Country Over Self

About Country Over Self

Country Over Self: Defining Moments in American History is a short-form history podcast for Americans who want to understand the courageous decisions their Presidents have made. Author and technology entrepreneur Matt Blumberg is joined by some of America's most accomplished Presidential historians who tell the stories of Presidents who made choices that reflected a desire to strengthen the country, either at the expense of, or without regard to the potential impact on, their role, power, stature, or political party.

Publisher

Matt Blumberg

Category

government · history

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

8 Oct 2024

Latest episode

16 Feb 2025

Latest episodes

14 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   16 Feb 2025

   Finale - Does Country Over Self exist?

   In this episode, Noah Feldman and Alexis Coe join Matt to discuss a wide range of Presidential anecdotes beyond the 12 Presidents covered in the series, wrap up learnings from Country Over Self, and attempt to answer the question of whether or not selflessness exists in American politics.To learn more about Country Over Self or to check out other episodes head to Countryoverself.com. If you have an idea for an episode or want to reach Matt directly, please email podcast@countryoverself.com Country Over Self is edited and produced by Culture Collaborative Media.

2. 

   2 Jan 2025

   George Washington's many courageous acts with Alexis Coe

   Originally recorded on 11-27-2024 In this episode, Matt and Alexis talk about the 1st President, George Washington, the "foundingest father," who was incredibly conscious that everything he did would set precedent for the young country he founded. Washington had as much ego, as much to prove, and as much interest in power as the 44 men who have followed him in office, but he balanced his unmatched service to his country with his desire to have a private life in a way that defines virtue in the highest office in the country. Alexis Coe Alexis Coe is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling presidential historian and senior fellow at New America, a bi-partisan think tank. Coe is the leading presidential biographer of her generation, known for her unique insights, engaging style, and ability to reach larger, more diverse audiences in different mediums. Her books have achieved critical and commercial success. She is the author of, most recently, You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George of Washington. Her next book, Young Jack: A Biography of John F. Kennedy, 1917-1957, will be published in 2025, and her first book, Alice+Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis, debuted in 2014. In 2024, Coe went on a 13-stop cross-country discussion tour for New America. Her project, "How Should a President Be," is in anticipation of America's 250th anniversary in 2026. Coe frequently appears on CNN, MSNBC, CBS, History, PBS, and other networks. She was a consulting producer on, and featured in, Doris Kearns Goodwin's Washington series on the History Channel. She is a frequent guest on NPR and hosted the podcasts No Man's Land and Presidents Are People Too! She has been featured in and written for most major publications, including the New Yorker, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Best American Essays. Coe has given keynote lectures and appeared on and moderated panels at Georgetown, the Library of Congress, West Point, the New York Historical Society, the National Constitution Center, the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library, and many more. She curated the ACLU'S 100 exhibitions. While in grad school, she was a project-based oral historian at the Brooklyn Historical Society. She went on to be a Research Curator in the Exhibitions Department at the New York Public Library in Bryant Park. Coe serves on the 2024 Honorary Committee of the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film and has long served on the board of advisors for the University of Georgia's History in the Headlines series. She is a member of Biographer's International. She is based in New York. 00:00 Introduction to Country Over Self 00:33 Meet Alexis Coe: Presidential Historian 01:56 Discussing George Washington's Legacy 04:14 Washington's Relationship with Power 05:32 Washington's Early Life and Struggles 06:49 Washington's Rise to Prominence 11:55 Washington's Reluctance and Presidency 18:35 Washington's Second Term and Legacy 22:52 Washington's Decision to Retire 24:08 The Impact of Washington's Legacy 24:59 Modern Parallels: Biden's Presidency 27:20 Washington's Family and Political Advantage 31:42 Washington's Toughest Decisions 32:37 The Whiskey Rebellion: Washington's Misstep 36:35 Rapid Fire Questions: Presidential Reflections 41:30 Strengthening Democracy: Proposed Changes 43:24 Current Projects and Future Aspirations 45:30 Closing Remarks and Farewell To learn more about Country Over Self or to check out other episodes head to Countryoverself.com. If you have an idea for an episode or want to reach Matt directly, please email podcast@countryoverself.com Country Over Self is edited and produced by Culture Collaborative Media.

3. 

