The Presidential Podcast

Larry Cook is a life long collector of historic presidential memorabilia and is a historian, specializing in the personal side of the Presidency and lesser known facts. He and his wife Diane founded the Plains Helping Plains Initiative. The Initiative is dedicated to formulating and managing projects that benefit Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter's hometown of Plains, Georgia. In 2011 he and his wife were made honorary citizens of Plains, Georgia and were presented with proclamations by President and Mrs. Carter. Get more details about the book and author by visiting www.larrycookhistorian.com.

Joshua C. Kendall is an award-winning journalist and author whose work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today and Businessweek, among other publications. Josh was born in New York City. He received his BA (summa cum laude) from Yale where he studied comparative literature. He also did graduate work in comparative literature at Johns Hopkins. For his excellence in reporting on psychiatry, he has received national journalism awards from both the National Mental Health Association (now Mental Health America) and the American Psychoanalytic Association. He lives in Boston where he has ample opportunity to indulge his love of squash. He is currently an Associate Fellow of Yale's Trumbull College. You can learn more about the author by visiting www.joshuackendall.com.

As a presidential historian and the author of 101 Presidential Insults: What They Really Thought About Each Other – and What It Means to Us. Mike Purdy's had a lifelong fascination and interest in the presidents that dates back more than 50 years to his first presidential memory of John F. Kennedy's inauguration.  Mike established his website www.presidentialhistory.com to make history more accessible. He's a frequent commentator on presidential history and politics for national and international media outlets including CNN, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Today.com, Reuters, Bloomberg BNA, The Huffington Post, and BBC. He's also a regular opinion contributor to TheHill.com. Over the years, Mike's read many biographies and books about the presidents and still has many more to read from his library of more than 600 presidential biographies! Mike has a bachelor's degree in business and public administration and an MBA, both from the University of Puget Sound, and a master of divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation assists the educational and cultural initiative of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The Foundation nurtures the Lincoln scholarship through documents that relate to Lincoln in his time period. They also advocate history through exhibits, conferences, publications, online services, and other activities that help promote historical literacy. Learn more by visiting www.alplf.org. 

Kate Andersen Brower is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Residence and First Women, also a New York Times bestseller, as well as Team Of Five, First In Line, and the children's book Exploring the White House. She is a CNN contributor and she covered the Obama administration for Bloomberg News. She is also a former CBS News staffer and Fox News producer. Kate has written for the New York Times, Vanity Fair, and the Washington Post. She lives outside of Washington, D.C., with her husband, their three young children, and their wheaten terrier. Find out more about the author by visiting www.katebrower.com. 

Louis L. Picone is the award-winning author of Grant's Tomb: The Epic Death of Ulysses S. Grant and the Making of an American Pantheon, The President Is Dead! The Extraordinary Stories of the Presidential Deaths, Final Days, Burials, and Beyond and Where the Presidents Were Born: The History & Preservation of the Presidential Birthplaces. Louis is a member of the Authors Guild, Mensa International, the American Historical Association, and is also a trustee on the board of the Grover Cleveland Birthplace Memorial Association in Caldwell, NJ. He holds a Masters in History and also teaches at William Paterson University Louis has spoken widely on the topic of the presidents and the places we commemorate them, including Morristown National Historical Park, James A. Garfield National Historic Site, and the international conference "U.S. Presidents and Russian Rulers" at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. After the passing of President George H.W. Bush, Louis was interviewed by the BBC, NPR, Washington Post, and New York Times to discuss the former president's legacy and the history of presidential funerals. He has also appeared on the television program "American Mystery" on the Travel Channel to discuss the mystery of JFK's missing brain. Make sure you visit www.louispicone.com to learn more about the author.