ON BENJAMIN FRANKLIN Episode 2: The Great American Character

Summary

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Podcast Summary: ON BENJAMIN FRANKLIN – Episode 2: The Great American Character

Podcast: ON CRISPR: The Story of Jennifer Doudna with Walter Isaacson
Series: Season 2: On Benjamin Franklin
Host: Evan Ratliff
Guest: Walter Isaacson
Release Date: September 5, 2024

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Overview

This episode delves into the life, myth, and legacy of Benjamin Franklin, exploring how he consciously crafted the notion of the "American character" and embodied the traits still celebrated today: humility, industriousness, practicality, and self-improvement. Drawing from Franklin’s autobiography, his letters, and persona-driven writings, Walter Isaacson illustrates how Franklin’s life both lived up to and strayed from the ideals he helped popularize. The episode examines Franklin’s mythmaking, family life, writings under pseudonyms, and personal contradictions—all with implications for American national identity.

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Major Discussion Points

1. The Invention of "Ben Franklin" (02:38 – 04:19)

• Franklin wasn’t just an inventor—he carefully invented and polished his own persona.
  • Isaacson: “One of Franklin's greatest inventions is the character of Ben Franklin. He creates it, he polishes, he does it through Poor Richard and through his autobiography.” (02:38)
• His famous autobiography scene as a bedraggled, generous newcomer in Philadelphia was meant for posterity—and to remind his own son of humble roots.
  • Notable Quote: "You're always more generous when you're very poor than when you're very rich. Cause you don't want people to think you're poor." (02:54)

2. Mythmaking and the American Spirit (04:19 – 05:36)

• Franklin used writing to create an archetype: humble, hopeful, industrious—what would become the “American character.”
  • “The new American spirit felt familiar and appealing to colonists and eventually to a nation eager to forge its own identity.” (04:19)
• There’s a gap between Franklin the myth and Franklin the person.

3. Early Life and Self-Education (05:36 – 08:03)

• Franklin was self-taught, denied Harvard by his father, and apprenticed to a strict printer brother.
  • He educated himself by turning essays into poetry and reconstructing them—a method to improve his vocabulary and writing.
  • Read both Enlightenment essays and Cotton Mather’s “Essays to Do Good,” forming his own secular moral code.
  • Notable Quote: “He becomes the best and most popular writer in America.” (07:00)
• Differed from the puritans: Franklin believed in moral self-betterment through action, not just God's grace.

4. Resistance to Authority; Literary Innovation (08:03 – 10:33)

• Chafed under the unfairness of indentured servitude; used pseudonyms (e.g., Silence Dogood at 15-16) to find literary freedom.
  • Franklin’s “spunky imagination and colloquial sense” transformed the voice of American writing, foreshadowing Mark Twain and Will Rogers.
  • Isaacson: “He had such a colloquial voice.” (08:58)
• Franklin's “natural aversion to tyranny” was visible from his teens.

5. Pseudonyms, Anonymity, and Satire (09:14 – 10:59)

• Franklin used pseudonyms for social critique and humor, enabled by the anonymity of the colonial press but always just shy of real danger.
  • “It gave people a lot of freedom to speak, but it still put a little bit of a leash on how far they were willing to go.” (09:41)
• "Silence Dogood" criticized tyranny and justified rebellion: “Any trampling over my rights makes my blood boil exceedingly. That's how you know I'm an American.” (10:06)

6. Public Persona and Poor Richard (10:33 – 13:28)

• Franklin became his own best PR agent, staging acts of diligence for public view.
• Created “Poor Richard’s Almanac” with homespun wisdom and humor, crafting maxims still quoted today. Despite the advice, Franklin often didn’t live by his own proverbs (“He was never early to bed and early to rise…”).
  • Used self-deprecation and mock humility to deflate pretension and connect with others.

7. Personal Life: Family Complexity & Tragedy (18:48 – 22:07)

• Illegitimate son William, common-law wife Deborah, daughter Sally, tragic young son Frankie (victim of smallpox before vaccination).
• Varied family structures normal for the time, but Franklin’s willingness to take responsibility was noteworthy.
  • “It wasn't totally usual for a father to take responsibility...But Benjamin Franklin not only takes total responsibility for William…” (20:22)
• Franklin often forged unconventional familial bonds, taking in grandchildren and others in complex arrangements.

8. Difficult Marriages and Ties that Bind (22:07 – 24:15)

• Franklin’s career and travels strained his marriage, with his wife Deborah choosing to remain always in Philadelphia.
  • In London, he recreated a similar domestic setup with Mrs. Stevenson and her daughter.
  • Franklin prized his own liberty over conventional family ties—a “natural aversion to anything that would restrain his liberty.” (23:54)

9. Contradictions: Morality, Relationships, and Reputation (24:15 – 26:23)

• Despite Venice-lauded values of humility and industry, Franklin had a lifelong battle with pride and self-serving decisions—tracking his “errata” (mistakes).
• Maintained enduring connections, especially with his youngest sister Jane.

10. Writings, Autobiography, and the Self-Made Memoir (31:36 – 35:51)

• Franklin’s accessible writing style and autobiographical confession shaped his legacy.
  • “He has such an approachable style of writing… it was storytelling.” (31:53)
• His narrative purposefully echoed Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress”—a practical American journey toward “moral perfection.”
• Franklin’s “moral perfection project” listed practical virtues (temperance, moderation, frugality), not classical ones; humility was only suggested after friendly teasing.

