Podcast pick of the week: Hear 'Presidential' ahead of Election Day
Looking for something new to listen to while you drive to work/go for a walk/wash the dishes? We're here for you. In our weekly series, we highlight a podcast, audio personality or specific story worth hearing.
This week's pick: Presidential
As we prepare to elect a new president, it's a good time to look back: Who has America already elected? What were they like? How have they shaped our country? Why does our presidential pick matter? Those are all questions that The Washington Post's Leadership editor, Lillian Cunningham, aims to answer on her podcast, Presidential. As of this weekend, she has published podcasts on all 43 presidents. (Yep, even William Henry Harrison, who only spent 32 days in the office before he died.) After the Barack Obama episode, Cunningham has one more show. Publishing the morning after Election Day, the finale will cover the new president elect.
Why it's ripe for listening
Cunningham talks to guests who know a thing or two about the presidents, from prolific presidential biographer Doris Kearns Goodwin to Barack Obama's chief strategist David Axelrod. And she asks them both the typical "What was his legacy?" questions, about "cherry tree"-type myths and the more nuanced, "What would he be like on a blind date?" queries. Hail to the Chief music and sounds from presidents' speeches score the show that offers insight like how more than one man in the Oval Office was a child of a dysfunctional family with alcoholic parents, and how that kind of upbringing shapes someone's leadership style.
Memorable line
Julie Miller from the Library of Congress talks about George Washington in Presidential's first episode:
"If you were going on a blind date with him, say it's like 1757, first of all you'd be really impressed, because he was really good looking, he had just finished a leadership role in the French and Indian War, you would've found that he was extremely charming...a really good dancer... but one thing you would need to be aware of is he was not a particularly rich person... and he would definitely be interested in your money."
