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PODCAST

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies, Hilarious History

China Shop Productions

The Buck Starts Here—where U.S. presidential history gets a spicy makeover. Join no-nonsense economist Eric Mason and history-obsessed wild card Kyle Hedman as they dig into the messy, mind-blowing, and often WTF moments that shaped America’s commanders-in-chief. This is history served hot, with side-eye, deep dives, and sharp commentary that brings the past to life. From bad decisions and bigger egos to the policies that still echo today, we’re naming names and spilling presidential tea. Hit follow

history

All Episodes

00:53:16

Martin Van Buren Part I: The OG Political Machine

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/08/22

Pull the strings, history nerds — it’s time to meet Martin Van Buren, the “Little Magician” who made political deals appear out of thin air while looking like Jackson’s less-fun stunt double. Was he a genius or just a guy who knew how to hang around long enough to inherit the throne?This episode dives into Dutch tavern tales, Jackson’s puppet show, banking schemes, and one very sad love story. Spoiler: this guy is not making it onto Mount Rushmore.👉 Hit follow so you don’t miss the chaos.👉 Drop us

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00:55:12

Andrew Jackson Part V: How to Break a Nation's Heart,...

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/08/15

Andrew Jackson is DONE… but the chaos he left behind? Oh dear, it’s still smoldering. In this episode, we’re dragging Old Hickory for his real presidential legacy—bulldozing Native Americans off their land under the banner of “benevolence” (translation: bayonets and bad faith).We’re serving up the receipts: the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, shady treaties signed by randos with zero authority, Florida invasions that Spain did not RSVP to, and the Trail of Tears—which wasn’t one sad walk, but YEARS of

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00:41:58

Andrew Jackson Part IV: How to Wreck a Nation,...

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/08/08

Andrew Jackson might be out of office, but the scorched-earth vibes are alive and well in this episode. Kyle and Eric break down how Old Hickory basically rage-quit the economy—killing the national bank, banning paper money for land, and tossing federal funds into sketchy “pet banks” like he was making it rain at a fiscal frat party. Spoiler: he left the country broke.Martin Van Buren? Useless. The Bank of England? Pissed.Cotton? Crashed. And the U.S.? Spiral. Into. Depression. This isn’t just a

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01:11:48

Andrew Jackson Part III: Populism.exe Has Crashed the...

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/08/01

Democracy Not Found, Please reinstall ConstitutionGet ready to scream into a $20 bill, because this episode is one wild, whiskey-soaked ride through the chaos that was Andrew Jackson’s presidency.Our hosts Kyle and Eric break down the hot mess express of Jacksonian democracy—starting with a literal mob trashing the White House and ending with an economic meltdown that somehow wasn’t even the worst thing he did. (Trail of Tears, anyone?)We’re spilling all the historically certified tea:The White

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00:29:26

Andrew Jackson Part II: Populist Showmanship and the...

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/07/25

He called himself the champion of the common man—but spoiler alert: only if that man was white, land-owning, and totally cool with slavery. In this hot-and-heavy second dive into the tangled legacy of Andrew Jackson, Kyle and Eric rip off the rose-colored glasses and get real about the president who practically invented political branding and executive overreach.From a booze-soaked inauguration that turned the White House lawn into a frat party, to doubling down on slavery while claiming to fight

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00:54:08

Andrew Jackson Part I: How to Build a Legend in Six...

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/07/18

We showed up ready to drag Andrew Jackson—and somehow left kinda rooting for the guy.Before he was torching democracy and flexing executive power like a toddler with a crown, Jackson was a dirt-poor, rage-powered teen orphan with a scar on his face and a grudge against the British. In this jaw-dropping origin story, Kyle and Eric trace how this scrappy frontier misfit went from bootless brawler to war hero, courtroom enforcer, and surprise national darling.He lost his whole family, got stabbed in

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00:35:39

Bill of Rights Part II: Don’t Tread, Don’t Tax,...

