Nathaniel Philbrick, author of "In the Heart of the Sea" and "Mayflower" turns his storytelling lens West to follow the gold as it moves from riverbed to countinghouse to halls of power, revealing how the pursuit of gold shaped the development of the United States, from rules of the Wild West to debates over slavery in Western territories, causing chaos in Washington. Learn how a scramble for wealth reshaped ideas of freedom, labor, and belonging—and how California's rise helped push a fractured nation toward the Civil War.
Ilyon Woo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Master, Slave, Husband, Wife," joins Philbrick at the Parish Church to talk about the research and writing that went into this new story bringing American identity more into focus.
