The old ways of getting rich no longer work, right? Tell that to Joseph Moore, author of “How to Get Rich in American History,” who did the research and accidentally… well, got rich! And then, you know what they say… and you told us! It’s a new Quote Party.

Gordon Wood was the single greatest shaper and transmitter of the wild intentions of our founding fathers since the founders themselves. Along with his colleague and friendly rival Bernard Bailyn at Harvard, Wood did more to educate us about who we are as Americans — a self-made people — than the current faculties of every university in America. It is sad to think that neither Wood nor Bailyn would remotely be considered for tenure today at the universities where they taught for decades. Not just because they were “straight white men” but because their writing conveyed complex and original ideas in clear prose that was written to inflame the imagination of any interested reader. Sadly, that kind of broad sympathy, rooted in centuries of historical story-telling and decades of original research and thinking, is foreign to the cultish and tendentious way that today’s historians are taught to think and write. We are all poorer for it.

I never met Gordon Wood, but I have a story about him. In one of my grad school seminars, we read Wood’s Creation of the American Republic. The sheer erudition and evidentiary depth of the book bowled me over. Back then, before kids and before life accelerated to warp speed, I used to call my mother every Sunday to catch up. Lots of times, we ended up talking about what I was reading that week in my grad seminars or for leisure. Mom had an omnivorous mind, and she was always looking for something else to read. She was a true intellectual—curious about almost everything, always eager to integrate new arguments or ideas into her existing schemas of how the world worked or to have those schemas challenged and changed. When we talked that particular Sunday, I think I tried to describe to her part of Wood’s argument about the relationship between the state constitutions during the Articles of Confederation era and the federal Constitution. Maybe I was tired, maybe I didn’t completely understand her questions, but the end result of the conversation was that Mom had questions about Wood’s argument that I didn’t answer satisfactorily. I told her that she should probably just read the book, and we said goodbye. She did eventually read the book, but the next Sunday, Mom started our conversation by saying, “Well, I had a lovely conversation with Gordon Wood this week.” For a split second, I thought she was joking, but then I remembered who I was dealing with. I started to sweat. “How?” I asked. A whole variety of unlikely scenarios in which the foremost historian of the American Revolution and my mother, who lived in Wichita, Kansas, might have met ran through my mind. “Oh, I just looked up his office phone number on Brown’s website and called, and he picked up!” Mom said. I decided I would have to find another profession. As it ended up, Gordon Wood spent about an hour on the phone with my mother answering her questions about the Constitution. Ever since, I’ve had a soft spot for the man when I imagine him picking up the phone in Providence and finding Becky Elder from Wichita on the other end of the line. His generosity in that moment spoke very well of him. Rest in peace, professor.

"The recurring 'end of work' narrative has, so far, proven remarkably immune to the evidence."

"When I began reading this book, I just could not put it down....makes America's financial history jump off of the pages...placing you right there" @Kiplinger Magazine on How to Get Rich in American History by historian @drjoemoore from @HarperBusiness kiplinger.com/personal-finan…

If old people aren't complaining about "kids today," your culture is stagnant.

This was a ridiculously fun conversation. "How to Get Rich in American History" is easily my favorite book of 2026, and it quickly went to my top 5 all-time personal finance books. Thanks for coming on, Joseph!