On Sundays this summer, we’re bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We’ll continue to do new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Happy summer! /// It’s August 10th. This day in 2006, Virginia Senator George Allen is caught on tape referring to S.R. Sidarth, a young man filming his event, as “macaca.” This video became an early viral moment and helped lead to Allen’s defeat later that fall — showing how viral video could transform politics. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joine...
Aug 13, 2023•27 min
It’s August 10th. In 1984, at the LA Olympics, South African Zola Budd and American Mary Decker are facing off in the incredibly hyped-up 3000m final. But neither would finish, as Budd tripped Decker with just a couple laps to go. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why this was such a dramatic moment — not just on the track, but geopolitically. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommended later this week. Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric ...
Aug 10, 2023•18 min
It’s August 8th. This day in 1996, President Bill Clinton gives a startling announcement about a rock — ALH84001 — that seems to indicate the presence of life on Mars. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the larger political and cultural context for why Clinton made this big announcement, and what we really know about the rock’s origins. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommended later this week. Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Politica...
Aug 08, 2023•19 min
On Sundays this summer, we’re bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We’ll continue to do new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Happy summer! /// It’s August 18th. This day in 1976, Alex Haley’s sprawling epic Roots hits the bookshelves. It quickly caused a sensation — and controversy. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how Haley’s work came together, the enormous impact it had, and the mix of fact and fiction that somewhat clouded the work. Check out Reconsidering Roots , t...
Aug 06, 2023•16 min
It’s August 3rd. This day in 1978, dog owners in NYC are dealing with a whole new reality — they are now responsible for cleaning up after their pet’s waste. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss what life was like on NYC’s streets before the so-called “pooper scooper” law, and how these sorts of laws are more about shifting norms than actual enforcement. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommended later this week. Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In E...
Aug 03, 2023•19 min
It’s August 1st. This day in 1996, a judge ruled that Bernie Goetz still owed his victims millions of dollars in damages as a result of the “Subway Vigilante” incident some twelve years earlier. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Leon Neyfakh to discuss the subway shooting, the media frenzy surrounding Goetz, and the long legal fallout that resulted from the incident. Leon’s latest season of FIASCO on the vigilante story is available now on Audible and you can find information on how to listen...
Aug 01, 2023•31 min
On Sundays this summer, we’re bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We’ll continue to do new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Happy summer! /// It’s August 11th. This day in 1973, a group of Irish-Americans known as “The Fort Worth Five” are caught up in the court system, accused of running guns to Ireland to aid the independence movement. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Nate Lavey to discuss how regular Irish-Americans got involved in the freedom fight, and the l...
Jul 30, 2023•33 min
It’s July 27th. This day in 1904, Speaker of the House Joseph Cannon (IL) goes to the Capitol dining room expecting to have a nice hot cup of his favorite, bean soup, and is met with an unfortunate surprise. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Cannon was so upset at not being served bean soup, and why the Senate has featured it on the menu every single day since — except for one. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommended later this week. Find out more ...
Jul 27, 2023•11 min
It’s July 24th. This day in 1942, a trial is wrapping up in New York City centered on a Nazi plot to target a number of significant US economic sites, from factories to dams and bridges. Jody, NIki, and Kellie are joined by podcast producer Rebecca Seidel to discuss what came to be known as Operation Pastorius. Be sure to check out Becca’s latest podcast series — Abridged ! Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommended later this week. Find out more at th...
Jul 25, 2023•22 min
On Sundays this summer, we’re bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We’ll continue to do new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Happy summer! /// It’s July 25th. This day (July 24th in fact) in 2009, President Obama extended an invitation to Henry Louis Gates, Jr and Sgt James Crowley to discuss an incident in which Crowley arrested Gates on his own doorstep. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the incident that sparked this attempt at reconciliation, and how Obama’s handling...
Jul 23, 2023•20 min
It’s July 20th. This day in 1945, a petition signed by 70 scientists working on the development of nuclear weapons is circulating in Washington — a petition arguing against the plans to drop weapons on Japan. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the Szilard Petition, how it reflected the deep moral wrestling taking place among the scientific community, and why it ultimately did not make it to President Truman’s desk. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommende...
Jul 20, 2023•16 min
It’s July 18th. This day in 1944, a group of almost one thousand refugees are headed to the United States, where they would eventually be housed at Ft Ontario, in New York. This was the only large group of Holocaust refugees permitted to enter the United States during World War II. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by filmmaker Sarah Botstein to discuss the Ft Ontario group and how the US thought about refugees in this era. Sarah was a co-director and producer, alongside Ken Burns and Lynn Novak...
Jul 18, 2023•22 min
On Sundays this summer, we’re bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We’ll continue to do new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Happy summer! /// It’s July 22nd. This day in 1975, Congress voted to restore citizenship to Robert E. Lee, more than a hundred years after his death. Jody, NIki, and Kellie are joined by author John Reeves to talk about why this vote took place, how it tied into a false theory about a missing citizenship oath, and what the myth of Lee says abou...
Jul 16, 2023•24 min
It’s July 13th. Only July 14th, 1948, at the Democratic National Convention, a young Hubert Humphrey took the stage and implored his party to embrace the cause of civil rights. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Samuel G Freedman of Columbia University to discuss why Humphrey’s speech sent such a shockwave through the party — and ultimately convinced it to adopt a pro-civil rights plank heading into that election. Freedman’s new book about Humphrey is called Into The Bright Sunshine . Sign up ...
Jul 13, 2023•26 min
It’s July 11th. This day in 1979, Americans and others around the world are watching the skies as the first space station, Skylab, comes hurtling back down to earth. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why Skylab crashed, how people in the US and Australia reacted — and what the incident indicated about a time of national distrust and malaise. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommended later this week. Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Po...
Jul 11, 2023•14 min
On Sundays this summer, we’re bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We’ll continue to do new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Happy summer! /// It’s July 10th. This day in 1844, riots and violence are breaking out in Philadelphia as nativist groups coalesce around anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant sentiment. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how the riots wrapped up fears about schooling, economic competition, religion — and marked a moment in which Nativism started to wie...
Jul 09, 2023•18 min
It’s July 6th. Today we revisit our conversation about how Washington DC came to be the nations capitol, with a look at Pierre Charles L'Enfant and how he originally conceived of the city’s layout. Jody, NIki, and Kellie are joined by George Mason professor Scott W Berg to discuss the European inspiration for L’Enfant’s layout, and how he hoped to inspire drama and wonder through the city’s streets and circles. Scott’s book on L’Enfant is called Grand Avenues: The Story of Pierre Charles L'Enfan...
Jul 06, 2023•29 min
It’s July 4th. This day in 1942, researchers at Harvard conducted the first ever napalm test — right in the middle of Harvard’s soccer field. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how napalm was developed on campus, and why people thought it was a good idea to test a weapon of mass destruction in such a prominent location. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommended later this week. Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a pr...
Jul 04, 2023•15 min
On Sundays this summer, we’re bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives. We’ll continue to do new episodes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Happy summer! //// It’s July 3rd. This day in 1956, President Eisenhower signed the National Highway Act, the largest infrastructure project in American history. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Eddie Alterman, longtime editor of Car & Driver magazine, to discuss how the highway network reshaped the country and changed car culture. Be su...
Jul 02, 2023•26 min
It’s July 1st. This day in 1992, two abortion rights activist traveled to the United States carrying abortion pills, in order to get arrested and spark a legal case around the legality of the pill. Jody, NIki, and Kellie are joined by podcast host TJ Raphael to discuss what happened after the two people were arrested, and the new podcast series that looks at the fight over the abortion pill that exploded in the early 1990s. Be sure to listen to TJ’s series “ Cover Up: The Pill Plot ,” wherever y...
Jun 29, 2023•22 min
It’s June 26th. In 1868, throughout the summer, there is a process underway to bring seven Southern US states back into the United States. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the logistics of re-admittance, and how different states took very different approaches to the process. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommended later this week. Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Your supp...
