Uploaded February 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
When voters in 2008 chose the United States’ first Black president, some Americans hailed the event as a sign that the nation had, at long last, transcended its bloody history of racial inequality. Join historian Douglas Brinkley in conversation with Jelani Cobb, Dean of Columbia Journalism School and author of The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress, as they reflect on how the seismic impact of the Obama presidency continues to shape America and how history has viewed his legacy.
When voters in 2008 chose the United States’ first Black president, some Americans hailed the event as a sign that the nation had, at long last, transcended its bloody history of racial inequality. Join historian Douglas Brinkley in conversation with Jelani Cobb, Dean of Columbia Journalism School and author of The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress, as they reflect on how the seismic impact of the Obama presidency continues to shape America and how history has viewed his legacy.
