As America re-examines its relationship with history, many of us are taking a new look at the people who have been held up as heroes of our past. Monuments are being replaced, including the statue of Marcus Whitman that is in the US Capitol, soon to be replaced by a statue of fishing rights activist Billy Frank Jr. Writer Sarah Vowell dives into this on the 2nd episode of Season 2 of Confluence Podcast.

Vowell is the New York Times’ bestselling author of seven nonfiction books on American history and culture in which she examines the connections between America’s past and present. She was the guest speaker for a Confluence Conversation in May, 2021 in a partnership between Confluence and Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. Sarah Vowell joined us by Zoom from her home in Bozeman, Montana.