VIDEOS
Where Steinbeck Said Goodbye to His California Home — Video Dispatch
Thursday, October 09 2025
Clay and Russ Eagle recently visited Fremont Peak, which overlooks California’s Salinas Valley and Monterey Bay. It was an especially important spot for John Steinbeck and deeply tied to his youth. Russ reads a passage from Travels with Charley, where the famous author writes about his last visit to there.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Clay Reads and Riffs on Huckleberry Finn While Sitting Beside the Mighty Mississippi — Video Dispatch
Sunday, August 10 2025
Earlier this summer, Clay Jenkinson traveled to the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers at Cairo, Illinois. Sitting on the banks of the Mississippi, Clay read from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and talked about the novel and its author, Mark Twain, who enshrined this mighty river deep in American mythology.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Clay Checks in From Missoula — Video Dispatch
Monday, August 04 2025
Clay reports in on his adventures at the conclusion of his recent Montana Lewis and Clark Cultural Tour.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Lewis, Clark and Their Dog Seaman — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, July 22 2025
Clay checks in from St. Charles, Missouri, near the mouth of the Missouri River, at Frontier Park, on one of the finest Lewis and Clark statue groups in America.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Celebrating July 4th On The Lewis and Clark Trail — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, July 08 2025
Clay and his Listening to America “Corps of Discovery” celebrate the 4th of July along the Lewis and Clark Trail.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at University of Virginia — Video Dispatch
Friday, June 06 2025
On his recent visit to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Clay visited the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers on campus. Dedicated in 2021, the memorial commemorates the estimated 4,000 enslaved people who worked on the University between 1817 and 1865.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
University of Virginia: The Architecture of Education and Democracy — Video Dispatch
Monday, June 02 2025
Thomas Jefferson conceived and designed the University of Virginia as a unique “Academic Village” where students and professors would live and learn together.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
Clay Tours Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello Estate — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, May 27 2025
As a kickoff for his 2025 Lewis and Clark trek, Clay visited and toured Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s primary home and plantation in Charlottesville, Virginia.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
The Peaks of Otter — Thomas Jefferson Speculated America’s Tallest Mountains — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, May 27 2025
Clay checks out The Peaks of Otter in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which Thomas Jefferson speculated were the country’s tallest mountains.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road
The Spot That Made Thomas Jefferson Swoon: A Visit to Natural Bridge — Video Dispatch
Tuesday, May 20 2025
Clay stopped by Natural Bridge State Park in the Shenandoah Valley. The site so captivated Thomas Jefferson that he purchased it from King of England in 1774.
- Published in Dispatches from the Road