I love modern US history, so I was thrilled to learn about a new podcast called In Plain Sight, which chronicles the life of Lady Bird Johnson during her time in the White House. Lady Bird’s “Beautification” project was much more than a flowery movement. Lady Bird was an environmentalist and a (flawed but fervent) civil rights proponent who guided and comforted Lyndon in ways many of us may not have realized. The podcast’s creator and narrator Julia Sweig (who was recently interviewed on Fresh Air) plays tapes that Lady Bird recorded of herself discussing her daily life and feelings. Those primary source recordings are a window into a sophisticated woman who was both clear sighted and completed blind to Lyndon’s failings. The paradox is fascinating.