Jun 27, 2023•13 min
It’s June 21st. This day in 1989, the Supreme Court ruled that the burning of the American flag was allowed as free expression under the first amendment. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Michael Liroff of the 5-4 Podcast to discuss the free speech precedent, the history of laws regarding “desecrating” the flag, and why the defendant, Gregory Lee Johnson, burned the flag in the first place. Check out Five-Four wherever you get your podcasts! fivefourpod.com Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll b...
Jun 25, 2023•23 min
It’s June 21st. This day in 1946, an epic battle is playing out across the radio waves, as The Adventures of Superman takes on a multi-part series in which the man of steel confront “The Clan of the Fiery Cross,” a loose stand-in for the KKK. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Superman was confronting the Klan in this moment, and what it signaled about the KKK’s diminishing role in American life. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommended later this we...
Jun 22, 2023•21 min
It’s June 20th. Tonight, it will be dark — and maybe you will go for a walk? Jody, NIki, and Kellie are joined by Bianca Giaever, host of the podcast series “Constellation Prize,” to talk about her forays into walking at night, and her correspondence with the writer Terry Tempest Williams. They also discuss the rich social and political history of walking at night. Be sure to check out Constellation Prize, from the Believer, wherever you get your podcasts! https://www.thebeliever.net/constellati...
Jun 20, 2023•22 min
It’s June 18th. Today, for Juneteenth, we look at the history of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” aka the Black National Anthem. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the song’s history and the various ways in which it’s been presented as a song of resistance, militancy, and empowerment through the decades. If you want to hear our Juneteenth history episode, find it here! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/juneteenth-1865/id1502728938?i=1000519244206 Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out link...
Jun 18, 2023•21 min
It’s June 15th. This day in 1877, a prominent Jewish businessman by the name of Joseph Seligman is turned away from staying at the Grand Union Hotel, with the hotel claiming a new policy “no Israelites shall be permitted in the future to stop at this hotel.” Jody, Niki and Kellie are joined by Zev Eleff, president of Gratz College in Pennsylvania, to discuss what came to be known as the Seligman Affair, perhaps the most high-profile case of antisemitism in the United States up to that point. It ...
Jun 15, 2023•27 min
It’s June 13th. This day in 1986, the Rogers Commission has issued a report and is conducting a series of hearings on the causes of the Challenger space shuttle disaster earlier that year. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the report revealed not just technical failures, but deep bureaucratic dysfunction and lack of communication that ultimately led to warning about the shuttle’s safety not being heeded. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommended late...
Jun 13, 2023•16 min
As it happens, the This Day team has a bunch of cool new projects coming out over the next week or two. So, we’re going to feature them here. Today: Jody is the executive producer of a new series called Death On The Lot , a look at how changes and tragedy in Hollywood reflected larger shifts in American culture and politics in the 1940s and 50s. The two writers for the series, Brian Steele and Hadley Meares, discuss our look a the life of Hattie McDaniel, who was the first Black actress to win a...
Jun 11, 2023•20 min
As it happens, the This Day team has a bunch of cool new projects coming out over the next week or two. So, we’re going to feature them here. Today: Jody is the executive producer of a new series called Death On The Lot , a look at how changes and tragedy in Hollywood reflected larger shifts in American culture and politics in the 1940s and 50s. The two writers for the series, Brian Steele and Hadley Meares, discuss Hollywood’s labor history, and how in the post-war era unions were corrupted by ...
Jun 08, 2023•30 min
As it happens, the This Day team has a bunch of cool new projects coming out over the next week or two. So, we’re going to feature them here. Today: Our very own Nicole Hemmer has been part of the years-in-the-making Obama Oral History Project , which talked to members of the administration and people affected by Obama’s policy about key moments in his presidency. Today, we talk about the project’s launch and the first batch of interviews about environmental policy within the administration. Sub...
Jun 06, 2023•22 min
