Home to Roost | Bonus Episode

In this episode of the Reading Hannah Arendt podcast, Roger Berkowitz discusses Hannah Arendt’s final speech/essay “Home to Roost” (May 20, 1975), published in Responsibility and Judgment and widely received at the time. He explains Arendt’s rejection of celebrating “America” in favor of the Republic, emphasizing the United States as a plural republic rather than an ethnic nation-state, and her claim that the republic’s crisis—triggered by McCarthyism—helped destroy a devoted, nonpartisan civil service. Arendt catalogs postwar cataclysms (Vietnam, foreign-policy failures, inflation, crumbling cities, Watergate) as signs of a swift decline of political power, and warns against grand historical explanations that hide “stark facts.” She argues modern image-making and PR foster “lying as a way of life,” culminating in Nixon-era corruption; she criticizes Ford’s pardon as amnesia and urges welcoming facts “when the chickens come home to roost,” confronting reality for the sake of freedom. For further info on this essay: https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa-chi4.html On Friday, June 12th, 2026, we’ll begin reading “Responsibility and Judgement”, Hannah Arendt’s indispensable investigation into some of the most troubling and important issues of our time. Find it here on the podcast beginning June 17th. Or become a member of the Center and join the VRG!   ABOUT: Produced by the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College, this podcast offers close readings of Arendt's books alongside engaging interviews and thought-provoking conversations. Released weekly, each episode provides listeners with a deeper understanding of Arendt's philosophy and its relevance to contemporary issues. Available on all major podcast platforms, listeners join us on a captivating intellectual journey through the mind of Hannah Arendt. New episodes every Friday morning! Join Roger Berkowitz, Founder and Academic Director of the Hannah Arendt Center for Politics and Humanities at Bard College, as he discusses the works of German Jewish political theorist Hannah Arendt (1906-1975).    THE HANNAH ARENDT CENTER: The Hannah Arendt Center provides an intellectual space for passionate, uncensored, and nonpartisan thinking that reframes and deepens the fundamental questions facing our nation and our world. Become a member and enjoy several benefits including live access to our Virtual Reading Group that takes place most Fridays, and upon which this podcast is based: https://hac.bard.edu/membership/ More information can be found on our website: https://hac.bard.edu/ Follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/hannaharendt/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hannaharendtcenteratbard/   THE HOST: Roger Berkowitz is the Founder and Academic Director of the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College. He is the editor of On Civil Disobedience: Henry David Thoreau and Hannah Arendt (2024), The Perils of Invention: Lying, Technology, and the Human Condition, and co-editor of Thinking in Dark Times: Hannah Arendt on Ethics and Politics (2009), and Artifacts of Thinking: Reading Hannah Arendt’s Denktagebuch (2017). Berkowitz edits the HA: Yearbook and the weekly newsletter Amor Mundi. He is the winner of the 2019 Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought given by the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Germany.   EDITED BY: Alex Fox Tschan is the editor & co-producer of the “Reading Hannah Arendt with Roger Berkowitz” podcast. He is a working musician, creative producer, & audio/visual editor at his Brooklyn-based studio, The Fox & The Sound. With 25 years of recording & performance experience, Tschan’s recent projects range from indie-pop albums to audiobooks for McNally Jackson. A full spread of his work & collaborations can be found at pastelhell.com.