11. Wit, Satire, and Social Critique (35:51 – 39:17)

• Franklin, through female characters (like Silence Dogood, Polly Baker), critiqued social morality, gender hypocrisy, and elite credentialism from a young age.
• Maintained that humor and simplicity throughout his life and as a hallmark of American prose.

12. Meritocracy vs. Nepotism & National Ideals (40:13 – 42:10)

• Franklin rejected the idea of American aristocracy—at least in theory—but could not resist trying to give special opportunities to his beloved but underachieving grandson.
  • “He is always trying to help his grandson get a position somewhere… So there's a little bit of nepotism there.” (41:29)
• Struggled, like many Americans, with living up to the ideals he championed.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Franklin’s mythmaking:
  “We sometimes become the mask we wear.” — Walter Isaacson (03:43)
• On his self-education:
  “Every now and then I could write it even better, I could improve it. Which made me think I would become a tolerable writer.” — Walter Isaacson (06:47)
• On American spirit:
  “Any trampling over my rights makes my blood boil exceedingly. That's how you know I'm an American.” — Quoting Silence Dogood (10:06)
• On family and humility:
  “Throughout his life, Franklin kept a ledger of the mistakes he had made. He called them errata and how he tried to rectify it.” — Walter Isaacson (24:43)
• On values:
  “They're not honor and duty and classical virtues... they're things like frugality, industry, moderation that just make you a good citizen.” — Walter Isaacson (36:46)
• On humility:
  “His friend said, Franklin, you're really proud of that list, but you ought to add one thing... humility.” — Walter Isaacson (36:54)

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Key Timestamps

• [02:38] — Creation of the “character” of Ben Franklin, myth-making
• [04:19] — Definition of the American spirit, Franklin’s writings and persona
• [05:36] — Early life, self-education, denial of Harvard
• [08:03] — Indenture, family conflicts, literary innovation with pseudonyms
• [10:33] — PR mastery, early branding and work ethic
• [11:30] — Poor Richard's Almanac and maxims
• [18:48] — Family complexity, illegitimate children, smallpox tragedy
• [24:43] — Contradictions and rectification of family estrangement
• [31:36] — Autobiography as self-making and storytelling
• [35:51] — The “moral perfection” project; humility added by friends
• [39:17] — Social critiques in writing, attacks on elitism and hypocrisy
• [41:29] — Meritocracy vs. nepotism; Franklin’s struggle with his own ideals

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Tone, Style, and Final Reflections

The episode maintains a warm, inquisitive, and occasionally wry tone befitting both Franklin’s own style and Isaacson’s narrative charm. Franklin emerges as both a product and a shaper of his times: visionary yet flawed, deeply human, and fundamentally American.

Final Note:
Walter Isaacson’s insight draws attention to Franklin’s modernity—his creation of a public persona, commitment to practical virtue, and complicated legacy. The show leaves listeners with an understanding of Franklin’s pivotal role in shaping the national character, not in spite of his contradictions, but because of them.

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Transcript

[Podcast Host]

This is an iheart podcast.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

The murder of an 18 year old girl in Graves County, Kentucky went unsolved for years until a local housewife, a journalist and a handful of girls came forward with a story.

[Commentator / Local Resident]

America, y' all better wake the hell up. Bad things happens to good people in small towns.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

Listen to Graves county on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast and to binge the entire season ad free. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Sacred Scandal Narrator]

Sacred Scandal is back, the hit true crime podcast that uncovers hidden truths and shattered faith. For 19 years, Elena Sada was a nun for the Legion of Christ. This season she's telling her story.

[Elena Sada]

When I first joined the Legion of Christ, I felt chosen. I was 19 years old when Martial Macel, the leader of the Legionaries, looked me in the eye and told me I had a calling.

[Sacred Scandal Narrator]

Surviving meant hiding. Escaping took courage. Risking everything to tell her truth. Listen to Sacred the Many secrets of Martial Maciel on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Federal Agent Narrator]

In early 1988, federal agents raced to track down the gang they suspect of importing millions of dollars worth of heroin into New York from Asia.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

Had 30 agents ready to go with.

[Walter Isaacson]

Shotguns and rifles and you name it. Five, six white people pushed me in the car.

[Elena Sada]

I'm going, what the hell?

[Commentator / Local Resident]

Basically your stay at home moms were picking up these large amounts of heroin. All you gotta do is receive the package. Don't have to open it, just accept it. She was very upset, crying. Once I saw the gun, I tried to take his hand and I saw the flash of light.

[Federal Agent Narrator]

Listen to the Chinatown sting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you get your podcasts.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

Hey guys, it's Stephanie, Beatriz and Melissa Fumero. And this is more better. We are jumping right in and ready to hear from you, your thoughts, your.

[Walter Isaacson]

Questions, your feelings about socks with sandals.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

And we're ready to share some possibly questionable advice. And hot takes. God, that sucks so hard though.

[Walter Isaacson]

I'm so sorry. Can you out pet.

[Podcast Host]

Can you match their pettiness for funsies?

[Narrator / Stephanie]

Yeah, all the things.

[Federal Agent Narrator]

Because aren't we all trying to get.

[Walter Isaacson]

A little more better?

[Narrator / Stephanie]

Listen to more better on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Walter Isaacson]

Kaleidoscope. One of Franklin's greatest inventions is the character of Ben Franklin. He creates it, he polishes, he does it through poor Richard and through his autobiography. His arrival in Philadelphia is one of the Most famous scenes in autobiographical literature, he gets off the boat bedraggled and uses coins to tip the boatman. He buys three puffy rolls and gives one away to somebody. He says, you're always more generous when you're very poor than when you're very rich. Cause you don't want people to think you're poor. He writes that scene for posterity and also for his son, who's become very pretentious and was a royal governor back then. He's saying, remember your humble roots were tradesmen, were not part of an aristocracy.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

So he had figured out a little bit of myth making even at the very beginning.

[Walter Isaacson]

But as Shakespeare teaches us, we sometimes become the mask we wear. And so Ben Franklin, by showing how industrious he could be, by having the pretense of humility, even if he couldn't have the reality, was able to make himself into this type of character that he portrays both in Paul Richard's Almanac and in the Autobiograph.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

Ben Franklin was perhaps the quintessential American character. He created the type through his writing style, through the aphorisms of Poor Richard's Almanac, through his picaresque autobiography, and in many ways through his life itself. Humble, industrious and hopeful, the new American spirit felt familiar and appealing to colonists and eventually to a nation eager to forge its own identity. And while the character Franklin created was in many ways close to Franklin, the person in others, it was painfully far away. In this second episode of On Benjamin Franklin, Walter Isaacson reveals how Franklin wrote the American identity into being and just how far Franklin's own life strayed from this national ideal. You describe beautifully how he came to represent this certain part of the American character. And it includes practicality, it includes compromise. Were there any sort of seminal incidents in his childhood that you feel like shaped this orientation towards what became a kind of American character, a Central American character?

[Walter Isaacson]

When Franklin is growing up in Boston, he had been indentured to his brother, who was a publisher, newspaper editor and printer. Franklin knew he had to be self educated. He knew that his father decided not to send him to Harvard. And so every night he would read and study at his brother's print shop and publishing house. He embarked on a self improvement course. He was one of America's great self taught people. And what he did was he took down volumes of the Spectator, a daily that was being published in London, with wonderful essays by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele. And what Franklin would do is he would turn the essays into poetry and he thought it would help him increase his vocabulary, because he would have to think of different words that would either rhyme or have the right meter. And he would read the essays, take notes, jumble up his notes, and then a few days later, see if he could recreate the essay. And then he would go back and correct. He said, every now and then I could write it even better, I could improve it. Which made me think I would become a tolerable writer. Well, not only does he become a tolerable writer, he becomes the best and most popular writer in America. He also read Cotton Mather's essays to do good, because Boston then was pretty much ruled by a puritan theocracy. Puritan preachers like Cotton Mather were always talking about God's grace, that we got salvation through God's grace alone. Whereas Benjamin Franklin is much more simple. He believed that, well, maybe you could earn your way into the good grace of the Lord by doing good works and helping your fellow citizens.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

So Franklin's early years are spent teaching himself to write in a sort of moral education. Less religious than the puritanical world he lived in, but focused on practicality and contributing to the world around him. But even if he was indentured to his brother, he was still indentured. And naturally he chafed at that. And the fundamental unfairness of it, along with his core character, led him to push back. He has this sort of maybe inborn, but natural resistance to authority. And he abandons the apprenticeship, which was, as I understand it, quite a big deal at the time, right?

[Walter Isaacson]

He becomes apprentice to his older brother. And his older brother was very strict in dealing with him and didn't let him write for the paper, which is why Franklin writes under the pseudonym and fakes his handwriting. And it's called Silence Do Good. It's a triumph of the imagination because here you have a 15 or 16 year old kid who had never left Boston, but he's writing in the voice of a widowed elderly woman who lives in the countryside. And this is part of Franklin's magic, which is he has that sense of spunky imagination and a colloquial sense to him, other people at the time, like Jonathan Edwards, are writing in this grand rhetoric about sinners in the hands of an angry God. But Benjamin Franklin as a kid almost invents this vernacular awshok's cracker barrel style that you see in Mark Twain and Will Rogers and others, that pokes fun at the pretensions of the elite. He became the best writer of his time because he had such a colloquial voice.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

He Goes on to use anonymous writing or pseudonymous writing throughout his career, even up to major diplomatic incidents later in life. Can you explain a little bit about why he uses pseudonyms? Is it a wink, wink kind of pseudonym, or is it pure anonymity?

[Walter Isaacson]

The great thing about the colonial period is you could write under a pseudonym and you had some anonymity, but eventually people can find out, and indeed, his brother finds out that young Benjamin is the one doing silence do good. So it's good. It gave people a lot of freedom to speak, but it still put a little bit of a leash on how far they were willing to go.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

But not too much of a leash. Under the pseudonym Silence Dogood, when he was still in Boston writing for his brother's paper, he tests the limits.

