Presidents vs. Sharks

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. Find out more at plodpod.com Join our Patreon community for ad-free episodes and bonus content at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents Check out our merch at https://plodding-through-the-presidents.dashery.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.) Find out more at plodpod.com Join our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents Check out our merch at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  Find out more at plodpod.com Join our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents Check out our merch shop at https://plodding-through-the-presidents.dashery.com/ Visit the cheesemongers at MilkFarm in Los Angeles: https://milkfarmla.com/ Subscribe to our Substack: https://plodding.substack.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Find out more at plodpod.com. Join our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents Check out our merch shop at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Find out more at plodpod.com. Join our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents Check out our merch shop at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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.  Find out more at plodpod.com. Join our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents Check out our merch shop at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Find out more at plodpod.com. Join our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents Check out our merch—including our William Henry Harrison: For A Good Time Not A Long Time shirt—at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Find out more at plodpod.com and send your local lore to [email protected]. Join our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents Check out our merch at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We dig into the truth and lore about the mysterious life and death of Sarah Shelton Henry, Patrick Henry’s wife—a woman who suffered from mental illness and was confined in the basement of their home in Beaverdam, Virginia. This local lore was suggested by our listener Klayr. An essential source in putting this episode together was the book "In Sickness and in Health: The Marriage of Patrick Henry and Sarah Shelton" by Mark Couvillon. Find out more at plodpod.com and send your local lore to [email protected]. Join our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/ploddingthroughthepresidents Check out our merch at https://www.teepublic.com/stores/plodding-through-the-presidents?ref_id=24294 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices