Patrick Geoghegan

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1,107 appearances 10 recordings 1 series first heard May 2026 last heard 7 Aug

Patrick Geoghegan’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Talking History with Patrick Geoghegan · 250: The US Declaration of Independence · 5 Jul 2026 podcast

But it has always carried profound contradictions.

How could a document declaring that all men are created equal emerge from a society built upon slavery?

And so, two and a half centuries later, we're exploring how it remains a document at the centre of debates about democracy, citizenship, equality and the meaning of America itself.

And so, to help me explore the origins, language, global impact and contested legacy of the American Declaration of Independence, I'm delighted to welcome our panel of experts.

Professor Stephanie McCurry is the Professor of US History at Columbia University and is an expert on the American Civil War.

And she was in Dublin during this week to speak on the legacy of the Declaration of Independence at the Trinity Long Room Hub.

Professor Elijah Gould is a leading expert on the American Revolution.

He's currently the Harmsworth Professor of American History at Queen's College, the University of Oxford, and is Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire.

And his books include Among the Powers of the Earth,

The American Revolution and the Making of a New World Empire.

Professor Kathleen Burke is Emerita Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at University College London, an expert on Anglo-American relations, finance and foreign policy.

She's the author of The Line and The Eagle, The Interaction of the British and American Empires, as well as Old World, New World, The Story of Britain and America.

Well, you're all very welcome.

And Stephanie, I might begin with you and a question about this document, this text, probably being the most iconic document in the history of the United States.

One of the most impactful and some of the lines, some of the most iconic lines in American history.

Well, Elijah, let's bring you in on that, because it does sound slightly self-indulgent now, maybe to a 21st century audience and perhaps a non-American audience who wouldn't have grown up with those lines, the pursuit of happiness.

It seems like perhaps you should be pursuing bigger concepts.

Cathy, how shocking was the declaration from a British perspective?

Because the war had been going on.

And I wonder, did people in Britain believe that the revolution could actually succeed?

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