Ohio V. The World

It's Election Day and we're back with another presidential episode "Ohio v. the 25th Amendment." We look at two major presidential health emergencies that were covered up prior to the 25th Amendment and the history of presidential infirmity. First is the story of Woodrow Wilson's massive stroke in the fall of 1919 and how the 1st lady, Edith Wilson, became the first female president. And we look at a secret presidential surgery at sea for Grover Cleveland's cancer.

Alex is joined by author William Hazelgrove to discuss his book Madam President (2016) about Edith Wilson, our 1st woman president. We analyze their quick courtship and Wilson reaching the heights of global popularity following WWI. The political battle at home over the League of Nations leads Wilson to a cross-country whistle stop tour that ends in a massive stroke. We cover the little-known history surrounding Edith Wilson taking over the executive branch in her husband's absence and the lengths she went to coverup the extent of his illness.

Our second story covers Grover Cleveland's emergency surgery at sea for cancer during his second term. Author Annette Dunlap rejoins the program to discuss Cleveland's health scare and the celebrity status of his wife Frances Folsom Cleveland. Link below to Dunlap's Frances Cleveland biography Frank: America's Youngest First Lady (2009). Friend of the pod, Bruce Carlson discusses how Grover Cleveland became the only two, non-consecutive term President in US history (at the time of this recording). Check out Bruce's excellent political history podcast My History Can Beat Up Your Politics (link below).

City of Buffalo Historian, Lindsey Lauren Visser rejoins the show to outline the coverup of Cleveland's cancer and the surgery to remove it aboard the Oneida, a yacht in the summer of 1893. Lindsey shares the dangers of the surgery and how the intricate coverup comes unraveled. But Cleveland's teams efforts to discredit the journalist EJ Edwards who broke the story led to the writer's career being ruined.

Contact Alex and the show at [email protected] or on the podcasts' Facebook, Instagram and Twitter page. Check out the Evergreen Podcast Network for Ohio v. the World and hundreds of other great podcasts www.evergreenpodcasts.com.

See you on 11/26/24 for Ohio v. the World's Season 8 finale. Go Vote!

Historian Lindsey Lauren Visser homepage: https://lindseylaurenvisser.com/

Listen to My History Can Beat Up Your Politics here https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-history-can-beat-up-your-politics/id169078375

Buy Madam President by William Hazelgrove here https://www.amazon.com/Madam-President-Secret-Presidency-Wilson/dp/162157475X

Buy Frank by Annette Dunlap here https://www.amazon.com/Frank-Cleveland-Americas-Youngest-Excelsior-ebook/dp/B007QWEEXE

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Four American Presidents have been assassinated in office. Two of them are among the most infamous moments in US history, the Lincoln and JFK assassinations. The "other" two assassinated Presidents were both from the Buckeye State: William McKinley and James Garfield. Unfortunately, the events of this campaign season have brought presidential assassinations back into the news. Alex looks at the extraordinary events surrounding James Garfield's killing in 1881 and McKinley's assassination 20 years later in 1901. We talk with 6 different leading experts on both presidents in new interviews and re-edited interviews from our original McKinley and Garfield episodes from 2020.

We visit with the city historian for Buffalo, NY, Lindsey Lauren Visser, about the death of our 25th president, Canton, Ohio's own William McKinley. McKinley was shot at the Pan American Exhibition in Buffalo by a deranged anarchist, Leon Czolgosz. Czolgosz's journey to political murder begins as a factory worker in Cleveland, Ohio who is radicalized following the Panic of 1893 to an ardent anarchist, a popular subculture at the turn of the century. We also revisit conversations with Anthony Greco, the Director of Exhibits at the Buffalo History Museum and the host of the excellent Buffalo History Museum Podcast. Link below for that show and give a listen to their 3 part episode on the McKinley assassination. We also talk to University of Akron history professor Kevin Kern and excellent biographer Robert Merry buy his book President McKinley: Architect of the American Century with link below.

The "other" assassination is the killing of Mentor, Ohio's James A. Garfield the 20th President of the United States. Garfield was shot by a mentally ill office seeker at a DC train station in the Summer of 1881. His shooting by Charles Guiteau is just the start of the story as Garfield lives for 80 days after the shooting. His terrible and negligent medical care was the cause of his slow, painful death. We replay our great interview with our favorite current historian, Candice Millard, and her excellent 2012 book Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President (2012). Buy this book! Link below as well. We also talked to the former Site Manager of the James A. Garfield National Historic Site, Todd Arrington. Also, check out Todd's book The Last Lincoln Republican: The Presidential Election of 1880 on President Garfield's unlikely election victory.

Contact Alex and the show at [email protected] or on the podcasts' Facebook, Instagram and Twitter page. Check out the Evergreen Podcast Network for Ohio v. the World and hundreds of other great podcasts www.evergreenpodcasts.com.

Historian Lindsey Lauren Visser homepage: https://lindseylaurenvisser.com/

Listen to the Buffalo History Museum Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-buffalo-history-museum-podcast/id1532344009

Buy Robert Merry's President McKinley: Architect of the American Century here: https://www.amazon.com/President-McKinley-Architect-American-Century/dp/1451625448

Buy Candice Millar's award-winning book Destiny of the Republic HERE! https://www.amazon.com/Destiny-Republic-Madness-Medicine-President/dp/0385526261/

Check out Todd Arrington's 2020 book The Last Lincoln Republic. https://www.amazon.com/Last-Lincoln-Republican-Presidential-Elections-ebook/dp/B08P3WBWD8/

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Our Presidential mini-season is back for 2024! We start with a bio episode on Ohio's last Vice President, General Charles G. Dawes (1925-1929), Calvin Coolidge's running mate from Marietta, Ohio. With JD Vance on the Republican ticket, Ohio may be seeing their first VEEP in 100 years. Charles Dawes is completely lost to history despite being a Nobel Peace Prize winner, writer of a #1 pop song, WWI General and a popular Vice President.

Alex sits down with author Annette Dunlap to discuss her excellent biography, Charles G. Dawes: A Life, (2016) of the former VP. Her great book is the only Dawes biography we could find in the last 90 years. Annette takes us through his family history from the Mayflower to the American Revolution and the Civil War to his youth in Marietta and Cincinnati, Ohio. Annette discusses, Dawes first foray into politics helping to run William McKinley's successful 1896 presidential campaign to his time as an important general in WWI for the American Expeditionary Force.

Bruce Carlson joins the show to discuss Dawes' time in Nebraska, in politics and the Dawes Plan to ease the global crisis surrounding Germany's WWI reparations. Carlson the host of the My History Can Beat Up Your Politics podcast and the Vices podcast talks to us about Dawes' years as Vice President and his rocky relationship with his running mate Calvin Coolidge. We discuss his 1925 Nobel Peace Prize and how did a former Vice President write a #1 pop music hit?

Buy Annette's book here https://www.amazon.com/dp/0810134195

Check out Bruce's Vices podcast on America's Vice Presidents https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vice-presidents-of-the-united-states-podcast/id1440240504

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BONUS EPISODE: A CEO Roundtable Discussion on the State of Ohio History. Alex finally ends his summer break and sits down with the leaders of the 3 leading history organizations in the State of Ohio. We visit with the CEO/Executive Directors of the Western Reserve Historical Society, the Ohio History Connection and the Cincinnati Museum Center for a candid conversation, on their impressive careers, the challenges and triumphs of being the leaders in the field of Ohio history and what’s next for their 3 iconic institutions. 

We’re joined by Elizabeth Pierce, Executive Director of the Cincinnati Museum Center, Megan Wood, CEO of the Ohio History Connection and Kelly Falcone-Hall, Exclusive Director of the Western Reserve Historical Society. See the links below for all three of these great organizations and become a member. 

Western Reserve Historical Society: https://www.wrhs.org/join-give/join/become-a-member

Cincinnati Museum Center: https://www.cincymuseum.org/members/join/

Ohio History Connection: https://www.ohiohistory.org/get-involved/join-membership/

Contact Alex and the show at [email protected] or on the podcasts' Facebook, Instagram and Twitter page. Check out the Evergreen Podcast Network for Ohio v. the World and hundreds of other great podcasts www.evergreenpodcasts.com.

