Talk About Teddy - Theodore Roosevelt Podcast

Talk About Teddy Live at the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library (TeddyCon 2026) Hosts Kurt Skinner and Larry Marple record a live episode in the newly opened Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, and welcome guests Susan Sarna (TRPL senior curator of collections) and Dr. Michael Cullinane (TRPL senior historian) to explain how the library’s exhibits were built from a collaboratively written story guide and interpretive messaging, balancing artifacts, narrative, media, conservation needs, and team compromises. They discuss the library’s immersive, experiential approach and its aim to “humanize, not lionize” Roosevelt, including greater context and attention to family influences. The conversation covers acquiring and loaning artifacts worldwide, rotating displays, future collecting, and creating the Microsoft-enabled “Talk with TR” AI experience using vetted Theodore Roosevelt Center records.

Hosts Kurt Skinner and Larry Marple are joined by acclaimed Theodore Roosevelt reprisor, Joe Wiegand, to discuss his life's work "in the arena" performing as the 26th President. 

On July 2-6, 2026, in conjunction with the opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library and America250 celebrations, the Dickinson State University Blue Hawk Theatre Guild in Dickinson, North Dakota is mounting a production of the 1987 Broadway musical Teddy and Alice! Producer Sarah Crossingham and Historical Consultant William Hansard join the podcast to discuss this special event.  Teddy & Alice is an original, family-friendly American musical that brings to life the relationship between President Theodore Roosevelt and his daughter, Alice Roosevelt—one of the most unconventional women of her era. Blending history, humor, and heart, the show explores leadership, legacy, family, and independence through an engaging and accessible theatrical experience. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/teddy-and-alice/ 

TRA Children's Book Prize Committee Chair, Duane Jundt, joins hosts Kurt Skinner & Larry Marple to discuss some favorite children's literature related to Theodore Roosevelt. 

Hosts Larry Marple & Kurt Skinner are joined by historian Michael Cullinane to discuss his highly anticipated new book "Theodore Roosevelt and the Tennis Cabinet."  In his final days in office in 1909, Theodore Roosevelt invited dozens of friends to the White House for lunch. They had never met as a group, but they had one thing in common: Each played tennis with the president and advised on policy matters. Roosevelt half-joked that the public would never know how much these tennis partners did to make his administration a success. Journalists dismissively called them the “Tennis Cabinet,” making light of their contribution, but Roosevelt knew otherwise. This inner circle led the administration’s campaigns against corporate greed, investigated public health violations, and formulated consumer protections. They founded environmental conservation policies, prosecuted civil rights violations, and implemented bureaucratic efficiencies that saved the government billions. Roosevelt’s tennis mates shaped the nation’s diplomacy, ending wars and promoting American interests abroad.  (notes from the publisher University of Nebraska Press) 

Hosts Kurt Skinner and Larry Marple are joined by National Park Service veteran, Valerie Naylor, to discuss parks and monuments established by Theodore Roosevelt, focusing on four "repurposed" sites no longer within the National Park System. Parks included in this episode are Lewis and Clark Caverns National Monument (proclaimed 1908) which became a Montana state park; Wheeler National Monument (proclaimed 1908) which is now a protected geologic area in wilderness; Platt National Park (established 1906) which evolved into Chickasaw National Recreation Area; and Sullys Hill National Park (established 1905) which became a national game preserve. 

Hosts Kurt Skinner & Larry Marple are joined by Historian Andrew Porwancher to discuss his award-winning new book, "American Maccabee: Theodore Roosevelt & the Jews." Professor Porwancher's insightful work investigates how Jewish issues were part of the greater questions America faced at the turn of the 20th century during Theodore Roosevelt's years in public service. 

Hosts Kurt Skinner & Larry Marple are joined by Historian Andrew Porwancher to discuss his award-winning new book, "American Maccabee: Theodore Roosevelt & the Jews." Professor Porwancher's insightful work investigates how Jewish issues were part of the greater questions America faced at the turn of the 20th century during Theodore Roosevelt's years in public service. 

Hosts Kurt Skinner & Larry Marple are joined by Smithsonian naturalist, Darrin Lunde, author of "The Naturalist: Theodore Roosevelt, A Lifetime of Exploration, and the Triumph of American Natural History." The conversation highlights the behind-the-scenes work of museum naturalists, Theodore Roosevelt’s life-long fascination with the natural world, his life as a hunter-naturalist-conservationist, and his contributions to the scientific study of animals that culminated in the 1909-10 Smithsonian African expedition. 

In this episode of the Talk About Teddy Podcast, hosts Kurt Skinner & Larry Marple welcome Professor Matthew Oyos to discuss his extensive research on Theodore Roosevelt's influence on U.S. military policy as detailed in his book 'In Command: Theodore Roosevelt and the American Military'. The conversation covers Roosevelt's strategic vision for America's role in the world, his efforts to modernize the Navy and Army, the civil-military tensions involved with reform, and TR's fascination with the evolution of military technology. The discussion also touches on controversial episodes, such as Roosevelt's dismissal of Black soldiers in the 1906 Brownsville affair, and his relentless campaign for American military preparedness in the lead up to the Great War.