   19 Dec 2024

   Abraham Lincoln and the balance of politics and sainthood, with Sean Wilentz

   Historian Sean Wilentz shares insights on Abraham Lincoln's leadership and the Emancipation Proclamation, revealing the complex politics and challenges that shaped this pivotal moment in American history.

4. 

   4 Dec 2024

   George H.W. Bush's "famous last words" campaign promise, with Mark Updegrove

   Mark Updegrove, Presidential Historian, delves into George H.W. Bush's 'Read my lips, no new taxes' campaign promise and its devastating consequences, revealing the perils of governing on lofty rhetoric.

5. 

   27 Nov 2024

   John Adams's rationale for virtue with Joseph Ellis

   Historian Joseph J. Ellis explores John Adams's unconventional approach to virtue, shedding light on the 2nd President's complexities and the importance of nuanced historical understanding.

6. 

   21 Nov 2024

   Richard M. Nixon and the fallacy of Country Over Self with Rick Perlstein

   Historian Rick Perlstein and Matt discuss how Richard M. Nixon's presidency exemplifies the fallacy of 'Country Over Self' and the corrupting influence of electoral success on a leader's actions.

7. 

   19 Nov 2024

   Gerald R. Ford's pardon of Nixon and Betty Ford making her private difficulties public with Richard Norton Smith

   Originally recorded on 09-27-2024 In this episode, Matt and Richard talk about the 38th President, Gerald R. Ford, and his pardon of his predecessor, Richard Nixon, who resigned in disgrace and under threat of impeachment for the Watergate scandal - a move that almost certainly led to Ford's defeat in the 1976 election against Jimmy Carter.  Matt and Richard also talk about First Lady Betty Ford's courageous decision to turn her private struggles with cancer and alcoholism public so as to raise awareness and reduce stigmatism. Richard Norton Smith Born in Leominster, Massachusetts in 1953, Mr. Smith graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1975 with a degree in government. Following graduation he worked as a White House intern and as a free lance writer for The Washington Post. After being employed as a speech writer for Massachusetts Senator Edward Brooke, he went to work for Senator Bob Dole, with whom he has collaborated on numerous projects over the years. Mr. Smith’s first major book, Thomas E. Dewey and His Times, was a finalist for the 1983 Pulitzer Prize. He has also written An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover (1984), and The Harvard Century: The Making of a University to a Nation (1986). His Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation (1993) was a Main Selection of the Book of the Month Club, while his 1997 biography, The Colonel: The Life and Legend of Robert R. McCormick, described by Hilton Kramer as “the best book ever written about the press,” received the prestigious Goldsmith Prize awarded by Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School. In October, 2014 Random House published Mr. Smith’s biography On His Own Terms: A Life of Nelson Rockefeller, fourteen years in the making, and based on thousands of pages of newly available documents, as well as more than 200 interviews. The result has been called definitive by publications as diverse as The New Yorker and National Review. Between 1987 and 2001, Mr. Smith served as Director of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch, Iowa; the Dwight D. Eisenhower Center in Abilene, Kansas; the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation in Simi Valley, California; and the Gerald R. Ford Museum and Library in Grand Rapids and Ann Arbor, Michigan respectively.At each of the libraries he contributed to significantly higher public visitation through major temporary exhibits, imaginative public programs, and educational outreach efforts. In addition to expanding and renovating the Hoover Library, Mr. Smith overhauled the permanent exhibitions at Reagan and Ford. In 1990 he organized the Eisenhower Centennial on behalf of the National Archives. In 2001 Mr. Smith became director of the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas, where he supervised construction of the Institute’s landmark home and launched several high profile programs. In October, 2003 he was appointed Founding Director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois. In two and a half years he turned around the troubled project, which has since received international praise for its innovative approach to the Lincoln story. Beginning in 2006 Mr. Smith was a Scholar in Residence at George Mason University in suburban Washington, D.C., where for seven years he taught courses in the American presidency for both undergraduate and graduate students. During the same period he conducted oral history projects for the White House Historical Association, the Dole Institute and the Gerald R. Ford Foundation. In January, 2007 millions of television viewers saw him deliver the final eulogy at President Ford’s funeral in Grand Rapids, Michigan: in July, 2010 he honored Mrs. Ford’s request to do the same for her. Mr. Smith was instrumental in designing a new and highly acclaimed museum and Education Center at historic Ford’s Theater in Washington. More recently he has advised planners of the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas, and the George C. Marshall Home in Leesburg, Virginia. A frequent contributor to such publications as Time, Life, and the New York Times, he has also been a regular guest on the PBS NewsHour, and on C-SPAN, where he served as the network’s in-house historian from 2006-2014. In this capacity he organized a 2007 series spotlighting little known holdings of the nation’s presidential libraries; as well as The Contenders, a fourteen week series examining presidential also-rans whose historical contributions transcended their political ambitions; and a highly popular series recognizing America’s First Ladies, airing in 2013-14. To learn more about Country Over Self or to check out other episodes head to Countryoverself.com. If you have an idea for an episode or want to reach Matt directly, please email podcast@countryoverself.com Country Over Self is edited and produced by Culture Collaborative Media.

