RE-BROADCAST: Meet the Wide-Awakes, The Club of Cape-Wearing Activists Who Helped Elect Lincoln and Spark the Civil War

We’re busy at work on our new season, which will hit your feeds later this month. In the meantime, we’re bringing you an episode of the Smithsonian Institution’s podcast Sidedoor to tide you over. Smithsonian curator of political history Jon Grinspan takes you inside the story of the Wide Awakes, a group of torch-bearing young activists who helped elect Abraham Lincoln and spurred the nation toward Civil War. Grinspan recently wrote about the Wide Awakes in an issue of Smithsonian magazine. We’ll be back soon with all new episodes to kick off our second season. Happy new year!