(Episodes 72 and 73) Presidential Minisodes 29 & 30: Coolidge and Hoover

Hi there, Listeners! It's been an eventful holiday season full of good times, a little bit of craziness, and just LIFE, you know? As is usually the case when we take a bit of a break and finally drop new episodes, Sam manages to take an even longer break before posting the blog. And per usual, she apologizes. (Sam is writing this - finally - so the apology is sincere.)  Bonus: you're getting caught up on new episodes, and we're getting caught up on the blog. Here's what's new:

"Strikingly Nondescript - Calvin Coolidge" (Episode 72; Minisode 29)

Any Ozark fans out there? If so, you might agree that the actress who plays Ruth (Julia Garner) could totally play Calvin Coolidge in a biopic (no offense whatsoever to her).  Coolidge was President in the era of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Louis Armstrong, Babe Ruth, and Charlie Chaplin.  His dad administered the oath of office to him at 2:30AM on August 23, 1923, and the rest is history. Well, not really.

Coolidge, a thoroughly conservative fellow, is one of our many presidents who also is a former lawyer. He was a pretty popular POTUS with a dry sense of humor. His origin story is marked by the tragic death of his son, but there's fun stuff about his life, too (he rode a mechanical horse for exercise, for heaven's sake). Learn this, and more, about the Yankee redhead.

"His Own Damn Dam - The Herbert Hoover Story" (Episode 73; Minisode 30)

And how about Herbie?  Son of a Quaker and yet another POTUS with a pretty tragic origin story, Herbert Hoover earned success as a mining engineer before being caught in China during the Boxer Rebellion.  His awesome timing continued when the stock market crashed right after he became POTUS. We'll also do our best to explain some stock market stuff as it relates to the crash of 1929 right before the Great Depression.

Herbert's got a pretty fascinating story: he didn’t earn an invitation to the dedication of the Hoover dam. Join us for more fun facts about Hoover and a discussion of why he was nicknamed "Great Humanitarian."