Monday, August 16, 2021

Dead Presidents Podcast Episode 16 - Abraham Lincoln & Top 5 Accomplished Presidential Dads

In an epic Season 1 finale, we follow the life of Abraham Lincoln from his humble beginnings to his days as a homespun prairie lawyer, and trace his rise to national prominence as an intellectual leader of the political movement against slavery's expansion. When his 1860 election sparks a secession crisis, one of our least-experienced presidents is thrust into the most difficult situation any president has ever faced and challenged with holding together a fracturing nation. With unflinching leadership through a bloody Civil War, he managed to not only restore the Union but bring a definitive end to the institution of slavery. Also: We count down the Top 5 Accomplished Presidential Dads (the barely literate Thomas Lincoln will not be on the list).

Dead Presidents Podcast Homepage (with links to access the podcast on your favorite podcast app!)






We're very proud of all of our wonderful Episode 16 sponsors:
Baby for adoption from Home for the Friendless – Detroit Free Press (Detroit, MI) – March 19, 1863

Fair to benefit Home for the Friendless – Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL) – November 16, 1861
Look out for pickpockets at the fair – Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL) – November 22, 1861
Wife wanted by lonely guy – New York Daily Herald (New York, NY) – March 22, 1864 
Loyal southern planter seeks good woman – New York Daily Herald (New York, NY) – March 22, 1864
Baron Von Toozly seeks lady of means – Evening Star (Washington, DC) – March 21, 1865
Madame de Cora’s Matrimonial Agency – New York Daily Herald (New York, NY) – June 11, 1863
Chipley on Masturbation – The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) – April 22, 1861
L.G. Lloyd’s Furniture & Coffin Warehouse – The Pittsfield Sun (Pittsfield, MA) – September 11, 1862
Charles Kunz, Night Scavenger – Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL) – June 5, 1863

Monday, August 9, 2021

Dead Presidents Podcast - Presidential War #11 - Presidential Rumble

 

In the special season finale of Presidential War, forty-four presidents will enter the squared circle and only one will be left standing. There'll be clotheslines, piledrivers, finishing moves, low blows, cheap shots, and blood on the mat before this thing is over. Get ready for the most electrifying event in presidential entertainment!

Monday, August 2, 2021

Dead Presidents Podcast Episode 15 - James Buchanan & Top 5 Accomplished Presidential Sons

James Buchanan had the experience: lawyer, party leader, Representative, Senator, ambassador to Russia and Britain, and Secretary of State. So how did he fail so badly as president? His long camaraderie with southern leaders, his myopic views on slavery, and his desire to be an imperialist abroad while things were coming apart at home didn't help. By the end of this episode, the antebellum sectional crisis will explode into outright secession and Buchanan will earn his rightful place as the worst president of all time. And we tackle the question of whether our only bachelor president might have been gay. Also: Many president's sons have done great things in their own right. We count down the highest-achievers on our Top 5 Accomplished Presidential Sons.

Dead Presidents Podcast Homepage (with links to access the podcast on your favorite podcast app!)






We're very proud of all of our wonderful Episode 15 sponsors:
Peruvian llama auction – Green-Mountain Freeman (Montpelier, VT) – March 4, 1858

17-year-old girl seeks elderly gentleman – New York Daily Herald (New York, NY) – December 16, 1859

Barnum’s American Museum – Brooklyn Evening Star (Brooklyn, NY) – July 14, 1860

Jacob Heiss and his wife Catherine – The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD) – September 5, 1860

Mississippi Diarrhea Cordial – Memphis Daily Appeal (Memphis, TN) – July 12, 1860

Beeswax wanted – The Greensboro Patriot (Greensboro, NC) – July 27, 1860

Thomas Dunn and his wife Esther – Orleans Independent Standard (Irasburgh, VT) – April 10, 1857

Madame Moore, female physician and astrologer – The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, MD) – September 5, 1860



Monday, July 26, 2021

Dead Presidents Podcast - Presidential War #10 - Slobberknocker

We shake up the rules of Presidential War and spark enlightening discussion on a variety of topics: John Adams's effect on the presidency, Thomas Jefferson's consequential writings, George Washington's relationship with the people, and Abraham Lincoln's relationship with the media. Also: Taylor confronts Fillmore on constitutional fidelity, movie star Nancy Reagan faces a formidable challenge in the First Lady looks category, and we find out if anyone can can go toe-to-toe with heavyweight champion William Howard Taft.

Monday, July 19, 2021

Dead Presidents Podcast Episode 14 - Franklin Pierce & Top 5 Would Be Presidents

Franklin Pierce was a Democratic congressman, party leader, Mexican-American war hero, and #1 on our list of Top 5 Drunkest Presidents. He was nominated as a compromise candidate in 1852 and, taking office in the wake of a terrible family tragedy, promised not to let slavery re-emerge as a national issue after the sectional crisis of 1850. But when Senator Stephen Douglas came calling with a plan to organize the Kansas-Nebraska territory, Pierce dove headlong into a new sectional crisis and sparked a violent prelude to the coming Civil War. Also: Our list of Top 5 Would Be Presidents looks at some of the most interesting failed presidential candidates and speculates about what might've been had they occupied the White House.