8. 

   14 Nov 2024

   FDR's consequential presidency and Eleanor Roosevelt's intertwined career with HW Brands

   Originally recorded on 09-27-2024 In this episode, Matt and Bill talk about the 32nd President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.  Roosevelt was in office longer than any other president and led the country through more turbulence, both home and abroad.  And yet, what stands out is less Roosevelt's moral courage or altruism, and more his ability to fuse what he saw as good for the country with what was good for him politically, his shrewd political instincts, and his ability to mobilize both government and the population to get behind his vision and his policies.  His wife Eleanor, one of the most politically active First Ladies, operated from a similar frame of reference. HW Brands H. W. BRANDS holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin. A New York Times bestselling author, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in biography for The First American and Traitor to His Class. His most recent book is AMERICA FIRST: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War. To learn more about Country Over Self or to check out other episodes head to Countryoverself.com. If you have an idea for an episode or want to reach Matt directly, please email podcast@countryoverself.com Country Over Self is edited and produced by Culture Collaborative Media.

9. 

   7 Nov 2024

   Grover Cleveland's superhuman moral courage with Troy Senik

   Recorded on 09-26-2024 In this episode, Matt and Troy talk about the 22nd and 24th President, Grover Cleveland, the only president to serve two non-sequential terms in history (up to this week's election of Donald Trump), and some of the interesting similarities to the party alignment circumstances to today's environment. Matt and Troy cover a number of vignettes from Cleveland's time in office, including the role that "doing the right thing" played in his political life, the shocking way he handled his cancer diagnosis and surgery, and the extraordinarily gracious way he handled his defeat and the inauguration of his successor in 1888, all during a time of immense transition for the Democratic Party. Troy Senik Troy Senik is a former White House speechwriter, having served under President George W. Bush during his second term. Today, he is the co-founder of Kite & Key, a non-profit digital media company dedicated to making public policy research accessible to the public. In 2022, he published his first book, A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland, named by the Christian Science Monitor as one of the best books of 2022. Senik’s career has spanned journalism, government, public policy, and non-profit leadership. He is a former columnist and member of the editorial board at the Orange County Register, the former opinion editor of the Los Angeles Daily Journal, and the former editor-in-chief of Ricochet. His writing has appeared in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, National Affairs, City Journal, and The Guardian. He has served in senior leadership roles at the Los Angeles World Affairs Council and the Manhattan Institute for Public Policy, and also spent a decade as the host of a series of podcasts on public policy for the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A former Jeopardy! champion, Mr. Senik holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy from Belmont University and a master’s degree in public policy from Pepperdine University. Born and raised in Southern California, he currently lives in the New York City area. To learn more about Country Over Self or to check out other episodes head to Countryoverself.com. If you have an idea for an episode or want to reach Matt directly, please email podcast@countryoverself.com Country Over Self is edited and produced by Culture Collaborative Media.

10. 

