Episode 110: Crooked (ad-free) (Patreon)

Not everything can be perfect. Even when there’s a clean slate and we’re given the resources and tools to make something great, humans have a way of building their flaws into it. And while there are many examples of locations built on a crooked foundation, few have the haunting historical tales to back it up.

Further Reading

1. “The Myth That Washington Was a Swamp Will Never Go Away,” Smithsonian.com, March 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/draining-swamp-guide-outsiders-and-career-politicians-180962448.
2. Jeff Dickey, Empire of Mud: the Secret History of Washington, DC (Lyons Press, an Imprint of Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).
3. Tom Ogden, Haunted Washington, DC: Federal Phantoms, Government Ghosts, and Beltway Banshees (Globe Pequot, 2016), p. 88–93.
4. Martin, Joel and William J. Birnes, The Haunting of the Presidents: a Paranormal History of the U.S. Presidency (Signet, 2003), p. 353.
5. “Natalie Dykstra's Biography of Clover Adams,” The New York Times, 2 March 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/books/review/natalie-dykstras-biography-of-clover-adams.html.
6. “The Secret & Disturbing History of Washington D.C.” | The Takeaway, WYNC Studios, November 2014, www.wnycstudios.org/story/how-washington-dc-emerged-mud.
7. “The Spiritualist Who Warned Lincoln Was Also Booth's Drinking Buddy.” Smithsonian.com, 1 March 2015, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-spiritualist-who-warned-lincoln-was-also-booths-drinking-buddy-180954317/?page=1.