We delve into the big penman energy of founding father Gouverneur Morris, the peg-legged sex-positive anti-slavery aristocrat who penned multiple constitutions and sailed through life with care-free confidence. We also explore the story of his wife, Ann Cary "Nancy" Randolph Morris and the sensational scandal at Bizarre that she struggled to overcome.

Show notes and sources at plodpod.com

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We go on a hunt for the often-mentioned but little-documented wicked sense of humor of James Madison. That hunt includes his abusive college poetry, his weird experimentation with animals and humans, and his special relationship with Thomas Jefferson.

Show notes and sources at plodpod.com.

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We explore the unbelievable "coincidence" of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both dying on the Fourth of July on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the uncomfortable fact that James Monroe also died on the Fourth of July five years later, and the circumstances surrounding James Madison's deliberate choice to break with this weird tradition.

Show notes and sources at plodpod.com.

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We explore the mysterious deaths of Thomas Jefferson’s sister Elizabeth and her enslaved body servant Little Sall, who both drowned just days after the first recorded earthquake in Virginia’s history. We also dig into how Elizabeth’s apparent intellectual disabilities were handled by biographies over the years.

Show notes and sources (like Susan Kern’s The Jeffersons at Shadwell) detailed at plodpod.com

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Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton barely touched on the relationship between Alexander Hamilton and John Adams, and we dive into the many reasons these men HATED each other. It all started with their differences during the Revolutionary War and the hate only grew during their power struggles in the Quasi-War and the viciously contentious Election of 1800. Not even Hamilton's untimely death could stop their feud, as Adams continued smearing Alexander's memory with a pseudo-medical theory that Hamilton’s “superabundance of secretions” were responsible for his power-hungry ways.

Show notes and sources at plodpod.com

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In our paranormal conclusion we dive into the wild story of Andrew Jackson and the Bell Witch, who terrorized the Bell family of Tennessee from 1817-1821. Then we explore John Quincy Adams's electrifying adventures in the hereafter via a bizarre spiritual autobiography written by the medium Joseph Stiles in 1859.

Show notes and sources at plodpod.com

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In our Season 2 premiere, we dig into three stories where presidential history meets the paranormal – an apparition of John Adams spotted while he was very much alive, the bloody medieval ritual of "bier right" attempted in a murder trial where John Adams was the defense attorney, and the nursery bogey of Rawhead and Bloody Bones that frightened founders like Thomas Jefferson as children.

Show notes and sources at plodpod.com

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In our Season 1 finale, we trace Andrew Jackson's feelings about women's honor from his early days as a rowdy outhouse-mover to his tragic relationship with his wife Rachel and finally to the Petticoat Affair – the scandal surrounding Margaret Eaton that nearly took down his entire administration.

We'll be back with more brand new episodes soon! Follow us on Facebook for updates.

Sources:

The Petticoat Affair: Manners, Mutiny, and Sex in Andrew Jackson's White House by John F. Marszalek
Life of Andrew Jackson by James Parton

Show notes and sources at plodpod.com

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We dive into the truth behind four popular stories about John Quincy Adams, including the inspirational "if your actions inspire others" quote, the pet alligator in the White House, the skinny dipping interview with reporter Anne Royall, and the expedition to the center of the earth to visit the mole people.

Show notes and sources at plodpod.com

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George Washington and James Madison never had any biological children, but they each had a problem child stepson. We explore the lives of the "voluptuous" Jacky Custis and the debauchery enthusiast John Payne Todd and how they affected their famous stepfathers and mothers.

Sources:

My original (and unfairly harsh) article about Jacky Custis: George Washington's Disappointing Stepson

Letters between Jonathan Boucher and George Washington - Founders Online
Letter from James Madison to John Payne Todd - Founders Online
The Bad Boy: Payne Todd by William Seale
Payne Todd: Prodigal Son
You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexis Coe
Dolley Madison's Son Payne Todd: The Final Blow by Feather Schwartz
Mrs. James Madison: The Incomparable Dolley by Ethel Stephens Arnett

Show notes and sources at plodpod.com

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