S2E17 - Oh, how we wish the queerest president wasn’t one of our nation’s worst! So gay, so terrible, y’all. Trent and Marissa talk out Buchanan’s long-term relationship with Rufus King, the many scandals of his administration, and his chronic inaction in the lead up to the Civil War. Plus, gallons of oysters, Russian czarinas, slippery leather pumps, and a D.C. love shack! This is the end of Season Two, but we’ll be back in the spring with Lincoln and his (allegedly) beautiful thighs! 

Email [email protected] to contact us or issue corrections (with sources, please)!

Produced and Edited by Trent Thomson and Marissa Macy

Sources

The Worst President – The Story of James Buchanan by Gary Boulard

Bosom Friends: The Intimate World of James Buchanan and William Rufus King by Thomas J. Balcerski

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3xLd0ePyZ4m0SF2Kw6Nmym?si=ea13bea683c9451f

https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/james-buchanan-why-is-he-considered-americas-worst-president#:~:text=Buchanan%20supported%20the%20theory%20that,wedge%20into%20the%20Democratic%20Party.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/president-james-buchanan-directly-influenced-outcome-dred-scott-decision-180962329/

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/topics/john-browns-harpers-ferry-raid

S2E16 - Tune in as Trent and Marissa break down the infamous Kansas-Nebraska Act and its bloody consequences.  Signed into law by hot loser Franklin Pierce in 1854, it allowed the people themselves to decide whether or not to allow slavery in the territories. What could possibly go wrong? Well, just voter fraud, the beating of a congressman, broadswords, fleeing governors, killing sprees, the death of a political party, the birth of a political party… and the inevitability of civil war. 

Email [email protected] to contact us or issue corrections (with sources, please)!

Produced and Edited by Trent Thomson and Marissa Macy

Sources

Franklin Pierce by Michael F. Holt

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-law-that-ripped-america-in-two-99723670/

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/kansas-nebraska-act

https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/caning-charles-sumner

https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/bleeding-kansas 

S2E15 - Known for being one of our hottest presidents but also one of the worst, the story of Franklin Pierce is full of tragedies, horse accidents, drinking, bad timing, and fainting. President during a time of deepening political divides, Pierce made all the wrong choices and hung out with all the wrong people. Trent and Marissa talk through it all, including the Kansas-Nebraska Act, the Gadsden Purchase, why Nathaniel Hawthorne sucks, and more! 

Email [email protected] to contact us or issue corrections (with sources, please)!

Produced and Edited by Trent Thomson and Marissa Macy

Sources 

Franklin Pierce by Michael F. Holt

https://millercenter.org/president/pierce/essays/king-1853-vicepresident#:~:text=In%20March%201853%2C%20King%20became,reaching%20his%20home%20in%20Alabama.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/36KKuLl9HvQkT1zhcbUOV1?si=d03545ccaced4933

https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=eXjhS8pjy6RXMIHH&v=2X6-eGSd0LA&feature=youtu.be

S2E14 - As the Whig Party dies and the Republican Party begins forming, a party based on bigotry and xenophobia surges in popularity. Trent and Marissa track the secret societies that end up creating the Know Nothing Party, profile its major players, and analyze the impact the party had on American History. Plus, a best-selling book that turns out to be a hoax, Martin Scorcese’s Gangs of New York, trains taking jobs, voter fraud, and more! 

Email [email protected] to contact us or issue corrections (with sources, please)!

Produced and Edited by Trent Thomson and Marissa Macy

Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA5i4AQ7lB8

https://www.jstor.org/stable/25012185?typeAccessWorkflow=login&seq=6

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/immigrants-conspiracies-and-secret-society-launched-american-nativism-180961915/

S2E13 - A political nobody, Fillmore rose to the presidency when Zachary Taylor died in office, and then promptly screwed everything up! Listen in as Trent and Marissa talk sh*t about this guy’s Nativist views, his whiny baby behavior, and his idiotic choices as president. This episode also features an explanation of the Compromise of 1850, appearances from Queen Victoria and the Pope, plus a scandalous spilling of the Masons’ secrets!!!