[Walter Isaacson]

And silence do good. Says, I have a natural aversion to tyranny, and any trampling over my rights makes my blood boil exceedingly. That's how you know I'm an American. And this is ingrained in Franklin, especially since he was indentured to his brother. And eventually he runs away and breaks the indenture agreement he had made and secretly goes into Philadelphia.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

And this is the moment in his autobiography, that famous scene of Franklin walking off the boat with just a few coins in his pocket, and this picture of how the world sees him, a young, plucky, naive, sharing his roles and confident in the opportunities ahead. You write that he became the country's first unabashed public relations expert, and the first subject of his public relations was himself.

[Walter Isaacson]

Yes, even as the young printer opening a shop in Philadelphia, he makes a point of carting the paper he needs through the streets back and forth to show that he's diligent in working rather than having servants or other people do it. And he cares a lot about not only the reality, but of being diligent, but just showing people how diligent he is.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

Let's talk about poor Richard when he.

[Walter Isaacson]

Had a print shop. With his own colloquial style and wit, he's able to do a really fun almanac. He calls it Poor Richard's Almanac. That's his pseudonym. But in this case, everybody knew it was Ben Franklin who was doing it. In the almanac, he has all sorts of maxims, wisdom from the ages. A penny saved is a penny earned. Early to bed, early to. And we sometimes mistake the real Benjamin Franklin for those maxims. I mean, he was never early to bed and early to rise type person. But through that voice, he's able to create an unpretentious ethic throughout his whole life. He wants to poke fun at the pretensions of the elite. And that's what he starts doing through poor Richard. Common folk wisdom.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

Did people at the time start to see him this way as embodied by Poor Richard?

[Walter Isaacson]

Yeah, I think everybody knew he was writing these almanacs, but it was all part of the fun. People knew Benjamin Franklin. He was not exactly a very priggish person. One of the secrets to his humor and to his personality was self deprecation. It was not exactly humility, but it was a good pretense of humility. He would poke fun at himself and especially poor Richard could do it. At one point, one year, instead of poor Richard writing the forward to the almanac, it's poor Richard's wife, Bridget. Now, of course, this is all Ben Franklin doing it, but poor Richard's wife talks about the experiments that Poor Richard's doing and how it'd be better off if he learned how to earn a living. So that notion of a self deprecation as a way to be influential and charming and perhaps settle some disputes is something that Franklin perfected.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

But Franklin himself was far from perfect. When we return after the break, we take a look at a family life that was marked by both tragedy and neglect and also a wonderfully broad sense of what family in this new country could mean.

[Walter Isaacson]

All I know is what I've been told, and that's a half truth is a whole lie.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

For almost a decade, the murder of an 18 year old girl from a small town in Graves County, Kentucky went unsolved until a local homemaker, a journalist and a handful of girls came forward with a story.

[Walter Isaacson]

I'm telling you, we know Quincy killed her.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

We know a story that law enforcement used to convict six people and that got the citizen investigator on national tv.

[Walter Isaacson]

Through sheer persistence and nerve, this Kentucky housewife helped give justice to Jessica Curran.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

My name is Maggie Freeling. I'm a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist producer, and I wouldn't be here if the truth were that easy to find.

[Walter Isaacson]

I did not know her and I did not kill her or rape or burn or any of that other stuff.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

That y' all said.

[Walter Isaacson]

They literally made me say that I.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

Took a match and struck and threw it on her.

[Walter Isaacson]

They made me say that I poured gas on her.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

From lava for good. This is Graves County, a show about just how far our legal system will go in order to find someone to blame.

[Commentator / Local Resident]

America, y' all better wake the hell up. Bad things happens to good people and small towns.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

Listen to Graves county in the Bone Valley feed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and to binge the entire season ad free, subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Sacred Scandal Promoter]

At 19, Elena Sada believed she had found her calling. In the new season of Sacred Scandal, we pull back the curtain on a life built on devotion and deception. A man of God, Martial Maciel, looked Elena in the eye and promised her a life of purpose within the Legion of Christ.

[Elena Sada]

My name is Elena Sada, and this is my story. It's the story of how I learned to hide, to cry, to survive, and eventually how I got out.

[Sacred Scandal Promoter]

This season on Sacred Scandal, hear the full story from the woman who lived it. Witness the journey from devout follower to determined survivor as Helena exposes the man behind the cloth and the system that protected him. Even the darkest secrets eventually find their way to the light. Listen to Sacred the Mini Secrets of Martial Maciel as part of the My Kultura Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Federal Agent Narrator]

In early 1988, federal agents raced to track down the gang they suspect of importing millions of dollars worth of heroin into New York from Asia.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

We had 30 agents ready to go.

[Walter Isaacson]

With shotguns and rifles and you name it.

[Federal Agent Narrator]

But what they find is not what they expected.

[Commentator / Local Resident]

Basically, your stay at home moms were picking up these large amounts of heroin. They go, is this your daughter? I said, yes. They go, oh, you may not see her for like 25 years.

[Federal Agent Narrator]

Caught between a federal investigation and the violent gang who recruited them, the women must decide who they're willing to protect and who they dare to betray.

[Commentator / Local Resident]

Once I saw the gun, I tried to take his hand and I saw the flash of light.

[Federal Agent Narrator]

Listen to the Chinatown sting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you get your podcasts.

[Nicole Garcia]

It may look different, but Native culture is very alive. My name is Nicole Garcia, and on Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we aim to explore that culture.

