Episode 44: Dave with Alexis Coe

I don't usually shy away from asking guests to be on the podcast, but this week's guest is an exception. You know Alexis Coe from her two books, Alice+Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis and You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George of Washington. Or you've seen her on tv or on twitter or tiktok talking about presidential history. But today you get to hear her talk about Dave (1993) as we discuss the 90s, American presidencies, and a slew of other things. Alexis is awesome. So is this episode. Enjoy. 

About our guest:

Alexis Coe is an American presidential historian and fellow at New America, where she studies the presidency in anticipation of America's 250th. She is the New York Times bestselling author of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George of Washington, now out in paperback. Alexis is the first woman historian to write a biography of Washington in over a hundred years and the only woman in over four decades. She served as a consulting producer on and appeared in Doris Kearns Goodwin's Washington series the History Channel. Her first book, the award-winning Alice+Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis, has been optioned. She is working on a third book on young John F. Kennedy for Crown. She frequently appears on live television and in documentaries on CNN, MSNBC,  CBS, History, BBC, and PBS. She hosted the podcast "No Man's Land"  and co-hosted "Presidents Are People, Too!" 

​Alexis has contributed to the New Yorker, the New York Times' opinion section, the New York Times Magazine, the New Republic, the Paris Review, Glamour, and many others. Her work has been featured in The Best American Essays  and The Best American Travel Essays, and her essay on marriage and academia was one of the Atlantic's Great Debates of the Year. Thanks to a grant from Substack, launched Study Marry Kill, a newsletter. 

​She is active on the lecture circuit and has appeared at West Point, Georgetown, the New York Historical Society, the National Constitution Center, the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library, and many more. Alexis curated the ACLU'S 100 exhibitions. While in grad school, she was a project-based oral historian at the Brooklyn Historical Society. She went on to be a Research Curator in the Exhibitions Department at the New York Public Library in Bryant Park, where she co-curated the centennial exhibition. 

​Alexis lives outside of New York City with her young daughter.