The Buck Starts Here - Presidents, Policies, Hilarious History

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...

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 ...

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 Ph...

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 ...

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 som...

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, wh...

Jefferson may have had fast horses and a fancy violin, but in 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 casual...

You thought we were done with John Adams? Think again. In this 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 the Founding Father who rea...

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 disgusti...

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 ev...

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...

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 powe...

John Quincy Adams: fluent in diplomacy, allergic to BS, and way 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 from Massachusetts.” Eric’s basically doing a séance from Quincy City Hall, Kyle’s trying to keep things on track, and somewhere in the background, a ...

Surprise! James Monroe didn’t write the Monroe Doctrine—John Quincy Adams did... then he 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 kept receipts).

We break down the real reason the doctrine was written (hint: hi, Russia), why Latin America loved the idea but side-eyed our follow-th...

Think you know James Monroe? Think again. In this fiery episode, Kyle and Eric spill the historical tea on the 5th President of the United States, diving deep into the Monroe Doctrine, territorial expansion, and the absolute trainwreck that was the Panic of 1819 — aka America’s first big economic flop.

We’re talking federal power, tariff drama, and the not-so-United States flexing on each other pre-Civil War. You’ll get the lowdown ...

Get ready for a presidential glow-up like no other. In thisepisode, hosts Eric Mason and Kyle take you deep into the world of James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States—and the face of what was questionably called the Era of Good Feelings. Spoiler: it wasn’t all sunshine and unity.

We’re unpacking Monroe’s crushing win over Rufus King inthe 1816 election, the forgotten greatness of Vice President Daniel Tompkins (a broke...

James Monroe: war hero, founding father, and the real reason the Monroe Doctrine is still a thing today. In this episode of The Buck Starts Here, Kyle and Eric break down the messy legacy of America’s fifth president. From battlefields to foreign policy, Monroe’s story is full of contradictions and drama you never saw coming.

We’re diving into: * The Monroe Doctrine - America's original "stay out of our backyard" polic...

The War of 1812: Britain’s still salty, America’s feelingfeisty, and Canada—well, Canada’s just trying to stay out of it (but also kinda not).

In this episode, Kyle, Eric Mason, and special guest JoelMc (official Canadian correspondent 🇨🇦) unpack thedrama, destruction, and downright questionable decision-making that shaped this war. From the burning of Washington, D.C. to the Battle of Lake Erie, we coverit all—including the hilar...

James Madison might’ve been the quiet type, but hispresidency? It was a whole saga. In this no-holds-barred episode, Eric Mason and Kyle tackle Madison’s transformation from Jefferson’s protégé to a leader navigating international tension, economic upheaval, and the road to the War of 1812.

They spotlight Dolly Madison, the White House’soriginal power broker, who turned social gatherings into strategic gold. From the Non-Intercourse...