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Episode 6: "Ohio v. Cancel Culture". Seems like everyone is getting cancelled these days from celebrities to political figures, Alex examines five historical examples of cancelled Ohioans to show cancel culture is not just a thing of the present. We sit down to tell 5 stories from the 18th, 19th and 20th Century Ohio that could just as easily been ripped from today's headlines.

Alex talks with friend and host of the great podcast Whiskey Business, Dino Tripodis, about the famous oddsmaker and TV personality Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder of Steubenville, Ohio. We follow Jimmy the Greek's improbable rise to stardom and his sudden fall from grace following a racist outburst in 1988. Check out Dino and his show Whiskey Business, also part of the Evergreen Podcast Network, here. www.whiskeybusinesspod.com

We head back to the 18th Century with Ohio author and historian, Kevin Kern, to discuss the cancellation of the first Governor of the Northwest Territory, Arthur St. Clair. Kern, author and Univ. of Akron history professor, talks about the St. Clair's notorious military career and defeat in the Northwestern Indian War and his dictatorial reign as governor of the Ohio Territory in the late 18th and early 19th Century. We follow St. Clair's career in the Midwest until he's removed from power and cancelled by the Jefferson Administration. Click link to buy Kevin and Gregory Wilson's great book on Ohio history, Ohio: A History of the Buckeye State. https://www.amazon.com/Ohio-History-Kevin-F-Kern/dp/1119708478

Kevin and Mark Wagoner take us through the career of controversial Senator William Allen of Chillicothe, OH. Kevin describes Allen's prominence as one of Ohio's most famous Democrats of the 19th Century, including becoming Governor in his 70s. Mark Wagoner describes the reasons behind removing Allen's statue as one of Ohio's two representatives in Statuary Hall at the US Capitol building and the process by which Allen was permanently replaced in 2016.

Kevin rejoins the show to discuss the sex scandal and cancelling of Rep. Wayne Hays in 1976. Kevin and I discuss his affair and coverup with his "secretary" Elizabeth Ray and the Belmont County natives downfall in the public eye in that bicentennial summer. We discuss why Wayne Hays was one of the meanest members of Congress and why nobody was sorry to see him go.

In a replay of an old episode from 2018, Alex sits down with author Patricia Miller to discuss her hit new book, Bringing Down the Colonel. Miller tells the story of a sex scandal involving a young Cincinnati college student, Madeline Pollard, and a powerful Congressman, William Breckinridge that would grip the nation's attention in the spring of 1894. The landmark case of Pollard v. Breckinridge is analyzed for its groundbreaking verdict and how this story still resonates today in the mines of the #MeToo Movement. We strongly encourage you to purchase Bringing Down the Colonel: A Sex Scandal of the Gilded Age and the Powerless Woman Who Took On Washington. https://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Down-Colonel-Powerless-Washington/dp/0374252661

Contact Alex and the show at [email protected] or on the podcasts' Facebook, Instagram and Twitter page. Check out the Evergreen Podcast Network for Ohio v. the World and hundreds of other great podcasts for any interest here www.evergreenpodcasts.com.

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Ep. 5: "Pete Rose v. the World" (PART TWO). Alex examines the fall of baseball's all-time hits leader, Cincinnati's own Pete Rose. This two-part episode follows his rise from obscurity on the Queen City's West Side to 20th Century sports icon and his spectacular fall that leads to his banishment from baseball for gambling.

Part Two covers Rose and the Big Red Machine's second championship in 1976 and his chase of Ty Cobb's all-time hits record in 1985 when he returns to Cincinnati as the Player/Manager of the Reds. We're rejoined by New York Times bestselling author Keith O'Brien to discuss his excellent new book Charlie Hustle: the Rise and Fall of Pete Rose and the Last Glory Days of Baseball (2024). Keith walks us through Pete's lifelong addiction to gambling and how it leads to his shocking banishment from baseball in 1989 and even to a short prison sentence. We also discuss how the nationwide legalization of sports gambling could negatively impact the integrity of major American sports.

Chris Eckes, Director of Operations/Chief Curator of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, rejoins the show to talk about the Big Red Machine, Rose's return to Cincinnati and getting the hits record at Riverfront Stadium. Chris recounts the decision to induct Rose into the Reds Hall of Fame in 2016 and takes us through the museum's history. Link below to visit the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, located on site at Great American Ball Park. Highly recommend visiting their large museum space next time you're in Downtown Cincinnati.

