POTUS Extras: Volume 2
Each month in The POTUS Notice, I share a few recommendations to hold you over until the next issue. Here’s a sampling from the past year.
Listen
EDITH!
Watching The Newsroom, I saw John Lovett’s name in the credits… which I somehow in interpreted as Jon Lovitz, leading my husband down a rabbit hole of info and credits… ultimately making me recall (unprompted by IMBD!) that Lovett wrote speeches for Barack Obama. In any case, this ridiculous rabbit hole allowed me to discover that Lovett (not to be confused with Lovitz) has a podcast about Edith Wilson. And it’s incredible.
Edith! is a scripted podcast that tells the “untold true-ish story of America’s secret First Female President.” It’s brilliant and funny.
FOUNDING SON: JOHN QUINCY’S AMERICA
On this podcast, Bob Crawford (of The Avett Brothers) explores JQA’s post-presidential legacy. It features Patrick Warburton, Nick Offerman, and Grey DeLisle as the voices of John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and Louisa Adams respectively. Listen!
Visit
HANG OUT AT AN AMBASSADOR’S HOUSE
In issue 23 (The Diplomats), I plugged a Morning Tea at Founding Father Robert Livingston’s house. The event already happened, but you can still go to his house! Take a tour, go for a hike, check out the exhibit, stroll through the gardens, and more. (Before Livingston worked with James Monroe on the Louisiana Purchase, he swore George Washington into office.)
Clermont State Historic Site
1 Clermont Avenue; Germantown, NY
Learn more
Browse
DIVE INTO THE VPs
Check out their graves on Kurt’s Historic Sites.
Take a peek at my chronological, but in-progress list of VPs.
Or check out this other less developed list of VPs. I’m still playing with both of my collections.
Watch
WHITE HOUSE PLUMBERS
A 5-part satirical drama about how Richard Nixon’s guys bungled everything. Very funny but also kinda what-the-eff? Watch the trailer and see for yourself.
Read
Presidential Grave Hunter: One Kid's Quest to Visit the Tombs of Every President and Vice President
Learn more about his book or order it from Kurt’s Historic Sites.
ANY OF THE ZILLIONS OF BLOG POSTS I PLUGGED
A few of my favorites:
Play
FREE U.S. HISTORY TRIVIA CHALLENGE
The HistoryPlunge Trivia Challenge is hosted by LearningPlunge. It’s a blast and I always learn something new. (Fellow introverts: you don’t have to have your camera on or talk to anybody!) Learn more.
CHECK OUT THE POTUS POP QUIZ ARCHIVE
See how many you know.
TAKE A CRASHCOURSE
Brothers John and Hank Greene have an amazing YouTube channel with tons of educational videos. They are funny, brilliant, and their graphics fill me with envy and awe. My son and I can’t get enough. Here’s one on Thomas Jefferson to get you started.
Shop
CHECK OUT MY SHOP
Much like the rest of my project, this is an experiment. Enough of you have asked about merch that I’m playing around with it a bit. (Although admittedly, since my sabbatical ended, my shop has been pretty neglected.) If it catches on, I’ll continue to add gradually add more items. If not, [shrugs]. Check out my shop and let me know what you think!
PERUSE MY GIFT GUIDES
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First female VP!