[Podcast Host]

It was a huge honor to become a television writer because it does feel oddly like very traditional. It feels like Bob Dylan going electric, that this is something we've been doing for hundreds of years. You carry with you a sense of purpose and and confidence.

[Nicole Garcia]

That's Sierra Teller Ornelas, who, with Rutherford Falls, became the first Native showrunner in television history. On the podcast Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we explore her story along with other Native stories, such as the creation of the first Native Comic Con or the importance of reservation basketball. Every day, Native people are striving to keep traditions alive while navigating the modern world infrastructure, influencing and bringing our culture into the mainstream. Listen to Burn Sage, Burn bridges on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

We haven't talked about his personal life yet.

[Walter Isaacson]

Yeah, Franklin has a very complicated family life. At one point, he has an illegitimate son named William, and he takes responsibility for the son, brings the son in, and he ends up forming a common law marriage with Deborah Person, who had seen him straggling off the boat when he first was a runaway from Boston. But her husband had disappeared, and so she couldn't get married again because of the bigamy laws. But she and Franklin created a common law marriage, and it becomes a very practical thing. She's the bookkeeper, she's the person helping run the shop. And it's somewhat typical of Franklin. He's not a deeply romantic person. They have a beautiful daughter named Sally that becomes very close to Franklin, and they have a child named Frankie. And it was pretty tragic because just as nowadays we fight over vaccinations, that was a big fight back then. And Franklin's brother had fought against inoculations. And even though Benjamin Franklin believed that he had not yet inoculated his young son Frankie because he was too young, and he ends up dying of smallpox, and this affects Benjamin Franklin the rest of his life.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

Was it a scandal when he took in his illegitimate son? Was that something that his enemies would use against him, or was that something that was normal, that people would. Would view that as virtuous?

[Walter Isaacson]

Well, children born out of wedlock were rather common back then. It wasn't totally usual for a father to take responsibility. But Benjamin Franklin not only takes total responsibility for William in raising him, but ends up with Deborah and they raise him together. It does get used against him years later in some political campaigns where they talk about it, but it never really hurt him. And he took great pride in having raised William.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

A lot of families today could relate to grandparents taking in children, unusual family relationships, people being brought into the family, made part of the family who aren't even blood relatives. I feel like that is something in Franklin. Adopting that and enthusiastically embracing it is something that people today could connect with.

[Walter Isaacson]

Yeah, I think that Franklin always had a resistance to the notion of aristocracy. And, you know, in England and to some extent in America, you had children born illegitimately or out of wedlock or not part of the Aristide. Franklin thought that was ridiculous. It becomes complicated because William has a son born out of wedlock of his own, who he doesn't actually take in right away. He puts him in foster care. But eventually Temple Franklin gets brought into the family by Benjamin Franklin. And so there's Benjamin Franklin helping to raise his grandson, not quite letting everybody know the real relationship. But eventually Temple Franklin becomes very close to Benjamin Franklin, and so he brings the whole family together. And it's not a big distinction made.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

As Franklin's star rose. He traveled first to the colonies and then also abroad to England and eventually France, too, which, like a lot of ambitious people in big careers, was hard on his family. But it wasn't clear that it made a big difference to Franklin.

[Walter Isaacson]

Franklin's love of travel was not very good for his marriage to Deborah, because as far as we know, Deborah never spent a night away from Philadelphia. And one can blame Benjamin Franklin for always being away from going up and down the coast of America, doing the postal system and then going to England and staying there. But also Deborah Franklin, it was her choice. He wanted her to come to England, but she never, ever wanted to travel, especially across the ocean. And she was perfectly content, although by the end of her life, a little bit sad, staying at home without Benjamin Franklin there. When he arrives in London, he does something interesting, which is he almost recreates his life back in Philadelphia. He finds a landlady, Mrs. Stevenson, who treats him almost as if an unromantic husband, you know, arrangement of convenience, where she looks after him. And she has a daughter about the same age as Sally. And he becomes a father figure to Polly Stevenson, flirts with her as well. I mean, it's all a little bit odd, but there he is having a comfortable domestic life in London that's not all that different from the one he had in Philadelphia.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

And was there something about the fact that those weren't deep attachments then, they weren't really his family that enabled him to have an anchor, but also be so much out in the world.

[Walter Isaacson]

There were no real ties that bound him. I mean, he's quite happy to spend many years going to England and then going back and forth, as opposed to somebody who feels tied down. But it was part of his own personality, a natural aversion to anything that would restrain his liberty.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

It was that aversion to tyranny that helped him to break free from his indentured servitude to his brother as a young man. But it was hard to square the completely untethered, somewhat selfish version of Franklin with the moral characters in Poor Richard and Silence Dogood. Was the real Ben Franklin so unsentimental and when he broke his apprenticeship, was he severed from his family? Did he remain close to his family even after he was in Philadelphia?

[Walter Isaacson]

When Franklin runs away from his apprenticeship to his brother, he does it secretly at night. And for a long time the family has no idea where he went. I mean, he goes to Philadelphia and gets himself a job there. And at one point, after he becomes successful, he goes back to Boston, he's got some silver coins in his pocket and he shows off, goes in to see his brother. And his brother, of course, is very annoyed by it. Franklin realized he had shown pride there and that had alienated his brother. And throughout his life, Franklin kept a ledger of the mistakes he had made. He called him errata and how he tried to rectify it. And mistake number one in his ledger book was running away from his indentured service to his brother and alienating himself from his brother. And then the way he rectified it is when his brother died, he took his brother's son under wing. And Benjamin Franklin helped set him up in business, helped educate him, and it was his way of doing that balance of trying to reconcile himself to his family. He was very close to his youngest sister, Jane, and their letters are truly delightful. That's how we know about Franklin's battle against pride and desire to at least have the pretense of humility. And I think that relationship was probably the most enduring of his life.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

When we come back, Franklin's autobiographical writings reveal the super awkward way he chose his wife and how his belief in meritocracy didn't necessarily extend to a rejection of nepotism.

[Walter Isaacson]

All I know is what I've been told and that to have truth is a whole lie.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

For almost a decade, the murder of an 18 year old girl from a small town in Graves County, Kentucky went unsolved until a local homemaker, a journalist and a handful of girls came forward with a story.

[Walter Isaacson]

I'm telling you, we know Quincy killed her.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

We know a story that law enforcement used to convict six people and that got the citizen investigator on national tv.

[Walter Isaacson]

Through sheer persistence and nerve, this Kentucky housewife helped give justice to Jessica Curran.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

My name is Maggie Freeling. I'm a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist producer, and I wouldn't be here if the truth were that easy to find.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

I did not know her and I.

[Walter Isaacson]

Did not kill her or rape or burn or any of that other stuff.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

That y' all said.

[Walter Isaacson]

They literally made me say that I.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

Took a match and struck and threw it on her.

[Walter Isaacson]

They made me say that I poured gas on her.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

From Lava for Good. This is Graves County, a show about just how far our legal system will go in order to find someone to blame.

[Commentator / Local Resident]

America, y' all better wake the hell up. Bad things happens to good people and small towns.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

Listen to Graves county in the Bone Valley feed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and to binge the entire season ad free. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcast.

[Sacred Scandal Promoter]

At 19, Elena Sada believed she had found her calling. In the new season of Sacred Scandal, we pull back the curtain on a life built on devotion and deception. A man of God, Martial Maciel, looked Elena in the eye and promised her a life of purpose within the Legion of Christ.

[Elena Sada]

My name is Elena Sada, and this is my story. It's a story of how I learned to hide, to cry, to survive, and eventually how I got out.

[Sacred Scandal Promoter]

This season on Sacred Scandal, hear the full story from the woman who lived it. Witness the journey from devout follower to determined survivor as Helena exposes the man behind the cloth and the system that protected him. Even the darkest secrets eventually find their way to the light. Listen to Secret Scandal, the many secrets of Martial Maciel as part of the Mikeultura podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Federal Agent Narrator]

In early 1988, federal agents raced to track down the gang they suspect of importing millions of dollars worth of heroin into New York from Asia.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

We had 30 agents ready to go.

[Walter Isaacson]

With shotguns and rifles, and you name it.

[Federal Agent Narrator]

But what they find is not what they expected.

[Commentator / Local Resident]

Basically, your stay at home moms were picking up these large amounts of heroin. They go, is this your daughter? I said, yes. They go, oh, you may not see her for like, 25 years.

[Federal Agent Narrator]

Caught between a federal investigation and the violent gang who recruited them, the women must decide who they're willing to protect and who. Who they dare to betray.

[Commentator / Local Resident]

Once I saw the gun, I tried to take his hand and I saw the flash of light.

[Federal Agent Narrator]

Listen to the Chinatown sting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere you get your podcasts.

[Nicole Garcia]

It may look different, but native culture is very alive. My name is Nicole Garcia, and on Burn Sage, Burn Bridges, we aim to explore that culture.

[Podcast Host]

It was a huge honor to become a television writer because it does feel oddly like very traditional. It feels like Bob Dylan going electric, that this is something we've been doing for hundreds of years. You carry with you a sense of purpose and confidence.

[Nicole Garcia]

That's Sierra Teller Ornelas who with Rutherford Falls, became the first Native showrunner in television history. On the podcast Burn Sage Burn Bridges, we explore her story along the with other Native stories, such as the creation of the first Native Comic Con or the importance of reservation basketball. Every day, Native people are striving to keep traditions alive while navigating the modern world, influencing and bringing our culture into the mainstream. Listen to Burn Sage, Burn bridges on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

We know about Franklin because he wrote so much and so well. It's how we get a sense of who he was and the kind of personality he made for the world to see. The mix of Poor Richard and Silence Dogood and of course, the Franklin we see in his autobiography. And it's through his writings that Walter met him too.

[Walter Isaacson]

Back then they weren't digitized. I'd go to Yale library. I think it had 40 or 50ft of shelves. And he has such an approachable style of writing that it made it so you could write a history of him that was storytelling because we have all of his letters, his notes, his journal, the anecdotes he wrote as a 15, 16, 17 year old. And I became entranced with Benjamin Franklin, the inventor, the scientist, the state crafter, the writer, but also the storyteller.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

Much like Walter's stroll through Franklin's handwritten letters and notebooks, Ben Franklin's autobiography gives us a glimpse into how Franklin worked to mold his character, how he was on this continuous campaign of self improvement. But that warts and all story wasn't just for future Americans hoping to follow in Franklin's footsteps. It was also written for one young man in particular.

