has received a Grammy Award for Presidential Suite and seven honorary doctorates in American Studies. His two-volume annotated The Nixon Tapes recently won the Arthur S. Link – Warren F. Kuehl Prize.  He is a member of the Century Association, Council of Foreign Relations and the James Madison Council of the Library of Congress. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and three children. Find out more at douglasbrinkley.comFMC Fast Chat is the social commentary podcast from the Fair Media Council, a 501c3 nonprofit organization advocating for quality news and working to create a media-savvy society. The podcast is hosted by FMC CEO and Executive Director Jaci Clement. Find out more at www.fairmediacouncil.orgLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices