What motivates great Americans with Ron Chernow

This podcast features Adam Grant interviewing biographer Ron Chernow about his work and process. Chernow discusses how he chooses his subjects, aiming for figures who significantly shaped American culture and whose popular image might be incomplete or inaccurate. He explains his meticulous research methods, involving immersion in primary documents and a detailed index card system. Chernow shares insights into his biographies of figures like Alexander Hamilton, John D. Rockefeller, Ulysses S. Grant, and Mark Twain, highlighting common threads such as difficult relationships with their fathers and the contradictions inherent in their personalities. The conversation explores Twain's life, his views on patriotism and partisanship, and the qualities that propelled his success, while also touching on the challenges and complexities of writing about historical figures.