Listening to America aims to “light out for the territories,” traveling less visited byways and taking time to see this immense, extraordinary country with fresh eyes while listening to the many voices of America’s past, present, and future.

We invite you to join us on this journey. 

ESSAYS, INTERVIEWS AND FEATURES

Read more +29 March 2025 By Clay Jenkinson in Features

LTA Exclusive: Historic Portraits of Native American Activist Leonard Peltier

Earlier this year, President Biden commuted the prison sentence of Leonard Peltier. This week, noted “wet plate” photographer Shane Balkowitsch visited Peltier at Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota, where he took a series of historical portraits of the 80-year-old Native American activist. Balkowitsch’s portraits of Peliter are published here for the first time.
Best selling author Louis L'Amour and his son Beau L'Amour.Read more +25 March 2025 By Clay Jenkinson in Features

The Enduring Appeal of Louis L’Amour and American Western Fiction

Louis L’Amour is widely considered the best-selling author of Western fiction of all time. Still highly popular with readers around the globe, L’Amour has sold over 320 million books, with numerous film and TV adaptations of his work.
Statue at the John Wesley Powell River History Museum in Green River UtahRead more +17 March 2025 By Clay Jenkinson in Features

Visions of John Wesley Powell and the Great Canyons of the Southwest

John Wesley Powell, the extraordinary one-armed Civil War veteran, was the first to explore the canyons of the Colorado Plateau by river. His remarkable story still fascinates and inspires me.

Connect with Listening to America

Events

April 3, 2025: Moab Museum Annual Gala 2025: Clay Jenkinson as John Wesley Powell
Moab, Utah — THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT

April 4, 2025: Moab Museum Event: Oppenheimer at Star Hall
Moab, Utah — THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT

April 14, 2025: Smithsonian Associates: How to Read a Poem
Zoom/Online

April 15, 2025: Parker: The 10 Greatest Photographs of All Time
Zoom/Online

Cultural Tours & Retreats

July 20–29, 2025: Lewis & Clark Cultural Tour

September 21-27, 2025: Tour: Steinbeck’s California

January 11-16, 2026: Winter Retreat: The Novels of Cormac McCarthy

January 18-23, 2026: Winter Retreat: The West of Thomas Jefferson

COMING SOON!

Europe: Fall 2025

Jefferson’s France: 2026

Online Class

New Class Coming Soon

Books We’re Reading

Clay reads from his Read more +07 January 2025 By Clay Jenkinson in Books

How to Consult Your Destiny Via Thoreau’s Walden

During a long life of hard reading, Henry David Thoreau’s Walden is the book that helps me understand what it is to be human.
Read more +03 September 2024 By Clay Jenkinson in Books

Peaceful Transfer of Power: Then and Now

Lindsay Chervinsky’s new book closely examines the dramatic events that shaped America’s pattern for the peaceful transfer of power.
Read more +12 July 2024 By Russ Eagle in Books

The Best John Steinbeck Biographies, Part II

Russ Eagle builds on his previous list of John Steinbeck biographies by looking at works that focus on specific relationships and periods in the author’s life.
Clay Jenkinson

Clay Jenkinson

A prolific author and noted humanities scholar, Clay Jenkinson is a frequent guest on national media and is regularly featured in documentary films, including several by Ken Burns. Clay is the recipient of the National Humanities Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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