My interview on “Lincoln and Viruses” is now live on The Railsplitter Podcast. I had been interviewed this past Thursday by Mary, Jeremy, and Nick of the Railsplitter podcast, and the episode (#122) is now on their podcast website. Their podcast has become a “must-listen” site for all things Lincoln. This is the second time I’ve been featured on the podcast. Previously they had selected my book, Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, as the very first book in their new book club installment. Over the course of three podcasts they reviewed the book and interviewed me. You can read about it and listen starting on this post.
This current podcast was initiated based on my recent post, “That Time Lincoln Got a Virus and Almost Died.” That set us off on a deep dive on Lincoln’s bout with smallpox and how it compares to the 2020 COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic we are all currently going through. For much of an hour we seamlessly shifted back and forth from Lincoln’s time to the current era, talking not only about viruses but other diseases Lincoln had and the acceptance of science by presidents through our history (including Grover Cleveland’s secret surgery at sea). My twin science and historian backgrounds helped inform the discussion, leading Railsplitter Nick to comment that the podcast has its version of “Sanjay Gupta of the Lincoln world.” [Disclaimer: I am not a physician, so nothing I said constitutes medical advice other than “wash your hands and maintain social distancing.”]
I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion and have been invited back for future episode(s) on The Railsplitter Podcast. If you haven’t already, check them out.
David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.
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