The Preamble

Sharon welcomes guest Ed Yong to Here’s Where It Gets Interesting. Ed’s newest book, An Immense World, How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us. It’s a fascinating look at the rich sensory world of animals, and Ed speaks to Sharon about how exploring this world opens up big, philosophical questions about life. Every creature, humans included, are only really perceiving a very thin sliver of the fullness of reality, and while our perceptions may be limited, we should continue to explore, and let our curiosity guide us into new experiences.Hosted by: Sharon McMahonGuest: Ed YongExecutive Producer: Heather JacksonAudio Producer: Jenny SnyderResearcher: Valerie Hoback Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, Sharon sits down with author Alex Prud'homme about his book, Dinner with the President, all about White House food. He is the coauthor of his aunt Julia Child's memoir, My Life in France, and merges Presidential history with dishes that were the height of sophistication at one point. An on ramp to this book and conversation can be summarized in this passage: “Presidential meals often had personal meaning, and sometimes con­tained coded political messages. James Garfield and Dwight Eisenhower liked bowls of squirrel soup. William Howard Taft had a taste for possum. Zachary Taylor died after eating cherries and drinking cold milk. Wood­row Wilson had chronic indigestion and consumed dubious elixirs, yet he and Herbert Hoover saved millions of lives with innovative food poli­cies. The gourmand Theodore Roosevelt and his gourmet cousin Frank­lin D. Roosevelt led the nation over bison steaks and terrapin soups. (A gourmand is someone who eats and drinks to wretched excess. A gour­met is a connoisseur of fine dining.) JFK liked clam chowder, LBJ favored chili, Richard Nixon ate cottage cheese almost every day, and George W. Bush liked ballpark hot dogs. The presidents’ food choices reflected the state of the nation.”Hosted by: Sharon McMahonGuest: Alex Prud'hommeExecutive Producer: Heather JacksonAudio Producer: Jenny SnyderResearcher: Valerie Hoback Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, Sharon talks with Timothy Egan, a Pulitzer Prize—winning reporter, lifelong journalist, and the author of ten books, most recently the highly acclaimed A Pilgrimage to Eternity and The Immortal Irishman, a New York Times bestseller. His book on the Dust Bowl, The Worst Hard Time, won a National Book Award for Excellence in Nonfiction. His account of photographer Edward Curtis, Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher, won the Carnegie Medal for nonfiction.Hosted by: Sharon McMahonGuest: Timothy EganExecutive Producer: Heather JacksonAudio Producer: Jenny SnyderResearcher: Valerie Hoback Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After four years of fighting, the Union had persevered in bringing the seceded states back into the fold. But the newly reunited country had a great deal of healing to do. Reconstruction took over a decade, and the passage of several constitutional amendments, to create new scaffolding. And even as a new century dawned, the United States was as segregated as ever.Hosted by: Sharon McMahonExecutive Producer: Heather JacksonAudio Producer: Jenny SnyderWritten and researched by: Heather Jackson, Valerie Hoback, Amy Watkin, and Mandy Reid Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this series, we have covered all sorts of innovations that arose out of the conflict, from deviled ham spread and spy balloons to surgical advancements. Today we are going to continue that exploration with a wide range of new developments like photojournalism, a national currency, and the evolution of premade clothing. It’s a smorgasbord of inventions, y’all!Hosted by: Sharon McMahonExecutive Producer: Heather JacksonAudio Producer: Jenny SnyderWritten and researched by: Heather Jackson, Valerie Hoback, Amy Watkin, and Mandy Reid Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Approximately 620 thousand soldiers died in the Civil War, and some historians believe that number might be closer to 750 thousand. But believe it or not, it could have been worse. The Civil War hastened medical advancements out of necessity, and we’re still benefiting from many of these advancements today. Hosted by: Sharon McMahonExecutive Producer: Heather JacksonAudio Producer: Jenny SnyderWritten and researched by: Heather Jackson, Valerie Hoback, Amy Watkin, and Mandy Reid Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today in our series, Secrets of the Civil War, we’ll meet some of the key players in the Abolition Movement–a persuader, an agitator, and a conductor. Their ideals and actions helped foster the success of the Underground Railroad and the path to emancipation. How did so many enslaved persons seeking freedom make it through the perilous journey North? Through a meticulously organized network of safe houses and stations run by agents and conductors.Hosted by: Sharon McMahonExecutive Producer: Heather JacksonAudio Producer: Jenny SnyderWritten and researched by: Heather Jackson, Valerie Hoback, Amy Watkin, and Mandy ReidHush, Hush, Somebody is Calling My Name recording by Sweet Honey in the Rock Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today on Here’s Where It Gets Interesting, we’re going to touch on a war you probably didn’t know happened. During the seemingly all-consuming Civil War, there was another entirely different series of skirmishes and battles happening in America. It only lasted 6 weeks, but had devastating consequences.Hosted by: Sharon McMahonExecutive Producer: Heather JacksonAudio Producer: Jenny SnyderWritten and researched by: Heather Jackson, Valerie Hoback, Amy Watkin, and Mandy Reid Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s episode in our series, Secrets of the Civil War, we’re going to hear about two men–both named Robert and hailed as heroes, who had completely different backgrounds – until the Civil War changed the directions of their lives forever. One was a boat thief and the other was a battalion leader.Hosted by: Sharon McMahonExecutive Producer: Heather JacksonAudio Producer: Jenny SnyderWritten and researched by: Heather Jackson, Valerie Hoback, Amy Watkin, and Mandy Reid Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, let’s talk about what life was like during the Civil War for people who weren’t on the battlefield. What did they get up and do every day? What did they worry about? We’ll witness the war through the eyes of five women whose stories are symbolic of the real experiences–the hopes, the sorrows, the loneliness and the joy–that countless women endured during the Civil War.Special thanks to the curators of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Museum, including Sister Lavonia “Lee” Bailey, Reverend Edward Maurice Bailey, Nelson Polite, and Minnie P. Vinson.Hosted by: Sharon McMahonExecutive Producer: Heather JacksonAudio Producer: Jenny SnyderWritten and researched by: Heather Jackson, Valerie Hoback, Amy Watkin, and Mandy Reid Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices