10 episodes

"In Plain Sight: Lady Bird Johnson" presents a surprising and original portrait of Lady Bird Johnson, told in the former first lady's own words -- from over 123 hours of her White House audio diaries, heard here largely for the first time ever. It recasts Lady Bird's role in the Johnson White House as her husband's closest advisor and most trusted political partner and provides history-making revelations about LBJ's time in office. It's the story of how one vastly underestimated woman navigated the power, politics and polarization of her era to become one of the most influential members of the Johnson administration... even if we never knew it. An eight-part series from ABC Audio & Best Case Studios. Hosted by New York Times bestselling author Julia Sweig.

In Plain Sight: Lady Bird Johnson GMA

    • History
    • 4.7 • 1.6K Ratings

"In Plain Sight: Lady Bird Johnson" presents a surprising and original portrait of Lady Bird Johnson, told in the former first lady's own words -- from over 123 hours of her White House audio diaries, heard here largely for the first time ever. It recasts Lady Bird's role in the Johnson White House as her husband's closest advisor and most trusted political partner and provides history-making revelations about LBJ's time in office. It's the story of how one vastly underestimated woman navigated the power, politics and polarization of her era to become one of the most influential members of the Johnson administration... even if we never knew it. An eight-part series from ABC Audio & Best Case Studios. Hosted by New York Times bestselling author Julia Sweig.

    Introducing 'Reclaimed: The Story of Mamie Till-Mobley'

    Introducing 'Reclaimed: The Story of Mamie Till-Mobley'

    You may know the story of Emmett Till. But you might’ve never heard his story if it weren't for one woman: Mamie Till-Mobley. In a new three-part season of ABC News' "Reclaimed" podcast, host Leah Wright Rigueur explores who Mamie Till-Mobley was before she lost her son: a young girl growing up in Illinois. Rigueur traces Mamie's journey after Emmett’s death, and how she turned her grief into a movement that changed the course of American history.
    The first two episodes of "Reclaimed" are available now. To listen, follow the show on Apple Podcasts (https://apple.co/3zofsOC), Spotify (https://spoti.fi/3PSLBDU), Amazon Music (https://amzn.to/3tgHfNf), or wherever you like to listen.
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    • 2 min
    Fourteen Days

    Fourteen Days

    In her first-ever diary entry, recorded eight days after President John F. Kennedy is assassinated, Lady Bird presents a dramatic, cinematically detailed moment-by-moment account of those terrible hours in Dallas, and the days that follow. The episode tracks the 14 days from the murder of the president to when the Johnsons move into the White House, days filled with tragic ceremony and heartfelt moments of solidarity between Jackie Kennedy and Lady Bird. We hear about the decade-long relationship between the two of them, one that dates back to the Kennedy’s arrival in Washington in the mid-50s, and hear fascinating observations these women make about each other.
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    • 41 min
    Thank You, Mrs. Vice President

    Thank You, Mrs. Vice President

    There are moments in Lady Bird’s audio diaries that truly re-write the known history of LBJ's presidency. This episode includes one of the most consequential. In a memo to Lyndon just five months into his presidency, Lady Bird predicts how the Vietnam war will derail his administration, and proposes a clear end-date for his time in office -- fully four years before he shocked the nation with his announcement in March of 1968 that he wouldn't run for reelection. We hear Lady Bird’s growing sense that Bobby Kennedy will become LBJ's political rival, and RFK’s bring-down-the-house performance at the Democratic Convention in the summer of 1964. In the run up to the ’64 election, Lady Bird makes a Whistle Stop tour of the South — her home turf — to try to keep Southern Democrats from defecting over Civil Rights. But she’s met with open hostility, and worse. And on her return to Washington, a sex scandal involving Lyndon’s closest aide presents an October surprise that could easily upend the election.
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    • 40 min
    Renewal

    Renewal

    Fresh from landslide victory in the 1964 election, Lyndon and Lady Bird shuttle back and forth between Washington, DC and Texas as they make plans for their first full term in office. But despite all that public support, it’s clear there’s trouble ahead. The civil rights movement is confronting a violent backlash, especially in the South, and despite LBJ’s public stance, Lady Bird knows they have “a small war on our hands” in Vietnam. Amid this turmoil, Lady Bird’s ideas about her own work are changing -- what started as planting flowers in underserved DC neighborhoods is growing into an agenda that brings environmentalism and social justice together in America’s cities. And yet, after nearly two years in office, the Johnsons still find themselves in the shadow of the glamorous Kennedys, when a high profile event at the White House brings the Johnsons their first taste of public protest and bad press.
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    • 40 min
    Entangled

    Entangled

    Network television comes calling for Lady Bird, as the president of ABC News convinces a reluctant first lady to host a documentary about her beautification work in DC. Lady Bird decides to use the opportunity to launch a full PR blitz to take her message to America. She’s on her way to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to talk to a group of privileged conservationists about the need to bring access to nature to the inner city, when Lyndon has another health scare. Though it’s not a heart attack, he’ll still need surgery. Recovering in the hospital, Lyndon is once again gripped by crippling anxiety and depression — and this time it threatens his presidency.
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    • 32 min
    California

    California

    Riots, uprisings and protests rock the country in the summer of 1966, and despite their progress with civil rights legislation, the Johnsons can’t seem to move fast enough. And an increasingly unpopular war in Vietnam begins to overshadow just about everything else. Luci Johnson’s wedding in Washington, DC becomes the setting of dramatic anti-war protests, and Lady Bird herself is the target of a bomb threat. Feeling the urgency, Lady Bird is looking for ways to make beautification have more impact for the people who need it most. And she finds inspiration and an unlikely collaborator in San Francisco. But just as their most ambitious, controversial project is about to get underway, tragedy strikes.
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    • 35 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
1.6K Ratings

1.6K Ratings

Buford Tripp ,

More to Her Story

I am simply brown away. I devoured this podcast, at first captivated by Mrs. Johnson’s soothing voice. But then learned there was so much substance to her. In my incomplete study of First Ladies, I had been somewhat placing Lady Bird on the back burner. Perhaps because her cause didn’t seem as substantive of a Betty Ford or a Rosalynn Carter. But I was wrong. THANK YOU for enlightening me, and now I must read your book about this wonderfully intelligent, insightful, and consequential former occupant of the White House.

CJC in Brooklyn ,

Fascinating untold story

The contributions of so many remarkable women and POC have been overlooked by historians for far too long. I’m glad writers like Julia Sweig are finally doing their stories justice! They deserve the recognition, and knowing their stories makes us all richer.
What Ladybird was really championing was environmental justice, a huge issue today. She was a woman ahead of her time!

Sandstealer456 ,

Loved this series!

I binged this series. So interesting and in-depth. I learned so much about her. Then, just in case I missed anything, I listened to it again.

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