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

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.

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.

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)

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

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.