In this episode, I speak with John Launius. He's written a book about the life and work of Charles Parsons. We speak about the reasons why John wrote this book, but he also gives us a bit of a history primer on why the civil war occurred, and what life was like at the time. In order to understand the future, we must understand the past, and this episode aims to shed light on a brutal part of America's past, while also celebrating the people that fought for diversity, the arts, and freedom.

• (0:01:04) A bit of background. 
• (0:02:07) The career path: Being a media executive and brands.
• (0:04:35) The Civil War: How did it begin?
• (0:05:55) The economy of slave labour. 
• (0:07:35) States rights vs Federal Government: Solving the question of who is in charge. 
• (0:08:20) The importance of studying the Civil War.
• (0:09:55) The symbolism of the Confederate flag.
• (0:12:18) The Battle of Fort Sumter: War breaks out on the East Coast.
• (0:13:45) General William T. Sherman and California.
• (0:15:00) Railroads: The differences between North and South.
• (0:16:15) What do people really know about the Civil War?
• (0:17:27) The Civil War in film.
• (0:19:13) The weapons and brutality of the Civil War.
• (0:23:00) The Cherokee Nation and indigenous involvement.
• (0:25:50) The atrocities during the unification of the railroads.
• (0:27:33) Could the brutality of the Civil War occur today?
• (0:29:33) 1861-1865 vs the Present: The conversation today.
• (0:31:38) Why and how the Civil War ended.
• (0:34:20) The Life and Times of Missouri's Charles Parsons: Between Art and War. 
• (0:35:10) The study of incense.
• (0:36:52) Charles Parsons: An influential individual.
• (0:38:30) The Tokugawa Incense burner and the Charles Parsons art collection.
• (0:40:50) Charles Parsons: Using success for the common good.
• (0:41:48) Charles Parsons and artist Harriet Hosmer.
• (0:43:40) Notes of travel in 1894 and 1895.
• (0:45:43) Charles Parsons and the Wide Awakes. 
• (0:47:15) Lewis B. Parsons and the Union cause: Revamping the way business is done.
• (0:49:34) Martha Parsons: A bit of a mystery still.
• (0:51:30) Archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann and a clue in the letters.
• (0:53:30) What's next? Audiobooks and Love and Letters in WWII.
• (0:55:21) A poem by Charles Parsons.

John Launius on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-launius-ab54a285/On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.launius.906On Instagram (Personal): https://www.instagram.com/john_launius/On Instagram (Book): https://www.instagram.com/parsons_book/

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