The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire

How should the United States act in the world? Sometimes we burn with righteous anger, launching foreign wars and deposing governments. Then we retreat—until the cycle begins again. However, these debates are not original. Revealing a piece of forgotten history, Stephen Kinzer transports us to the dawn of the 20th century, when the United States first found itself with the chance to dominate faraway lands. The country’s political and intellectual leaders took sides. Only once before—the period when the United States was founded—have so many brilliant Americans eloquently debated a question so fraught with meaning for all humanity. Their words are amazingly current today.

Stephen Kinzer is an award-winning author and foreign correspondent who has covered more than 50 countries on five continents. His articles and books have led the Washington Post to place him “among the best in popular foreign policy storytelling.” He was Latin America correspondent for The Boston Globe, and then spent more than 20 years working for the New York Times, with extended postings in Nicaragua, Germany, and Turkey. He is a visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University. 

Robin Young brings more than 25 years of broadcast experience to her role as host of Here & Now. She is a Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker who has also reported for NBC, CBS and ABC television and for several years was substitute host and correspondent for "The Today Show."

Robin has received five Emmy Awards for her television work, as well as two CableACE Awards, the Religious Public Relations Council's Wilbur Award, the National Conference of Christians and Jews Gold Award, and numerous regional Edward R. Murrow awards.