1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,880 Speaker 1: And he trampling over my rights makes my blood boil exceedingly. 2 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: That's how you know I'm an American. 3 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:09,960 Speaker 2: Those are the words of Benjamin Franklin, and. 4 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:12,040 Speaker 1: We think him as a doddling dude flying a kite 5 00:00:12,039 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 1: in no rain. But those electricity experiments are the most 6 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,640 Speaker 1: important scientific discoveries of the time. 7 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:21,799 Speaker 2: But maybe the reason we have misunderstood this most fascinating 8 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:24,600 Speaker 2: founding father for so long was Franklin himself. 9 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: One of Franklin's greatest inventions is the character of Bed Franklin. 10 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: I mean, he was never early to bed, an early 11 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:34,839 Speaker 1: to rise type person. 12 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,840 Speaker 2: I'm Evan Ratliffe. Last season, in my conversations with epic 13 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 2: biographer Walter isaacsonon we tackled the ingenuity of Elon Musk. 14 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,199 Speaker 2: This time we're diving into the story of Benjamin Franklin, 15 00:00:46,479 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 2: another genius with even more facets and possibly more relevance, 16 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 2: who's desperate to be dusted off from history. 17 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: His media empire makes him the most successful self made 18 00:00:57,240 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: business person in America. And if you see the charging 19 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: makes of the Gulf Stream, it's remarkably similar to the 20 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: one that's now on the NASA website. He loves leading 21 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:10,959 Speaker 1: the good life, even playing chess while he's in the 22 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: bathtub with one of his mistresses. 23 00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:15,400 Speaker 2: Benjamin Franklin is so many things. 24 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 1: A writer and printer, He created poor Richard, and he 25 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: created newspapers. 26 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 2: A scientist, an inventor whose work is still in use today. 27 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:27,440 Speaker 2: They would consecrate the bells of churches to ward off 28 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 2: the lightning, but the lightning kept striking church steeples, and 29 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,039 Speaker 2: Franklin said, maybe we should try some other theory of it. 30 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:38,119 Speaker 2: An unlikely celebrity at home and abroad. 31 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:42,040 Speaker 1: Crowds turn out and women shart wearing their hair and 32 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,280 Speaker 1: what was called the coiffor a la Franklin. 33 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 2: But perhaps more importantly, a key architect of a new nation. 34 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: Franklin was the only one of the founders who is 35 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: involved in all four of the great founding documents of America. 36 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 2: But there are parts of his story that history books 37 00:01:58,480 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 2: like to skip over. 38 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: Everybody's wondering what side is he going to be on, 39 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 1: and before he can announce it, he has to have 40 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: a meeting with his illegitimate son. 41 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,040 Speaker 2: But by the end of his very long life he 42 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 2: lives to be eighty four years old. He had earned 43 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,919 Speaker 2: near universal love as the Sage of Philadelphia, and maybe 44 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 2: more importantly, a man uniquely gifted at bringing people together 45 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:21,840 Speaker 2: and without rival, and his devotion to democracy. 46 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: The only other person who could have possibly been the 47 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 1: first president would have been Benjamin Franklin, but he's too 48 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: old and wants Washington to do it voluntarily. Forsaking power 49 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:38,080 Speaker 1: is at the heart of what a democracy is. 50 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 2: Listen to on Benjamin Franklin with Walter Isaacson on America's 51 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 2: number one podcast network, iHeart, open your free iHeart app 52 00:02:44,680 --> 00:02:46,800 Speaker 2: and search on Benjamin Franklin and start listening.