Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from Radiotopia.

My name is Jody Avergan.

This day, November 1797, George Washington is looking for a replacement cook after his longtime beloved chef,

a man by the name of Hercules Posey, had fled

Washington's Mount Vernon estate. Hercules Posey was enslaved by George Washington, who did

own slaves for his entire life, even though the story of George Washington is often one in which

he is remembered for famously freeing his slaves in his will after his death. But the story of Hercules

complicates that picture, and it's one that we didn't know about until relatively recently.

And the story of Hercules is one that is included in the new book, The Memory Palace,

true short stories of the past. The Memory Palace book is an extension, as you may have

gathered, of the Memory Palace podcast, which is the long-running project of the brilliant Nate de Mayo. The Memory Pall is an extension, as you may have gathered, of the Memory Palace podcast,

which is the long-running project of the brilliant Nate DeMayo.

The Memory Palace is one of the OG Radiotopia podcasts.

And as you may have been hearing, the Radiotopia Fundraiser is kicking off this week.

So we figured what better way to mark the fundraiser, show some Radiotopia love, and of course celebrate Nate's

incredible new book project than by having him on. So listeners, you can't see this, but I'm holding

up a copy of the book right now. It is absolutely gorgeous and no surprise. If you know the

Memory Palace, the writing inside is beautiful and moving. So Nate DeMayo, congratulations on the book.

Thank you for making the Memory Palace, one of my favorite

podcast for all these years. And thanks for joining us on this day. Thank you very much. And if

writing the book took me to get here on the show, then it was all worth it. No, I'm really, it's very

exciting. And again, audio listeners are suffering from the fact that you can't see, but it's very

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