HS 100 – Original Intent of Our Founding Fathers with Clay Jenkinson

We have hit our 100th episode of Holistic Survival and want to thank all of our listeners for your continued interest and dedication to our show, as well as all of our guests who have helped us make this show a success with their interesting stories and insights! To celebrate our 100th episode, Jason Hartman interviews American humanities scholar, Clay Jenkinson. Clay is well known for his portrayal of Thomas Jefferson, and is a co-host of The Jefferson Hour on public radio. Jason and Clay take a look back at the original intent of our Founding Fathers, clearing up some of the common misconceptions about our Constitution. Clay discusses how many of the issues of our time require judicial activism, letting jurors stretch to interpret how the Constitution can be applied to each issue. He points out the one-sidedness of the issues, explaining how everyone invokes the original intent of our Founding Fathers as it suits them. Listen at www.HolisticSurvival.com.
Clay also makes an important point about how the technology and speed and interconnectedness of our modern-day world fundamentally alter the intentions and desires of Jefferson and other founding fathers.  In a strictly libertarian world, there would be no air traffic control, no pharmaceutical or food safety regulation, building inspections and codes, etc. It would truly be a “buyer beware” situation. Clay and Jason address different views of the regulatory environment, unnecessary incentives for corporations that are taking their businesses overseas, and the problems of money in politics. Clay offers his own Jeffersonian solution for elections and contributions for our complex world.
A cultural commentator who has devoted most of his professional career to public humanities programs, Clay Jenkinson has been honored by two presidents for his work. On November 6, 1989, he received from President George Bush one of the first five Charles Frankel Prizes, the National Endowment for the Humanities highest award (now called the National Humanities Medal), at the nomination of the NEH Chair, Lynne Cheney. On April 11, 1994, he was the first public humanities scholar to present a program at a White House-sponsored event when he presented Thomas Jefferson for a gathering hosted by President and Mrs. Clinton. When award-winning humanities documentary producer Ken Burns turned his attention to Thomas Jefferson, he asked Clay Jenkinson to be the major humanities commentator. Since his first work with the North Dakota Humanities Council in the late 1970s, including a pioneering first-person interpretation of Meriwether Lewis, Clay Jenkinson has made thousands of presentations throughout the United States and its territories, including Guam and the Northern Marianas.
In 2008, Clay became the director of The Dakota Institute through The Lewis & Clark, Fort Mandan Foundation, to further expand his humanities programs with documentary films, symposiums and literary projects. He is also the Chief Consultant for the Theodore Roosevelt Center through Dickinson State University and conducts an annual lecture series for Bismarck State College.