    31 Oct 2024

    Harry S. Truman and early recognition of Israel with Gary Ginsberg

    In this episode, Matt and Gary talk about the 33rd President, Harry S. Truman.  An accidental - and somewhat unprepared President who succeeded Franklin Delano Roosevelt after only 73 days on the job as Vice President, Truman became a titan of foreign policy, leading the post-World War II international order.  Truman was caught in a dilemma that pitted what he believed to be moral -- the creation of a Jewish homeland after the horrors of the Holocaust -- with what was politically acceptable to the loudest voices in his own administration, when he decided to recognize the fledgeling State of Israel a mere 11 minutes after Israel declared Independence in May of 1948 after the UN's partition and in the midst of an attack by its hostile neighbors. Gary Ginsberg Gary Ginsberg is a lawyer, corporate adviser, author and political operative, serving at the intersection of media, journalism, politics and philanthropy for more than 30 years. A native of Buffalo, New York, Ginsberg is a graduate of Brown University and the Columbia University School of Law. He began his legal career as an attorney at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. He left the firm in 1992 for a position in the Clinton presidential campaign and later served in the Clinton Administration in the Office of the White House Counsel and at the U.S. Department of Justice. In 1995, Ginsberg became Senior Editor and legal counsel of George, the monthly political magazine started by John F. Kennedy, Jr. Ginsberg spent eleven years at News Corporation as the company’s Executive Vice President of Global Marketing and Corporate Affairs and a member of the Chairman’s seven-person Executive Management Committee. In 2010, he joined Time Warner as the entertainment company’s Executive Vice President for Corporate Marketing and Communications. After the sale of the company to AT&T in 2018, Ginsberg joined Softbank as the company’s Senior Vice President and Global Chief Communications Officer, where he remained until December 2020. Ginsberg is the author of the New York Times bestseller First Friends: The Powerful, Unsung (And Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents (Twelve). He has published opinion pieces in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and CNN.com, and was a former on-air political contributor to MSNBC. Ginsberg is the chairman of the Board of New Visions for Public Schools, New York City’s premier educational reform organization. He is also a Director of The City, the online not-for-profit news service covering NYC, and Malaria No More. From 2015-2018, Ginsberg was an adjunct professor at the Columbia University Business School where he co-taught the course Entrepreneurship in Incumbent Media. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Ginsberg is a founding partner of 25Madison, the New York City-based VC firm and start-up studio. He is also a director of Schrodinger, Inc. (Nasdaq: SDGR) and Townsquare Media, Inc. (NYSE: TSQ). He lives in New York City with his wife Susanna Aaron and two sons. To learn more about Country Over Self or to check out other episodes head to Countryoverself.com. If you have an idea for an episode or want to reach Matt directly, please email podcast@countryoverself.com Country Over Self is edited and produced by Culture Collaborative Media.

11. 

    24 Oct 2024

    James A. Garfield and Civil Service Reform with CW Goodyear

    In this episode, Matt and Charlie talk about the 20th President, James A. Garfield.  While most Americans wouldn't be able to pick Garfield out of a lineup, and he was only president for a handful of months before he died of an assassin's bullet and the ensuing infection that came from the primitive medical care available in the late 19th century.  The wheels of motion for his assassination were set in motion by a decision that seems small and quirky today, but which was incredibly consequential at the time and shook the foundations of Machine Politics and the Spoils System that dominated American politics in the 19th century. Charlie Goodyear C.W.Goodyear is an author and historian based in Washington, DC. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and grew up abroad before graduating from Yale University. His latest work is President Garfield: From Radical to Unifier, a critically acclaimed biography of America's 20th President. To learn more about Country Over Self or to check out other episodes head to Countryoverself.com. If you have an idea for an episode or want to reach Matt directly, please email podcast@countryoverself.com Country Over Self is edited and produced by Culture Collaborative Media.

12. 

    17 Oct 2024

    James Madison and the Bank of the United States and Dolley Madison during the War of 1812 with Noah Feldman