Where to buy Charlie Hustle: https://keithob.com/purchase

Visit the Reds HOF & Museum here: https://www.mlb.com/reds/hall-of-fame

Contact the show at [email protected] or on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Check out the Evergreen Podcast Network for Ohio v. the World and hundreds of other great podcasts here www.evergreenpodcasts.com

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Ep. 5: "Pete Rose v. the World" (PART ONE). Alex tackles the life and career of baseball's all-time hits leader, Cincinnati's own Pete Rose. This two-part episode follows his rise from obscurity on the Queen City's West Side to 20th Century sports icon and his spectacular fall that leads to his banishment from baseball for gambling.

Part One covers Rose childhood and unlikely ascension to MLB MVP and World Series Champion for the Cincinnati Reds, his hometown team. We sit down with New York Times bestselling author Keith O'Brien to discuss his excellent new book Charlie Hustle: the Rise and Fall of Pete Rose and the Last Glory Days of Baseball (2024). O'Brien interviewed Rose himself and almost everyone that knew him during those years of the '60s, '70s and '80s in his critically-acclaimed sports biography. We discuss Rose's unlikely baseball career and in Part 1 follow his making the Cincinnati Reds in 1963 and winning Rookie of The Year to his notorious winning moment at home plate during the 1970 MLB All-Star Game. Keith details Rose and Big Red Machine's rise to the top of baseball and foreshadows problems to come for Charlie Hustle and his issues with sports gambling. Link below to buy Ketih's book.

Chris Eckes, Director of Operations/Chief Curator of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, joins the show to talk about the history of the Cincinnati Reds. We talk about why the Reds are considered the oldest professional baseball team in the MLB and Rose's childhood on the West Side of Cincinnati. Eckes takes our audience through the 1970, 1972 and 1975 World Series appearances by Rose and the Big Red Machine. We also discuss the offensive juggernaut that was "the Great Eight" lineup of the Big Red Machine of 1970-1978. Link below to visit the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, located on site at Great American Ball Park. Highly recommend visiting their large museum space next time you're in Downtown Cincinnati.

Part TWO OF "Pete Rose v. the World" is out next Tuesday June 11th.

Where to buy Charlie Hustle: https://keithob.com/purchase

Visit the Reds HOF & Museum here: https://www.mlb.com/reds/hall-of-fame

Contact the show at [email protected] or on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Check out the Evergreen Podcast Network for Ohio v. the World and hundreds of other great podcasts here www.evergreenpodcasts.com

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Episode 4: "Ohio v. the 14th Amendment" John Bingham is one of the most important figures in American history to be all but forgotten. He drafted one of the most important Constitutional amendments: the 14th Amendment. Bingham spent decades 8 terms in Congress, prosecuted the Lincoln assassination conspirators and prosecuted the first ever Presidential Impeachment trial in 1868. We live with the rights his Constitutional amendment gave us, yet no one seems to remember his contributions.

We follow the Cadiz, Ohio native's career in politics and law. From his abolitionist roots in Eastern Ohio, to his decades in Washington, DC during the buildup to Civil War and Reconstruction. We sit down with Gerard Magliocca, professor of law at Indiana University and author of 2013 biography, American Founding Son: John Bingham and the Invention of the 14th Amendment. Link below to purchase Gerard's excellent book. We analyze Bingham's central role in Congress during those consequential years of American history and why he fought so hard for his Privileges and Immunity Clause and the Equal Protection/Due Process clause in the 14th Amendment.

We also welcome back Erik Archilla, co-creator, writer and producer of the hit audio drama, 1865, to the show to discuss John Bingham's prosecution of the Booth Conspriators, the Impeachment of President Andrew Johnson and the impact of the 14th Amendment on American history and the rights of US citizens today. John Bingham appears as a character in 1865 and we can't recommend that podcast more if you love Civil War history like we do. Link below to hear the show.

Subscribe and follow the show wherever you get your podcasts and rate and review Ohio v. the World on iTunes. 

