We dig into the origins of the story that Thomas Jefferson once shot a man for treason on the White House lawn, made popular by the 2001 film Swordfish.

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We dive into the real story of Theodore Roosevelt’s encounters with piranhas in the Amazon, his impact on the ferocious reputation of the fish, and how one fishmonger titan—Dr. Herbert R. Axelrod—turned a fish story into a whopper about a cow. Stick around for a piranha survival quiz that just might save your skin. 

Sources include Candice Millard’s excellent book The River of Doubt, Roosevelt’s Through The Brazilian Wilderness, and The Star-Ledger’s impressive investigative work on Axelrod.

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In this story from the archives, we look at the haunting sounds and even more haunting history of Benjamin Franklin’s favorite invention: the glass armonica. 

For more information about Mayling Garcia visit maylinggarcia.com

Learn more about William Zeitler at williamzeitler.com

(William Zeitler’s music used with his permission.)

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We dig into the stories behind two giant cheeses gifted to Presidents: First, the Mammoth Cheese presented to Thomas Jefferson in 1802 by Elder John Leland, and then an even bigger cheese made for Andrew Jackson. It’s a story of human ingenuity, religious freedom, chaos, and democracy. With a little old-school cheddar and sherry. 

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Inspired by the 50th anniversary of the film Jaws, we dig into the most notable encounters between presidents and sharks—from John Adams on the Atlantic to JFK in the Pacific. Then we look at the shark attacks in July 1916 in New Jersey that caused America’s first shark panic and forced Woodrow Wilson to declare a war on sharks.

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We're excited to share an episode of the daily podcast History Dispatches, hosted by Matt and McKinley Breen, where Howard is the special guest talking about one of his favorite topics: Billy Possum, the stuffed toy that failed to dethrone the popular Teddy Bear. 

Smithsonian Article: "How a Stuffed Animal Named Billy Possum Tried—and Failed—to Replace the Teddy Bear as America’s National Toy" by Howard Dorre - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-a-stuffed-animal-named-billy-possum-triedand-failedto-replace-the-teddy-bear-as-americas-national-toy-180986072/

History Dispatches: https://historydispatches.com/

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We look at how Artificial Intelligence is waging a sophisticated attack on historical sources—the very sources we depend on for our research—and why we can't count on the government to save us.

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We pin down the truth behind the tall tales of Abraham Lincoln’s reputation as a Hall of Fame wrestler credited with inventing the chokeslam. 

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We look into the giant victory balls that kept on rolling during William Henry Harrison’s 1840 presidential campaign. Then we welcome Jerry Landry of the Presidencies of the United States podcast to talk about Harrison’s rise to fame and the most likely explanation for his death just one month into his term.

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We dig into the eerie presidential death cycle known as Tecumseh’s Curse or the Zero-Year Curse. Tracing the origins of the legend to Native American revenge, planetary alignment, and even Satan, we look at the facts and fantasies behind this pattern—and how it had a real-life impact on the presidency.

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