Despite some off years under the 18th Amendment, thinking and drinking is a longstanding American institution. Beer, in particular, has played a central role in the cultural, economic, and political development of the nation, so much so, in fact, that President James Madison proposed creating a national brewery and installing a Secretary of Beer in his cabinet. In this conversation, Alison Cuddy, Marilynn Thoma Artistic Director at the Chicago Humanities Festival, Liz Garibay of the Chicago Brewseum, and Theresa McCulla of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will peer through their pint glasses into the past, and examine the many ways beer refracts and enhances our perceptions of history.

This program is presented in partnership with the Chicago Brewseum Beer History and Culture Summit.

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