Dana Milbank: Retreat, Restore, Rehumanize episode artwork

EPISODE · May 22, 2026 · 28 MIN

Dana Milbank: Retreat, Restore, Rehumanize

from Good Citizen · host Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

Dana Milbank traded the outrage cycle of politics for 60 acres of overgrown Virginia farmland. And as he changed the land, the land changed him. Dana is a political columnist for NOTUS (soon to be “The Star”). He spent 26 years as an op-ed columnist for The Washington Post, where he also wrote about our attempts to "rehumanize" during a time of anxiety and isolation.  He describes to Ted his unlikely journey from suburban kid and political columnist to hunter and land steward, and how even brief moments outdoors can give back what screens have stripped away. Dana makes the case that spending time in nature and with our neighbors, like restoring degraded land, is sometimes unglamorous, Sisyphean work that just so happens to be essential. Find him at notus.org/dana-milbank For more, visit goodcitizenpodcast.com. Follow us on Facebook @TRPresidentialLibrary Instagram @trlibrary X @TRPresLibrary. And sign up for our newsletter at trlibrary.com/newsletter to stay up-to-date on the TRPL! -- Good Citizen is hosted by Ted Roosevelt V and produced by The Future of StoryTelling in collaboration with Charts & Leisure, on behalf of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation. Learn more about T.R.’s upcoming presidential library at www.trlibrary.com.  Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation 350 Third Avenue Medora, North Dakota 58645   Future of StoryTelling Founder and CEO, Charles Melcher Director, Carolyn Merriman Producer, Alison Byrne  Assistant Producer, Madison Brown Production Assistant, Tsuki Carlson   Charts & Leisure Executive Producer, Jason Oberholtzer Producer, Meghal Janardan Editor, Garrett Crowe Mix, Andrew Atkin Music and Final Assembly, Michael Simonelli With special thanks to Edward F. O’Keefe, Robbie Lauf, Courtland Miller, and Matt Briney.

Dana Milbank traded the outrage cycle of politics for 60 acres of overgrown Virginia farmland. And as he changed the land, the land changed him. Dana is a political columnist for NOTUS (soon to be “The Star”). He spent 26 years as an op-ed columnist for The Washington Post, where he also wrote about our attempts to "rehumanize" during a time of anxiety and isolation. He describes to Ted his unlikely journey from suburban kid and political columnist to hunter and land steward, and how even brief moments outdoors can give back what screens have stripped away. Dana makes the case that spending time in nature and with our neighbors, like restoring degraded land, is sometimes unglamorous, Sisyphean work that just so happens to be essential.

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Dana Milbank: Retreat, Restore, Rehumanize

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This episode was published on May 22, 2026.

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Dana Milbank traded the outrage cycle of politics for 60 acres of overgrown Virginia farmland. And as he changed the land, the land changed him. Dana is a political columnist for NOTUS (soon to be “The Star”). He spent 26 years as an op-ed columnist...

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