Dead Presidents Podcast Homepage (with links to access the podcast on your favorite podcast app!)






We're very proud of all of our wonderful Episode 14 sponsors:
National Baby Show – New York Daily Herald (New York, NY) – May 11, 1855
National Baby Show – New York Daily Herald (New York, NY) – May 26, 1855
National Baby Show – New York Tribune (New York, NY) – June 2, 1855
National Baby Show – New York Tribune (New York, NY) – June 12, 1855
Infant’s Shoes – Buffalo Morning Express (Buffalo, NY) – May 28, 1853
Toys for the Babies – Rutland Weekly Herald (Rutland, VT) – November 30, 1855
Edward Wadsworth and his wife Eliza – Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT) – December 17, 1853
George Hodges and his sleeping partner James Wilson – Belvidere Standard (Belvidere, IL) – August 7, 1855
John Woodward and his wife/slave Louisa – Evening Star (Washington, DC) – February 11, 1856
Patrick Hurley and his wife Amanda Jane Hurley – Evening Star (Washington, DC) – January 15, 1856
Amanda Jane Hurley responds – Evening Star (Washington, DC) – January 18, 1856
Dr. Locock’s Female Wafers – Bangor Daily Whig and Courier (Bangor, ME) – June 1, 1853
Reward for Horse Shooter – The Kansas Tribune (Lawrence, KS) – September 17, 1855


Monday, July 12, 2021

Dead Presidents Podcast - Presidential War #9 - George W. Bush Is Worse Than Hitler At Painting (with Jeremy Lese)

Guest Jeremy Lese joins us for another game of Presidential War, in which discussion topics include George W. Bush's popularity, FDR's effect on the presidency, George Washington's partying habits, JFK's legendary good looks, and Frances Cleveland's accomplishments as our youngest First Lady. Also: James K. Polk battles his Secretary of State James Buchanan to avoid getting picked last in a game of presidential flag football.

Dead Presidents Podcast Homepage (with links to access the podcast on your favorite podcast app!)





Monday, July 5, 2021

Dead Presidents Podcast Episode 13 - Millard Fillmore & Top 5 Embarrassing Political Blunders

Millard Fillmore was a compromise vice presidential nominee who backed into the White House upon Zachary Taylor's sudden death. The nation was in the middle of a sectional crisis and a bitterly-divided Congress was about to send Fillmore some legislation cobbled together in a desperate bid to avert civil war.  His signing of the controversial Fugitive Slave Act may have helped resolve the crisis, but it would become a dark cloud that plagued his presidency. Tasked with holding together not just a fracturing Union but his own fracturing Whig Party, Fillmore did his best to reconcile the increasingly irreconcilable elements of antebellum America.  Also: Our Top 5 Embarrassing Political Blunders counts down some of the biggest bonehead moves and unforced errors by which presidents have shot themselves in the foot.

Dead Presidents Podcast Homepage (with links to access the podcast on your favorite podcast app!)






We're very proud of all of our wonderful Episode 13 sponsors:
H.F. Bailey’s Gothic Hall Bowling Saloon – Buffalo Morning Express & Illustrated Buffalo Express (Buffalo, NY) – July 24, 1850

Thomas and Deborah Seaver – Orleans County Gazette (Irasburgh, VT) – May 3, 1851

Deborah Seaver responds – Orleans County Gazette (Irasburgh, VT) – May 3, 1851

Rum for sale – Richmond Dispatch (Richmond, VA) – January 19, 1853

Stanton’s hemorrhoidal ointment – Vermont Journal (Windsor, VT) – May 2, 1851

Reward for cemetery desecrators – The Alton Telegraph (Alton, IL) – April 23, 1852

Reward for barnburner – Vermont Journal (Windsor, VT) – May 2, 1851

Astrologer C.W. Roback – State Indiana Sentinel (Indianapolis, IN) – June 19, 1851

Guns and Pistols for sale – The Alton Telegraph (Alton, IL) – April 23, 1852

Married People’s Ball – Buffalo Evening Post (Buffalo, NY) – January 24, 1851


Monday, June 28, 2021

Dead Presidents Podcast - Presidential War #8 - Nobel Piece of Ass Prize (with Dave Ranallo)

Presidential aficionado Dave Ranallo joins us for an epic game of Presidential War. Topics include Andrew Jackson's popularity with the people, Dolley Madison's exceptional First Lady tenure, and Ronald Reagan's relationship with a Democrat-controlled Congress. Also: We decide whether we'd prefer a mustache ride from Grover Cleveland or Chester Arthur, and whether a drunken Franklin Pierce could best a drunken Dick Nixon on the flag football field.

Dead Presidents Podcast Homepage (with links to access the podcast on your favorite podcast app!)