Alexis Coe: What they don't tell you about George Washington

Recode Decode

Political historian Alexis Coe talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about her latest book, You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington, which seeks to break the staid formula by which all other books about America's first president have been written. Coe says she is the only female historian to write a book about Washington, and discovered that other biographies written by white men have popularized sexist untruths about his single mother, while obscuring some crucial details about Washington himself and distorting his track record as a slaver. She also talks about her previous book, Alice + Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis, why we still need libraries, and how history as a profession is changing at a time when we may know "too much" about our leaders. Featuring: Alexis Coe (@alexiscoe), author, You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington Host: Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode co-founder and editor-at-large More to explore: On Reset, Arielle Duhaime-Ross explores why — and how — tech is changing everything. On Recode Media, Peter Kafka interviews business titans, journalists, comedians and podcasters about the collision of tech and media. On Pivot, Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway talk about the big tech news stories of the week, who's winning, who's failing, and what comes next. And on Land of the Giants, Jason Del Rey chronicled the rise of Amazon. Season 2 will focus on Netflix and is coming soon! About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us. Follow Us: Newsletter: Recode Daily Twitter: @Recode and @voxdotcom Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices