Books & Looks: Real Books for Real Readers was started as a literary podcast to supplement Blaine Desantis’ website, ViewsOnBooks.com, and expand into audio and video interviews with authors.
With Books & Looks, Blaine’s goal is to focus on real books that real people will read. At least half of the books he reviews are either new authors or unknown authors that many in the general public are unaware of. After a segment reviewing books or interviewing authors, Blaine ends each episode with a discussion of the movies and TV shows he is currently watching.
Learn more about BookTrib’s partner and Blaine at ViewsOnBooks.com.
This Week’s Episode
Did you know Theodore Roosevelt’s most trusted advisors weren’t traditional politicians, but a diverse group of tennis-playing frontiersmen, foreign ambassadors, and bankers? In this episode of Books and Looks, Blaine DeSantis sits down with presidential historian Michael Patrick Cullinane to explore his groundbreaking new book, Theodore Roosevelt and the Tennis Cabinet. Tune in to discover how this unconventional inner circle bypassed traditional bureaucracy to establish the foundation of the modern American presidency.
Michael reveals how TR’s bipartisan, multi-class network—featuring everyone from “Deadwood” sheriff Seth Bullock to a wolf-wrangling stuntman—became the driving force behind monumental conservation efforts and historical trust-busting. We delve into the grueling physical fitness tests required to gain the President’s ear and explore the striking parallels between Progressive Era administrative politics and today’s government efficiency debates. But what caused the sudden collapse of this loyal advisory group, and why did William Howard Taft literally bulldoze their legacy? Listen closely to uncover how a skinny-dipping French ambassador and a record-breaking wave of executive orders forever altered American history.
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