Episodes
As former president Donald Trump attempts to return to the White House, host Lillian Cunningham speaks with Library of Congress archivist (and “Presidential” fan favorite) Michelle Krowl about the history of former presidents’ efforts to win back the office after they’ve left.
Published 10/23/24
Published 10/23/24
Host Lillian Cunningham speaks with Sharon McMahon, author of “The Small and the Mighty,” about women’s ongoing fight for more political power—examining the arc of progress since 1920, when women across the nation first voted for president.
Published 09/26/24
Ava Wallace, sports reporter at The Washington Post, is in France to report on the Summer Games — and eat a lot of croissants. Join her through the entire run of the games, for several episodes a week as she captures the highs, the lows and the Paris of it all, along with other Post colleagues.
Published 07/25/24
Forty years ago, the body of a prime minister went missing. The Post’s Martine Powers asks: Who’s responsible?
Published 11/22/23
Grenada’s revolutionary leader was executed in a coup in 1983, with seven others. The whereabouts of their remains are unknown. Now, The Washington Post’s Martine Powers uncovers new answers about how the U.S. fits into this 40-year-old Caribbean mystery.
Published 10/13/23
Lillian Cunningham begins her journey in the place that helped inspire the national parks. As wildfires threaten Yosemite’s giant sequoias, she asks how to ensure the survival of these ancient trees. Follow "Field Trip" to hear the whole series.
Published 06/28/23
Journey through the messy past and uncertain future of America’s national parks. The Washington Post’s Lillian Cunningham ventures off the marked trail to better understand the most urgent stories playing out in five iconic landscapes today.
Published 06/14/23
Exclusively for listeners of “Presidential,” Lillian Cunningham shares news about her new podcast. You don’t want to miss this.
Published 06/06/23
Students, teachers and historians reflect on what has changed — and should change — about the way we teach presidential history today. This special episode features presidential experts Barbara Perry and Julian Zelizer, “How the Word Is Passed” author Clint Smith, and the AP government and politics class of teacher Michael Martirone.
Published 02/21/22
Four years later, the “Presidential” podcast adds a new biography to its cadre of American presidents. This special episode explores Joe Biden's decades-long, hard-fought personal and political path to the White House, with the New Yorker’s Evan Osnos.
Published 11/08/20
Books published in the Trump era reveal the battles over, and changes in, the American presidency today. In this special episode of “Presidential,” Post nonfiction book critic Carlos Lozada shares what he’s learned from reading more than 150 of them.
Published 10/23/20
The 1918 influenza pandemic killed more than 675,000 Americans, but President Woodrow Wilson never made a single public statement about it. Why? Here’s what happens when efforts to promote patriotism and suppress free speech collide with a deadly virus.
Published 09/24/20
In ’84, a former VP got the Democratic presidential nomination, faced a Republican incumbent and chose the first female running mate in U.S. history. Sound familiar? Go behind history in this special episode, featuring an interview with Walter Mondale.
Published 08/07/20
A special episode of “Presidential” explores how a 1939 concert transformed the Lincoln Memorial into a stage for civil rights protests. Featuring Molefi Kete Asante, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Philip Kennicott.
Published 06/19/20
Four years after making Presidential, host Lillian Cunningham led a panel examining what's really unprecedented--or not--about Donald Trump's presidency. Historians Alexis Coe, Drew Gilpin Faust and Julian Zelizer joined for this live event in Boston.
Published 03/06/20
Host Lillian Cunningham's next podcast explores the real story of why we went to the moon -- a darker, but truer story than the one you've heard before. Listen to this trailer, and subscribe on your favorite podcast app or at washingtonpost.com/moonrise.
Published 07/19/19
In the premier episode of “Constitutional,” we go back in time to that hot Philadelphia summer in 1787 when a group of revolutionary Americans drafted the U.S. Constitution. Subscribe to the "Constitutional" podcast for the full episode!
Published 07/24/17
In order to form a more perfect podcast, we created this overview of what you can expect from "Constitutional" when it launches July 24. Make sure to subscribe to "Constitutional" if you want to receive full episodes when the new series debuts.
Published 07/17/17
In order to form a more perfect podcast, we created this overview of what you can expect from "Constitutional" when it launches July 24.
Published 07/17/17
If you loved ‘Presidential,' check out our new podcast launching July 24. Listen to a preview and subscribe now by going to washingtonpost.com/constitutional or searching on Apple Podcasts.
Published 06/29/17
In this final episode of the podcast, Library of Congress historians Michelle Krowl and Julie Miller return--along with Washington Post journalist Dan Balz--to reflect on the changing nature of the American presidency.
Published 11/09/16
Political strategist David Axelrod and biographer David Maraniss discuss Barack Obama's search for identity -- and how that quest has paralleled America's own complex reckoning with race.
Published 10/30/16
Peter Baker, author of "Days of Fire" and a journalist with the New York Times, joins historian Mark Updegrove to examine how George W. Bush's presidency marked the beginning of a new era in American history.
Published 10/23/16
David Maraniss, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting on Bill Clinton, explores how Clinton's core character traits had both a bright and a dark side. And Post reporter Jim Tankersley examines how his policy legacy has had a similar duality.
Published 10/16/16