Email [email protected] to contact us or issue corrections (with sources, please)!

Produced and Edited by Trent Thomson and Marissa Macy

Sources 

Millard Fillmore by Paul Finkelman

https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/first-families/abigail-powers-fillmore/

https://millercenter.org/president/fillmore

S2E12 - Think you know the Gold Rush? Think again! Trent and Marissa discuss the scams, the schemes, the gambling, the price-gouging, and the really, really long boat rides to California. The Gold Rush and its population boom caused a genocide of the Native Californian Peoples, the destruction of land, the growth of San Francisco and Sacramento, the construction of railroads, a wave of Chinese immigration, and many broken dreams.

Email [email protected] to contact us or issue corrections (with sources, please)!

Produced and Edited by Trent Thomson and Marissa Macy

Sources 

The California Gold Rush and the Coming of the Civil War by Leonard L. Richards

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldrush-california/

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldrush-samuel-brannan/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2bpBAXvJew

S2E11 - The first man to become president with zero political experience! Like, absolutely none! He was never an elected official, had no party affiliation, and never voted. His wife even prayed that he wouldn’t win the election! Join Marissa & Trent as they follow the story of how Zachary Taylor, a run-of-the-mill military man, rose to the highest office in the land. Don’t worry, we talk about his tasty treat of ice milk and cherries that killed him! Or did they?!?

Email [email protected] to contact us or issue corrections (with sources, please)!

Produced and Edited by Trent Thomson and Marissa Macy

Sources

Zachary Taylor by John S.D. Eisenhower

https://www.womenhistoryblog.com/2013/02/margaret-taylor.html

https://millercenter.org/president/taylor

https://www.thezacharytaylorproject.com/zachary-taylor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ5W8clGneI

https://open.spotify.com/episode/51XyeqPVviuTNahOTPLnVa?si=fe3d9bb06f514574

S2E10 - As Texans, Marissa and Trent are obligated to share the story of the Lone Star State! Tune in for a wild tale that takes us from colonization to statehood, including mini-biographies of the three men who served as PRESIDENT of Texas (this is a presidential history podcast, after all). This episode is a quick and dirty rundown of Texas, sprinkled with hot takes about coaches as teachers, sharing nachos with America, and desperate straight men. 

Email [email protected] to contact us or issue corrections (with sources, please)!

Produced and Edited by Trent Thomson and Marissa Macy

Sources

https://texasourtexas.texaspbs.org/the-eras-of-texas/early-statehood/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwJsazGuICo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpuYHu4NUi8

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/alamo-republic/

S2E09 - Known for accomplishing everything he set out to do as president, Polk is considered one of the most effective presidents in U.S. History. But that won’t stop Marissa and Trent from absolutely tearing this self-righteous jerk to shreds! Polk doubled the size of the United States, but with consequences that have rippled through the ages. Join us for a tale that includes botched surgery, Andrew Jackson as matchmaker, a walking log, a war started out of lust, and a hide-and-seek game with cholera. 

Email [email protected] to contact us or issue corrections (with sources, please)!

Produced and Edited by Trent Thomson and Marissa Macy

Sources

Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America by Walter R. Borneman

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/oregon-territory

S2E08 - Rhode Island might be small but it is packed with massive drama! The Dorr Rebellion is a footnote in history too juicy not to share. Take a really old royal charter, a fight for suffrage, a stubborn governor, and some guy who’s willing to stick it to the man, and BAM, we’ve got a rebellion! And an illegal election! And faulty cannons! And a public relations campaign! And Marissa and Trent not letting go of a mediocre joke!

Email [email protected] to contact us or issue corrections (with sources, please)!

Produced and Edited by Trent Thomson and Marissa Macy

Sources

President without a Party: The Life of John Tyler by Christopher J Leahy