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/07/11

Think the Founders shot their shot with the First Five?Please. The back half of the Bill of Rights is where it really getsspicy. Kyle and Eric Mason break down Amendments 6–10—and then hit you with abonus round so wild it involves smugglers, speedy trials, and a college kid with a C paper who rewrote the Constitution out of pure spite.We’re talking civil juries, cruel and unusual punishment(hi, bail system), and the Ninth Amendment’s legal version of “don’t tell me what I can’t do.” Oh—and the

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00:44:47

Bill of Rights Pt. I: Freedom, Arms, and GTF Outta My...

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/07/04

The Founding Fathers were wild, opinionated, and absolutely not here for standing armies in their guest rooms—let’s get into it. In this Buck Wild episode of The Buck Starts Here, Kyle and Eric catapult you back to 1791—when powdered wigs were poppin’ and the fear of standing armies was all the rage.Get ready as we dive into the OG top five amendments—ranging from the freedom of speech (hint: Congress isn’t your modern Twitter) to the quirky art of not quartering drunk soldiers in your guest room

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00:42:32

Rae’s Really Real Emporium of Realness

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/06/27

Unroll your canvas and dip your brush in the tea, friends. Your charmingly chaotic hosts Kyle and Eric are back, and they've summoned fan-favorite Rae Faba - our resident realism vendor - for another trip into the glittery, grimy world of early American portraiture and the messy marriage between art and truth.We're diving deep into America’s painted past: presidential portraits with side-eye, photography that lied before Photoshop was even a thing, and one German guy who decided George

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00:09:35

John Quincy Adams Part V: Journey To The Center of...

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/06/24

John Quincy Adams: science nerd, policy wonk... almostfunder of a journey to the center of the freaking Earth? Yeah, that happened. Kind of.This week, Kyle and Eric dig into the gloriously unhinged tale of John Cleves Symmes Jr.—an ex-Army guy turned HollowEarth hype man—who tried to convince Congress that the Earth was basically a cosmic donut. And guess what? It almost worked.Was JQA secretly into sci-fi? Did Congress take leave of itssenses? Why did the frontier love this guy while Harvard told

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00:18:41

James Monroe Part V: You Have Died of Colonization...

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/06/20

This one’s got it all: dysentery, white savior complexes, land “purchases” no one understood, and Francis Scott Key playing dictator from D.C. Welcome to Liberia, brought to you by James Monroe and the “philanthropists” ofthe American Colonization Society.In this bonus episode of Buck Wild, Kyle and Eric rip the powdered wig off the American Colonization Society’s misguided plan to ship freed slaves off to West Africa like that somehow solved racism. (Spoiler: it didn’t.)We’re talking:Sherbro

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00:14:15

James Madison Part V: Paul Jennings’ Epic Effects

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/06/17

Gather ‘round and clutch your Constitution, because we’rerewriting the narrative with flair.This week, we're shining the spotlight on Paul Jennings—James Madison’s enslaved footman, secret memoirist, freedom-funder, and the real MVP behind that whole “Dolley saved the portrait” story. (She didn’t. She sentPaul. Let’s get it right.)From setting the president’s table to setting the damnrecord straight, Paul lived through wars, whispers, and wig-powdered nonsense—and still had the nerve to fund The

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00:20:57

Thomas Jefferson Part V: A Founding Father Gets Clocked

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/06/13

Jefferson may have had fast horses and a fancy violin, butin this episode, Kyle and Eric are here to expose the soft-handed myth of the so-called “common man” and hand the mic to someone way more impressive: Benjamin. Freaking. Banneker.We’re talking clocks made out of wood that ran for 50 years,almanacs so accurate they made 18th-century sailors weep, and abolitionist essays sneakily tucked between tide charts. Oh, and he casually called Jefferson out to his face (well, via letter, but

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00:13:03

John Adams Part V: Scandalous Send-Off!