    In this episode, Matt and Noah talk about the 4th President, James Madison, and how he set aside his long-held and fiercely-argued belief in the unconstitutionality of the Bank of the United States and extended the bank's charter because...it worked and had been accepted by others as de facto constitutional. Matt and Noah also talk about the story of Dolley Madison, the most famous of the early First Ladies, and how she did (or didn't!) save the famous Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington from being burned in the White House when the British invaded Washington D.C. during the War of 1812. Noah Feldman Noah Feldman is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law and Director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law at Harvard Law School. He is the Chair of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University and a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also the co-chair of Harvard University’s Institutional Voice Working Group. He is a contributing writer for the Bloomberg View. He served as senior constitutional advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, and advised members of the Iraqi Governing Council on the drafting of the Transitional Administrative Law or interim constitution. He served as a law clerk to Justice David H. Souter of the U.S. Supreme Court (1998 – 1999). He received his A.B. summa cum laude in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University in 1992, finishing first in his class. Selected as a Rhodes Scholar, he earned a D. Phil. in Islamic Thought from Oxford University and a J.D. from Yale Law School, serving as Book Reviews Editor of the Yale Law Journal. He is the author of ten books: Arab Winter (Princeton University Press, forthcoming 2020); The Three Lives of James Madison: Genius, Partisan, President (Random House, 2017); Cool War: The Future of Global Competition (Random House, 2013); Scorpions: The Battles and Triumphs of FDR’s Great Supreme Court Justices (Twelve Publishing, 2010); The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State (Princeton University Press, 2008); Divided By God: America's Church-State Problem and What We Should Do About It (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2005); What We Owe Iraq: War and the Ethics of Nation building (Princeton University Press, 2004); and After Jihad: America and the Struggle for Islamic Democracy (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003). He’s also the co-author of two textbooks: Constitutional Law, 21st Edition (Foundation Press, 2022) and First Amendment Law, 8th Edition (Foundation Press, 2022). His newest book, To Be A Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel and the Jewish People was released on March 5th, 2024 (Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2024). To learn more about Country Over Self or to check out other episodes head to Countryoverself.com. If you have an idea for an episode or want to reach Matt directly, please email podcast@countryoverself.com Country Over Self is edited and produced by Culture Collaborative Media.

13. 

    10 Oct 2024

    Lyndon B. Johnson and Civil Rights with Julian Zelizer

    In this episode, Matt and Julian talk about the 36th President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and how Johnson used his detailed knowledge of the legislative process and his unique blend of personal intimidation and charm offensive to bring about what he considered the moral imperative of his day:  Civil Rights and Voting Rights.  In so doing, Johnson made a meaningful political sacrifice that hurt his Democratic party in a way that reverberates even today. Julian Zelizer New York Times best-selling author Julian E. Zelizer has been among the pioneers in the revival of American political history. He is the Malcolm Stevenson Forbes, Class of 1941 Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton University and a CNN Political Analyst, a regular guest on NPR’s "Here and Now," a guest host on POTUS Sirius XM, and a columnist for Foreign Policy. He is the award-winning author and editor of 26 books including, The Fierce Urgency of Now: Lyndon Johnson, Congress, and the Battle for the Great Society, the winner of the D.B. Hardeman Prize for the Best Book on Congress and Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974, co-authored and Burning Down the House: Newt Gingrich, The Fall of a Speaker, and the Rise of the New Republican Party. The New York Times named the book as an Editor's Choice and one of the 100 Notable Books in 2020. His most recent books are Abraham Joshua Heschel: A Life of Radical Amazement and The Presidency of Donald J. Trump: A First Historical Assessment (Editor), Myth America: Historians Take on the Biggest Lies and Legends About Our Past (co-edited with Kevin Kruse), and Our Nation At Risk: Election Security as a National Security Issue (co-edited with Karen Greenberg). He is currently working on a new book about the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and the 1964 Democratic Convention entitled ‘Is this America?’: Reckoning With Racism at the 1964 Atlantic City Democratic Convention. In January 2025, Columbia Global Reports will publish his book, In Defense of Partisanship.  Zelizer, who has published over 1300 op-eds, has received fellowships from the Brookings Institution, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the New York Historical Society, and New America. To learn more about Country Over Self or to check out other episodes head to www.countryoverself.com If you have an idea for an episode or want to reach Matt directly, please email podcast@countryoverself.com Country Over Self is edited and produced by Culture Collaborative Media.

14. 

    8 Oct 2024

    Welcome to Country Over Self: Defining Moments in American History

    Welcome to Country Over Self: Defining Moments in American History.  Each episode we welcome a notable historian to tell us the story of a president and a choice that president made to strengthen the country without regard to the impact of that decision on himself, his power or his party. To learn more about Country Over Self or to check out other episodes head to Countryoverself.com. If you have an idea for an episode or want to reach Matt directly, please email podcast@countryoverself.com Country Over Self is produced by Culture Collaborative Media.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

1,454

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.7 / 5

66 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

16 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 47 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

33

Social presence

0

YouTube

68

Engagement

85

Contact Country Over Self

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.