American Esoterica
American history, bite-sized. These are the stories that may have slipped through the cracks - the odd detours that have shaped our history and culture in small, but sometimes significant, ways.
Listen on:
Episodes
Thursday Jan 19, 2023
Thursday Jan 19, 2023
On the night that shattered the nation, a dark conspiracy would also devastate a family. At the same time, as assassination attempts go, this assassin went 0 for 5.
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
Thursday Jan 05, 2023
A cold-blooded murder in broad daylight. A cover-up that starts at the White House. A scandal that rocks the entire country. You won't believe how this one ends. Or you probably will now, now that I've hinted that it's different than the way you thought it would go. Just listen to it, okay? It's got an action sequence and everything!
Thursday Dec 22, 2022
Thursday Dec 22, 2022
Lincoln grows a beard and forces a young lithographer to find a new way to make a lasting impact on American culture. NOTE: this episode comes in an alternate form - this is the main version.
Thursday Dec 22, 2022
Thursday Dec 22, 2022
Lincoln grows a beard and forces a young lithographer to find a new way to make a lasting impact on American culture. NOTE: this episode comes in two forms, and this version is an alternate version featuring a few contributions from my two-year-old son. Enjoy!
Thursday Dec 08, 2022
Thursday Dec 08, 2022
Founding Father Gouverneur Morris produced some of the lofty language that underpins our most sacred governing document, but we don't talk about him much, maybe because of his...unorthodox self-care methods. NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH.
Thursday Nov 10, 2022
Thursday Nov 10, 2022
He fled the Bolsheviks and the Nazis. He married a Russian aristocrat. And he won the Kentucky Derby. Twice in a row. Why isn't there a biopic in the works?
Thursday Oct 27, 2022
Thursday Oct 27, 2022
You may be unlucky, but have you ever been "accidentally started two major wars" unlucky? Some origin stories are downright embarrassing.
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Everybody dreams of being President for a day. Turns out, there's a chance one man actually may have been just that.
Thursday Sep 29, 2022
Thursday Sep 29, 2022
There's a kind of tragic poetry in the history and creation of the Secret Service, but protecting important politicians wasn't their first line of work. And that's a real shame for a few presidents.
Thursday Sep 15, 2022
Thursday Sep 15, 2022
No foreign enemy has ever dropped a nuclear weapon on American soil. But we have, several times. At least they're all accounted for, right?