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This is the podcast for the week of August 15th, 2025.

It's not safe for work.

And we are recording this live from the Cornfield Resistance,

where, when it comes to stories about river trips and politicians,

we bet you've never heard this one.

It's the professional left with drift glass and blue gal.

This is a really cool story about Abraham Lincoln.

From the Upper Sangamon River Conservancy, we learned what Abraham Lincoln did when the river water ran too low.

Quote, the town of New Salem was formed when James Rutledge and John Cameron were granted permission to build a mill dam on the Sangamon River.

This somewhat simple dam was built of two elongated wooden trough-like structures filled with rocks, which diverted a focused outlet of water

to one side where they built their water wheel. Much of the Sangamon's water flowed right over top of this low-head dam,

creating a serious river hazard,

as it remained nearly invisible from upstream.

Only 16 miles into their 1600-plus-mile journey,

Lincoln and his crew approached New Salem. As they did, their flatboat

jolted to a stop with a sickening thud. They had found the Rutledge-Camron Dam. With part of the bow

pressing forward out over the dam and the stern being forced downward, the river crept up onto the rear deck,

excuse me, and started flowing into the lower hold, sinking it further. As this happened,

the boat became heavier and the gunwales or sides bent down dangerously. A crowd from New Salem

formed on the bank to gawk as the tragedy unfolded,

...