In this episode, we explore how alabama’s soil shaped its history. In February of 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected president of the newly formed Confederacy. And, you know, to get to his new capital in Montgomery, Alabama, you think you'd have a pretty easy trip. Right. I mean, he's the leader of this vastly wealthy agrarian empire. You'd expect a luxurious, seamless journey. Exactly. Instead, he had to take a steamboat and then transfer across five different disjointed, broken down rail lines just to get to his own inauguration. Which is wild. But why? Well, because the ground beneath his feet had made his empire so incredibly rich that they basically completely forgot to build a functioning society. It really is a crazy story. Welcome to today's deep dive, everyone. Today's Monday, March 23, 2026. And we are going to explore exactly how the very  ...