Patriarchs

About Patriarchs

Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama focused on the dynamic between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams during the founding of the United States. Written by award-winning playwright Jim McGrath, the podcast stars America’s preeminent interpreter of Shakespeare Stacy Keach as Thomas Jefferson, and six-time Helen Hayes Award winner Edward Gero as John Adams. Patriarchs opens in Philadelphia at the Continental Congress in 1776 Philadelphia and concludes on Independence Day July 4, 1826. During that 50-year span, Patriarchs chronicles the origin of our country through the most consequential relationship in American History: the friendship, rivalry, animosity, and reconciliation of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Through this lens, Patriarchs answers the hard questions about how America began, who paid the price, and what kind of republic it has become. Every scene, every argument, every confession in Patriarchs is drawn from real letters, speeches, and memoirs of the people who created this nation. The result is an intimate drama of brilliant founders who are also flawed fathers, husbands, slaveholders, and partisans. In addition to Adams and Jefferson, the podcast includes Abigail Adams, one of the sharpest political minds of the age, whose letters slice cleanly through ego and ideology. With Sally Hemings centered not as rumor but as a speaking, thinking presence whose choices and constraints shape Jefferson’s life, Patriarchs boldly confronts the reality of slavery and sexual exploitation in the founding generation.

Publisher

District Productive

Category

news · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

16 Apr 2026

Latest episode

3 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

7 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   3 Jun 2026

   Chapter 4: The Adams Administration

   John Adams becomes President after narrowly defeating Thomas Jefferson in 1796, and the uneasy partnership between the two men is tested by cabinet politics, French aggression, and the rise of partisan warfare. Built from historical dialogue and source material, the episode follows Adams, Jefferson, Abigail Adams, John Quincy Adams, and James Callender as public principle, private friendship, and political survival collide. As France seizes American ships, Adams calls for military readiness and a stronger navy, while Jefferson turns to the press and to Callender to attack Adams and his administration. The episode closes with Adams triumphant over the peace with France, but personally wounded by defeat, setting up the final stage of the Adams-Jefferson divide. Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the American Revolution, and the founding of the United States, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

2. 

   3 Jun 2026

   Chapter 6: Rapprochement

   John Adams and Thomas Jefferson renew their correspondence after years of silence, beginning an extraordinary epistolary reunion that revives their friendship in old age. Built from real letters, speeches, and memoirs, the finale follows the renewed exchange between the two founders as they revisit the Revolution, the presidency, the meaning of republican government, and the contradictions of the nation they helped create. As Adams and Jefferson move from grievance to affection, the episode also reflects on Abigail Adams, Sally Hemings, John Quincy Adams, and the larger legacy of the founding generation. The story closes on the 50th anniversary of American Independence, with the two men dying on the same day and the narrator reminding us how much their lives shaped the republic. Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the founding of the United States, the American Revolution, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

3. 

   3 Jun 2026

   Chapter 3: The Washington Administration

   After The American Revolution, George Washington becomes the first President of the United States, John Adams is swept into the vice presidency, and Thomas Jefferson takes on a central role as Secretary of State. Built from real historical language and dramatized from the founders’ letters, speeches, and memoirs, the episode explores how the new nation begins to define power, duty, and the limits of government. As Adams and Jefferson argue over the presidency, federal power, the British Constitution, political parties, and the French Revolution, the story also turns to Jefferson’s alliance with Thomas Paine and the rupture it causes with Adams. The episode ends with the emerging divide between the two men and the growing tension between public principle and personal friendship. Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the founding of the United States, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

4. 

   3 Jun 2026

   Chapter 5: The Jefferson Administration

   John Adams hosts Thomas Jefferson one last time on his final night in the White House, and the two men confront the meaning of party, power, and the peaceful transfer of authority. Built from real historical language, the episode follows Jefferson’s inauguration, Adams’s departure from Washington, and the tensions that follow as Jefferson begins rolling back the Federalist program. As the episode continues, James Callender’s accusations against Jefferson and Sally Hemmings expose the hidden violence and contradiction at the center of the founding generation. With Adams, Jefferson, Abigail Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Sally Hemings all shaping the story, the episode becomes a study in principle, scandal, memory, and unfulfilled promises. Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the founding of the United States, the American Revolution, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

5. 

   30 May 2026

   Chapter 2: Oceans Apart

   During the American Revolution, John Adams leaves Braintree for a dangerous crossing to France, while Thomas Jefferson retreats to Monticello, grief-stricken after the death of Martha Jefferson. Built from real letters, speeches, and memoirs, the episode follows Adams, Jefferson, Abigail Adams, and Sally Hemings as they move between war, diplomacy, family, and the moral contradictions of the founding era. From the Atlantic crossing and the French salons to London, Paris, and Monticello, the episode deepens the friendship between Adams and Jefferson while showing how power, marriage, slavery, and public duty shape their lives. Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the founding of the United States, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

6. 

   28 May 2026

   Chapter 1: Declaration

   On the eve of America’s 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence--the Fourth of July 1826--John Adams and Thomas Jefferson meet again in a charged, intimate opening scene that frames the long story of their friendship, rivalry, and the founding of the United States. Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama built from real letters, speeches, and memoirs, dramatizing how two of America’s most consequential founders helped create—and later challenge—the republic they built. This first episode begins at the end, then rewinds to before the Revolutionary War, at the Continental Congress, where Adams and Jefferson clash, collaborate, and argue over independence, democracy, and the future of the nation. With powerful performances and historically grounded dialogue, Patriarchs explores the human cost of power, principle, and ambition. Patriarchs is a six-part audio drama about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the founding of the United States, and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence enacted in 1776. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

7. 

   16 Apr 2026

   Patriarchs Trailer

   As the United States approaches 250 years of independence, the nation is asking hard questions about how it began, who paid the price, and what kind of republic it has become. Patriarchs, a loaded but apt term in today’s vernacular, is a six-episode historical podcast drama that answers those questions by chronicling the most consequential relationship in early America: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, told in their own words. We begin with two former presidents looking back over a life together as friends, rivals, and uneasy family. From there, listeners travel back to the moment these strangers first step outside the Continental Congress to talk, two lawyers, two farmers, two men who have no idea they are about to remake the world. Every scene, every argument, every confession in Patriarchs is drawn from real letters,  speeches, and memoirs, voiced by an ensemble of award-‑winning actors—with Stacy Keach  starring as Thomas Jefferson. The result is an intimate drama of brilliant founders who are also flawed fathers, husbands, slaveholders, and partisans. We hear their partnership forged in crisis, as they push Congress toward independence and wrestle the language of the Declaration onto the page. Alongside them is Abigail Adams, one of the sharpest political minds of the age, whose letters slice cleanly through ego and ideology. Patriarchs also confronts the reality of slavery and sexual exploitation in the founding generation, centering Sally Hemings not as rumor but as a speaking, thinking presence whose choices and constraints shape Jefferson’s life. Patriarchs is a chance to hear the founding generation as they really sounded: insecure, vain, idealistic, petty, courageous, haunted—often in the same breath in a rare combination of rigorous primary-source history and bingeable character drama, led by Stacy Keach and a veteran cast capable of carrying both prestige storytelling and wide audience appeal. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Reach and audience

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

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

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Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

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