The Early Days of Imperial America
On this episode of American Prestige, Emily Conroy-Krutz on the global history of the early American republic.
The Nation Podcasts
Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
The Early Days of Imperial America with Emily Conroy-Krutz | American Prestige
On this episode of American Prestige, Emily Conroy-Krutz on the global history of the early American republic.
On this episode of American Prestige, we sit down with Emily Conroy-Krutz, historian of nineteenth-century America specializing in the global history of the early American republic, to talk about the volume she co-edited with Michael Blaakman and Noelani Arista, The Early Imperial Republic: From the American Revolution to the U.S.–Mexican War. They explore the delineation of empire vs. republic vs. nation-state, challenging the narrative of 1898 being America’s imperial turn, settler colonialism and the dispossession of Indigenous Americans, shifting notions of imperialism over time, and how the framing of America as an imperial project from the beginning can better help us understand its history.
You can also grab a copy of Emily’s book Missionary Diplomacy: Religion and Nineteenth-Century American Foreign Relations.
Further Reading:
- Michael Blaakman – Speculation Nation: Land Mania in the Revolutionary American Republic
- Daniel Immerwahr – How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States
- Paul Kramer
Our Sponsors:
* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Missionary Diplomacy
On this episode of American Prestige, we sit down with Emily Conroy-Krutz, historian of 19th-century America specializing in the global history of the early American republic, to talk about the volume she coedited with Michael Blaakman and Noelani Arista The Early Imperial Republic: From the American Revolution to the U.S.–Mexican War. They explore the delineation of empire vs. republic vs. nation-state, challenging the narrative of 1898’s being America’s imperial turn, settler colonialism and the dispossession of Indigenous Americans, shifting notions of imperialism over time, and how the framing of America as an imperial project from the beginning can better help us understand its history.
You can also grab a copy of Emily’s book Missionary Diplomacy: Religion and Nineteenth-Century American Foreign Relations.
Further Reading:
- Michael Blaakman – Speculation Nation: Land Mania in the Revolutionary American Republic
- Daniel Immerwahr – How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States
- Paul Kramer
The Nation Podcasts
Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
Gaza Aid Blocked Amid Winter Storm, Thailand–Cambodia Conflict Resumes, M23 Advances in DRC | American Prestige
Subscribe now to skip the ads and get all of our episodes.
Listen to our Chinese Prestige miniseries!
Danny and Derek will sadly not be doing a CBS News town hall event. This week in the news: the Thailand–Cambodia conflict resumes (1:47); the DRC–M23 conflict also resumes as M23 makes new advances (7:05); in Gaza, questions remain over the “second phase” of the ceasefire as a winter storm hits (10:38); separatists in Yemen gain control of the country’s south (17:18); the RSF takes Sudan’s largest oilfield (21:02); an attempted coup is foiled in Benin (23:31); Trump gives NATO a 2027 ultimatum on defense spending (26:05); Ukraine responds to the U.S. peace plan while Trump expresses frustration (29:46); controversy erupts in Honduras over election ballot-counting snafus (35:56); and in these great United States, Congress removes “right to repair” from the NDAA after contractors lobby against it (38:53).
Don’t forget to join our Discord.
Our Sponsors:
* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.com
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Search Results placeholder
Subscribe to The Nation to Support all of our podcasts
Disobey authoritarians, support The Nation
Over the past year you’ve read Nation writers like Elie Mystal, Kaveh Akbar, John Nichols, Joan Walsh, Bryce Covert, Dave Zirin, Jeet Heer, Michael T. Klare, Katha Pollitt, Amy Littlefield, Gregg Gonsalves, and Sasha Abramsky take on the Trump family’s corruption, set the record straight about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s catastrophic Make America Healthy Again movement, survey the fallout and human cost of the DOGE wrecking ball, anticipate the Supreme Court’s dangerous antidemocratic rulings, and amplify successful tactics of resistance on the streets and in Congress.
We publish these stories because when members of our communities are being abducted, household debt is climbing, and AI data centers are causing water and electricity shortages, we have a duty as journalists to do all we can to inform the public.
In 2026, our aim is to do more than ever before—but we need your support to make that happen.
Through December 31, a generous donor will match all donations up to $75,000. That means that your contribution will be doubled, dollar for dollar. If we hit the full match, we’ll be starting 2026 with $150,000 to invest in the stories that impact real people’s lives—the kinds of stories that billionaire-owned, corporate-backed outlets aren’t covering.
With your support, our team will publish major stories that the president and his allies won’t want you to read. We’ll cover the emerging military-tech industrial complex and matters of war, peace, and surveillance, as well as the affordability crisis, hunger, housing, healthcare, the environment, attacks on reproductive rights, and much more. At the same time, we’ll imagine alternatives to Trumpian rule and uplift efforts to create a better world, here and now.
While your gift has twice the impact, I’m asking you to support The Nation with a donation today. You’ll empower the journalists, editors, and fact-checkers best equipped to hold this authoritarian administration to account.
I hope you won’t miss this moment—donate to The Nation today.
Onward,
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editor and publisher, The Nation