BUY American Founding Son by Gerard Magliocca HERE. https://www.amazon.com/American-Founding-Son-Invention-Fourteenth/dp/1479819913

LISTEN to Erik's critically-acclaimed audio drama, 1865, HERE. https://wondery.com/shows/1865/

Contact the show at [email protected] or on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Check out the Evergreen Podcast Network for Ohio v. the World and hundreds of other great podcasts here www.evergreenpodcasts.com

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Broken Rings: Israel, Palestine and the Munich Olympic Massacre

EPISODE 3: Ohio v. Terrorism. Alex recounts the tragedy of the 1972 Munich Massacre and the murder of Cleveland’s David Berger. We look at the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict and its role in the death of David Berger and his fellow Olympic athletes. 

We’re joined by author and professor David Clay Large to discuss the events of September 1972 and his great book Munich 1972: Tragedy, Terror and Triumph at the Olympic Games. See link below. David takes us through the events of the 20th Summer Olympiad in West Germany and the terrorist attack on the Israeli athletes on September 5-6, 1972. David outlines the attack, the demands and the failed rescue attempt that claimed 9 of the 11 Israeli lives. 

Ori Yehudai, author and professor at The Ohio State University unravels a quarter century of Israeli-Palestinian history from the bloody birth of the State of Israel in 1948 to the Black September terrorists attack at the ’72 Olympics. We discuss the tangled web that is the first 25 years of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the possibility of peace in this never-ending cycle of violence and reprisals. Alex and Ori discuss his book Leaving Zion: Jewish Emigration from Palestine and Israel After World War II. Link below. 

Dr. Sean Martin, the curator for Jewish History at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio. The life of David Berger is discussed, his weightlifting career and his youth in Shaker Heights, Ohio. We analyze the rich history of the Jewish people in Cleveland and how the city mourned and remembered David after his tragic murder at the hands of Palestinian terrorists. 

Subscribe and follow the show wherever you get your podcasts and rate and review Ohio v. the World on iTunes. 

Western Reserve Historical Society: www.wrhs.org

David Clay Large’s Munich 1972: Tragedy, Terror and Triumph at the Olympic Games. Buy it here https://www.amazon.com/Munich-1972-Tragedy-Triumph-Olympic/dp/0742567397

Ori Yehudai’s Leaving Zion. Buy it here https://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Zion-Ori-Yehudai/dp/1108478344

Contact the show at [email protected] or on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Check out the Evergreen Podcast Network for Ohio v. the World and hundreds of other great podcasts here www.evergreenpodcasts.com

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Episode 2: Ohio v. the Universe: Are we alone? We analyze the Wow! Signal, what many consider the first legitimate contact with an extraterrestrial source, which happened in Ohio in August 1977. Alex goes all in on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), the history, the science and the most fascinating moment in SETI at the Ohio State Radio Telescope in Delaware, Ohio.

We sit down with the director and writer of the documentary Wow Signal, Bob Dawson and Michael Shaw, respectively. We discuss their excellent movie, “the SETI life” and attempt to debunk the source of the Wow Signal: 6EQUJ5. Alex meets with radio astronomer, Bob Dixon, who spent 49 years at Ohio State and headed up the Ohio State Radio Telescope that may have made first contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. Our 4th guest and one of my favorite interviews of all time, Tom Burns, the former director of the Perkins Observatory and professor at Ohio Wesleyan University. Tom talks about the Big Ear telescope, the Wow Signal and the recent UAP sightings and Congressional hearings. Tom also gets our listeners ready for the total solar eclipse next week in North America and going directly over Ohio.

LINKS to our GUESTS:

Check out the Wow! Signal now streaming on Peacock. Bob Dawson and Michael Shaw’s Next Future Films website. https://www.nextfuturefilms.com/

Perkins Observatory click for history and programming information. https://www.owu.edu/about/offices-services-directory/perkins-observatory/

Book Recommendation of the episode: UFO by Garrett Graff (2023). Click here for this fantastic read on the history of UFOs in the US since the 1930s. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/UFO/Garrett-M-Graff/9781982196776

Contact the show at [email protected] or on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Check out the Evergreen Podcast Network for Ohio v. the World and hundreds of other great podcasts here https://evergreenpodcasts.com/

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