Plain History: The Astonishingly Successful Presidency of James K. Polk

Plain History: The Astonishingly Successful P...

Up next

AI Is Smarter Than Ever. So Where’s the Revolution?

AI can analyze anything, write anything, solve almost any puzzle. But struggle strengthens our brains and sharpens our minds ... and removing it entirely may come with a dire cost. Derek Thompson explores the paradoxes of AI with Ethan Mollick, whose new book, 'Co-Existence,' exa ...  Show more

How Abundance Has Failed and Succeeded

A year and a half after 'Abundance,' Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein’s book about why America has become so bad at building things, the time has come for reflection. Some commentators declare the abundance agenda dead. If you know where to look, however, you might see a different p ...  Show more

Recommended Episodes

President George Washington
American History Hit

He was the victorious Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. As presiding officer of the Constitutional Convention, he oversaw the birth of the government of the United States. But George Washington is remembered by most as the first ...

  Show more

President Zachary Taylor
American History Hit

Once the most popular man in America, hero of the Mexican-American war Zachary Taylor is our twelfth President and the subject of this episode.


To find out what Taylor managed to achieve in his 16 months in office, and how his presidency was marred with debates over ...

  Show more

President Millard Fillmore: The Most Handsome President?
American History Hit

How did a president lose his entire cabinet so soon after taking office? What was his role in the Westward expansion of the United States? And where did the name Millard come from?


From teaching himself to read to becoming President of the United States, today we are ...

  Show more

President Grover Cleveland: Honest to a Fault?
American History Hit

They say that honesty is the best policy, but was this the case for Grover Cleveland? He may be the only president to have served two non-consecutive terms (as of 13 June 2023), but Cleveland was deeply unpopular by the end of his last term.


From protecting the inter ...

  Show more