This is Side Door, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX.

I'm Halima Shaw.

Few American presidents have captured our imagination the way that Abraham Lincoln has.

Lincoln's stooped figure appears in more films than any other president.

If you haven't seen him in Stephen Spielberg's 2012 film, Lincoln, he's exactly who you've been promised.

Noble, stately, and well-intentioned.

We're stepped out upon the world's stage now, now, with the fate of human dignity in our hands.

Blood's been spilled to afford us this moment now, now, now.

We know the story of Lincoln's presidency during the Civil War,

and his assassination at Ford's Theater.

But we hear way less about the 16th his assassination at Ford's theater.

But we hear way less about the 16th president's teen years.

You know, before he stepped out onto the world stage.

So this time on Side Door, we're bringing the least told moments of Lincoln's story to your

ears. But instead of telling our story through curators and researchers, we're stepping out of

our comfort zone and onto our own kind of stage.

We're trying out a new sound for the series.

You could think of it as dramatic documentation, reenactment, theater, and this is a big step for us, so we hope

you'll let us know what you think.

So without further ado ado here's Abe. Honest as ever, getting into some

wholesome shenanigans and pulling a prank on his mom who just discovered his

handiwork?

...