[Walter Isaacson]

William loved a book called the Habits of the well Born and Practices. And so he becomes somebody who hangs around with the dukes and the earls and the aristocracy and is very good at putting on airs and pretenses, which his father doesn't like. That's one of the reasons his father writes the autobiography. It starts with the words dear son and it says, hey, remember who we are. Middle class people, we don't have the pretensions of the aristocracy. But one of the cool things about Franklin is he's a little bit up front about his moral failings, makes fun of him sometimes, makes us realize, well, he's human, all too human. And in some ways I think that makes him more inspiring and more of a role model.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

Sometimes Franklin told on himself a little more subtly, like what he writes about his system for making decisions, something that would be very familiar to fans of Stephen Covey and fans of workplace efficiency in general.

[Walter Isaacson]

Whenever he had a decision to make, he did a calculus. He took a piece of paper, and on one side of the paper he wrote all the reasons for something, the prose. And then on the other side he wrote all the things against all the cons. And he'd assign weights to each of the factors and he'd say, does the pros outweigh the cons or not? And it was his bookkeeping mentality, his sort of very scientific and experimental way of doing things. And he even does it when he's trying to decide whether to take Deborah as his common law wife. Now, I love the notion of doing a calculus to figure out how to make tough decisions, but one criticism of Franklin is to do it when trying to decide whether to get married or not. There was a little something unromantic about his calculus.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

If you decide pro and get married, you should probably not let your spouse see the pro con list after that.

[Walter Isaacson]

Definitely. And I think he has poor Richard say, keep your eyes wide open before a marriage and half shut after a marriage. In other words, once you've made your decision, tolerate the flaws of the other person.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

So often, Franklin's writing is cheeky. He fills his autobiography with wit and happily winks at the reader as he relays his tales. But while the style is entirely his own, the structure of his biography is lifted from another work, a book that influenced him decades earlier, back when he was still an apprentice in his brother's print shop.

[Walter Isaacson]

He really identified with Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress because it's about a person making his way in the world, trying to be moral, trying to be practical. And it was a journey. And if you read Franklin's autobiography, it's really the first self made person memoir we have. But it's written in the style of a real pilgrim's progress, a very practical Ben Franklin making his progress in the world.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

He made his life into a pilgrim's.

[Walter Isaacson]

Progress when Franklin was a young tradesman in Philadelphia. Franklin embarked on what he called grandly his moral perfection project. Now, you have to know there's a bit of a sense of irony when he's writing about this in his autobiography. He's looking back at it somewhat amused because it's this very earnest sort of thing. But he made a list of virtues and values that you were supposed to have if you were going to be successful. And they're very pragmatic values. There's temperance, there's silence, there's order, there's resolution. Frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, and tranquility. And after he made the list, his friend said, franklin, you're really proud of that list, but you ought to add one thing. And he said, what's that? And the friend says, humility. You might want to try that one for a change. If you look at the list of virtues and values, they're not honor and duty and classical virtues. Instead, they're very Ben Franklin like, they're things like frugality, industry, moderation that just make you a good citizen.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

Silence is one that feels like it's sometimes in short supply these days.

[Walter Isaacson]

Yeah, I love the fact that silence is on the list. He says, speak not but what may benefit others? Avoid trifling conversations. And nowadays we're always in the cable TV and social media world trying to have our hot takes. But at various important parts of his life, including when he's being grilled by a committee of Parliament during the lead up to the American Revolution, Franklin just stands there silently.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

Even in his earlier writings, the Silence Dogood Essays, he would point out the hypocrisy of the strict morality of the times and in himself.

[Walter Isaacson]

Franklin was very good at writing in the voice of women. Silence dugud. The very first thing he writes as a teenager, it's in a woman's voice. And when he gets to Philadelphia, he writes the story of Polly Baker, a woman who was on trial for having five illegitimate children. Polly Baker, she argues she was doing good for the world, bringing five children in, and she had relied on the promises made to her by men, and men had broken those promises. And she says that, at least I'm taking responsibility. Remember, Franklin had an illegitimate child, and he took responsibility for it. So he's poking fun at men who have illegitimate children and then look down on the women. And at the end of the piece, it's funny, she's in front of the magistrate. She even hints at one of the magistrates may have been amongst those who misled her. And at the end, she's acquitted. The interesting thing is that throughout his life, Franklin had pretty much the same style that he developed in the Silence Do Good essays. He wrote hoaxes in parody. He wrote them in conversational style. And even on his deathbed, he's writing a parody of a speech that you can almost hear. Silence do good giving.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

Hmm. So the sort of virtues of writing with simplicity and humor, those started in his teenage years, and that just carried through.

[Walter Isaacson]

One of the Silence Dogood essays is an attack on Harvard, the elite college where he was supposed to go. But then his father decided not to send him there. And so he has silence. Do good in a dream, thinking about sending kids to Harvard and how only rich kids got to go and they consulted their purses, Franklin writes, as opposed to their brains. And he said Harvard only knows how to turn out dunces and blockheads who can enter a room genteelly, something they could have learned better in dancing school. And so it was him being self aware. And this is just a teenage boy, but throughout his life he's always poking fun at credentialism and the pretensions of the elite.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

It feels like something that's in a way so modern. Now you have people, particularly running for public office, who go to Harvard or Yale and then still poke fun at it, still disclaim the elite status that comes from attending those institutions.

[Walter Isaacson]

America's always had mixed feelings about elite credentials. People like to brag they go to Harvard or Yale. You see it in a JD Vance. But also they want to poke at the pretensions of the elite. And it's the same as it was in Franklin's era.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

It's funny that there is a presidential candidate running today, Trump, who does brag about attending the university that Benjamin Franklin began.

[Walter Isaacson]

Yeah, I'm not sure how Benjamin Franklin would feel that the first US President to come out of the university that he created was Donald Trump.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

Benjamin Franklin didn't think it was very American to have anything like an aristocracy. He was self made and thought it was important for people to make their own ways. But it was easier in theory than in practice. Even someone who so thoroughly believes in sort of meritocracy and pulling yourself up. He is always trying to help his grandson get a position somewhere. He can't quite get a. This grandson can't quite get a foothold.

[Walter Isaacson]

Yeah, you know, they can't really help himself. He's got this charming grandson, very good looking, but who isn't exactly the strongest character. And so he's always trying to get him appointments to be the secretary to the delegation in France and other political appointments. So there's a little bit of nepotism there. It doesn't quite work. Temple doesn't amount to too much.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

I feel like it almost comes back to silence. Do good. He hates nepotism and elitism of any stripe. He believes in this rugged meritocracy. It's how he lived his life and made all his successes. And yet he can't help but want better for his grandson.

[Walter Isaacson]

Franklin, like the rest of us, but more evidently is always wrestling with the virtues and the values, looking after his own self interests, but also what's good for the community. He was the most successful self made person of his time and that's what his autobiography is about. But he also felt that the pursuit of money for its own sake, to have riches, to be an aristocrat, was unappealing, I think the word he would use. And so even though he becomes successful, he doesn't build grand mansions, he doesn't patent his investment. He tries to do well but not be excessive, not put on airs, not be indulgent. And he felt too that was part of America's character.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

On the next episode of On Franklin, we'll get into Ben Franklin, the business savant and champion of the new middle class, and find out how his cunning helped him build the first American media empire.

[Walter Isaacson]

That made Franklin charming at times, but also he's able to rub people the wrong way and make enemies with the people he went into business with.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

This show is based on the writing and research of Walter Isaacson. It's hosted by me, Evan Ratliff, produced, mixed and sound designed by Anna Rubinova. Adam Bozarth is our consulting producer. Lizzie Jacobs is our editor. Social Media by Dara Potts the show was engineered at CDM Sound Studios from iHeart Podcast. The executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Ally Perry. For Kaleidoscope, it was executive produced by Mangesha Tigador with an assist from Oz Volition, Costas Linos and Kate Osborne. Special thanks to Amanda Urban, Bob Pittman, Will Pearson, Connor Byrne, Nikki Itor, Carrie Lieberman, Nathan Otuski and Alex Gavin. And if you like podcasts about inventions, what they mean for humanity, check out my other show, Shell Game, about how I created an AI clone and set it loose on the world. It's at Shell Game Co. And for more shows from Kaleidoscope, be sure to visit Kaleidoscope NYC. Thanks so much for listening.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

The murder of an 18 year old girl in Graves County, Kentucky went unsolved for years until a local housewife, a journalist and a handful of girls came forward with a story.

[Commentator / Local Resident]

America, y' all better wake the hell up. Bad things happens to good people and small towns.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

Listen to Graves county on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and to binge the entire season ad free. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

[Sacred Scandal Narrator]

Sacred Scandal is Back, the hit true crime podcast that uncovers hidden truths and shattered faith. For 19 years, Alena Sada was a nun for the Legion of Christ. This season, she's telling her story.

[Elena Sada]

When I first joined the Legion of Christ, I felt chosen. I was 19 years old when Marcia Almaser, the leader of the Legionaries, looked me in the eye and told me I had a calling.

[Sacred Scandal Narrator]

Surviving meant hiding. Escaping. Took courage. Risking everything to tell her truth. Listen to Sacred scandal, the many secrets of Martial Maciel on the island radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Federal Agent Narrator]

In early 1988, federal agents raced to track down the gang they suspect of importing millions of dollars worth of heroin into New York from Asia.

[Historian / Evan Ratliff]

We had 30 agents ready to go.

[Walter Isaacson]

With shotguns and rifles, and you name it. Five, six white people pushed me in the car.

[Elena Sada]

I'm going, what the hell?

[Commentator / Local Resident]

Basically, your stay at home moms were picking up these large amounts of heroin. All you gotta do is receive the package. Don't have to open it, just accept it. She was very upset, crying. Once I saw the gun, I tried to take his hand and I saw the flash of light.

[Federal Agent Narrator]

Listen to the Chinatown sting on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts.

[Walter Isaacson]

December 29, 1975, LaGuardia Airport.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

The holiday rush. Parents hauling luggage. Kids gripping their new Christmas toys. Then everything changed.

[Walter Isaacson]

There's been a bombing at the TWA terminal. Just a chaotic, chaotic scene.

[Narrator / Stephanie]

In its wake, a new kind of enemy emerged. Terrorism. Listen to the new season of law and criminal justice System on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Podcast Host]

This is an I heart podcast.