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    If You Can Keep It

    'If You Can Keep It' explores the structure and workings of the U.S. government. What does it mean to be an American? Armed with primary sources, humor, and anecdotes, Amanda and Sam attempt to answer this question by making civics education fascinating and fun.
    enZachary van Brakle93 Episodes

    Episodes (93)

    S5-E22: Granny Lemonade Ruthy Hayes - Rutherford B. Hayes

    S5-E22: Granny Lemonade Ruthy Hayes - Rutherford B. Hayes

    Amanda and Sam discuss being aware of becoming boring, door dashing Taco Bell, and gazing longingly out of windows. They also discuss fellow Ohioan, Rutherford B. Hayes, and how accident prone he was in war, how much they love him in Paraguay, and the lack of correlation between presidents who had beards and almost any other data. Amanda discusses one riot and we do a heavily abridged impeachment rundown (no song this time).

    S5-E19: Babe-raham Lincoln

    S5-E19: Babe-raham Lincoln

    Happy New Year, listeners! Amanda and Sam are back, predictably later than originally planned, to discuss Abraham Lincoln, possibly the most crush-worthy president. Amanda discusses 7 riots. We touch on SCOTUS's response to Trump's desperate bid to overturn an election he lost. While that portion of it is old news by the time this comes out, Sam's explanation of an amicus brief is timeless. Happy Birthday to producer Zack, on whose birthday we recorded this episode.

    S5-E18: Ol' Buck the Dough Face: James Buchanan and Being the World's Less-Than-Okayest President

    S5-E18: Ol' Buck the Dough Face: James Buchanan and Being the World's Less-Than-Okayest President

    What better thing to do on election night (yep, we pre-record) than talk about James Buchanan and his bromances. Amanda discovers that her limit of whiteclaw is one and one quarter whiteclaws and Sam finds out that next to who is winning the election, the next American priority is where to find Chinese food. Spoiler alert: Biden won.

    S5-E16: World's Okayest President - Millard Fillmore

    S5-E16: World's Okayest President - Millard Fillmore

    In a pre-ramble that is almost longer than the actual episode, Amanda and Sam discuss beans and other carbohydrates, Letterkenny, why cats might lick walls, which animals like baths, how much Amanda hates bedtime at her house, and whether Zack is confidently ready to begin recording the episode. They also discuss Millard Fillmore and a few riots. Side note: We pretty much always pre-record our episodes. The "Hot for Teacher" references were made prior to the death of Eddie Van Halen, an event we would never make light of. May he continue to shred in the great beyond.

    S5-E13: His Accidency, John Tyler

    S5-E13: His Accidency, John Tyler

    In an excessively long pre-ramble, Amanda and Sam discuss sushi, match-making, left handed people vs. right handed people, professional manicures, how different people organize their thoughts, and what to do with 25 pounds of peaches. You’d almost think that this isn’t an American history podcast. In the eventual episode, they discuss  John Tyler (from “…and Tyler too”) and how much everyone completely hated him, but how he also managed to throw more hip than any old man this side of the Mississippi. Amanda discusses three riots. Sam discusses the status of slavery at the time.

    S5-E12: Cranky Cider One and Done-er - Poor Old William Henry Harrison

    S5-E12: Cranky Cider One and Done-er - Poor Old William Henry Harrison

    Amanda and Sam spend a lot of time on the proverbial tarmac, but they eventually talk about the 32-day term of our 9th POTUS, the Dorr Rebellion, the first of many Cincinnati riots, and the Battle of Tippecanoe. This episode features "Hold Music" by Steve Combs (CC BY 4.0) available via https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Steve_Combs/The_Sun_is_Rising/06_Hold_Music.

    If You Can Keep It
    enJuly 19, 2020

    S5-E9: Wine Break!

    S5-E9: Wine Break!

    Amanda, Sam, and special guest Vince discuss wine, wine laws, and how to correctly pronounce sommelier.

    This episode was recorded shortly before all hell broke loose with the Covid-19 pandemic. The IYCKI collective urges you to stay safe, distance, wash your hands, get your info from reliable or original sources and hang in there!

    Check out our special guest at: https://visforvino.com/