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/06/10

You thought we were done with John Adams? Think again. Inthis bonus episode, Kyle and Eric mop up the revolutionary tea that didn't make it into Parts I–IV. From Franklin’s naked diplomacy and Adams’ tooth-rotting sweet tooth to Haitian revolutions and rumors of London mistresses, we’re closing out the Adams arc with one final chaotic cannonball.Get ready for HBO callouts, bathtub chess matches, and theFounding Father who really deserved better PR. Justice for John, y’all.🎧 Subscribe and never

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00:18:51

George Washington Part V: The Myths, The Mojo, The...

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/06/06

We weren’t done with George Washington—not even close.In this bonus episode, we dig up the wild side quests and forgotten facts we missed the first time around.Meet Lawrence, George’s hot-shot older brother who basically kickstarted the whole “military hero” storyline. Travel with young GW to Barbados (where he caught smallpox and lifelong immunity), and find out why his“wooden teeth” were actually just expensive and disgusting. Oh, and the cherry tree story? Total historical fanfic.From forced

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00:41:29

John Quincy Adams Part IV: America's First 'Stolen'...

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/05/30

No majority. No chill. And definitely no evidence of a“corrupt bargain.” In this fact-loaded and fire-starting Season 1 finale, Kyle and Eric break down the 1824 presidential election—where Andrew Jackson lost, cried foul, and stomped back to his slave plantation while John Quincy Adams calmly walked into the White House with the receipts.We’ve got:🔥Jackson throwing a historic hissy fit🔥Henry Clay being classier than everyone🔥JQA flexing a resume that shames your LinkedIn🔥Populist chaos, press

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00:41:53

John Quincy Adams Part III: Still Waiting on Congress

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/05/23

He had the receipts, the vision, and the plan—Congress just brought the drama.In this episode, Eric and Kyle finally dive into the presidency of John Quincy Adams, aka the king of "I told you so." Civil War? Called it. National highways? Pitched them. A naval academy and an astronomical observatory? Yes, please. JQA was ready to launch the country forward—unfortunately, the Jacksonians showed up with nothing but bad vibes and anti-nerd energy.We’re spilling all the tea:⚖️ A federal

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00:49:09

John Quincy Adams Part II: Journaling, Jabs, and JQA...

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/05/16

Before John Quincy Adams became America’s most forgettable president, he was basically a Founding Father Nepo Baby turned globe-trotting prodigy.In this episode, Kyle and Eric dive into JQA’s chaotic and impressive early life—getting inoculated before vaccines were cool, becoming a teenage diplomat fluent in multiple languages, and turning down a seat on the Supreme Court because he “didn’t feel like it.”We’re talking European power moves, Founding Father family drama, and alleged skinny-dipping in

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00:50:59

John Quincy Adams Part I: Madman from Massachusetts

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/05/09

John Quincy Adams: fluent in diplomacy, allergic to BS, andway too smart for the room. In this episode, we kick off our JQA series with a look at the man who basically wrote American foreign policy, got wrecked by Congress during his presidency, and came back swinging as the “Madman fromMassachusetts.” Eric’s basically doing a séance from Quincy City Hall, Kyle’s trying to keep things on track, and somewhere in the background, a naked JQA isswimming in the Potomac, judging us all. Come for the

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00:56:19

James Monroe Part IV: Monroe Doctrine, HOA of the...

The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies,... ·

2025/05/02

Surprise! James Monroe didn’t write the Monroe Doctrine—John Quincy Adams did, and then refused to take credit like the ultimate 1820s ghostwriter. In this episode, Kyle and Eric dig into the foreign policy flex that told Europe to stay outta the Western Hemisphere (while we quietly keptreceipts).We break down the real reason the doctrine was written(hint: hi, Russia 👀), why Latin America lovedthe idea but side-eyed our follow-through, and how the U.S. turned “no new colonies” into “we run this

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