It’s April 9th. This day in 1939, singer Marian Anderson performs for 75,000 people outdoors on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial -- after being denied the chance to perform in every indoor venue in Washington, DC. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the concert came together, what Anderson meant to the civil rights movement at the time, and the mix of racial and cultural politics of the era. Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia fr...
Apr 09, 2024•19 min
It’s April 7th. This day in 2012, there is an effort underway to recall Republican Governor Scott Walker. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the recall effort gained momentum, why this race became a national cause, and why the effort ultimately failed. Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories. If you want to support the show directly, you ...
Apr 07, 2024•23 min
It’s April 4th. This day in 1841, President William Henry Harrison died, just 30 days after his inauguration. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the myth about how Harrison died -- he gave a speech in awful weather - what we really know about his illness; and what kind of president he might have been. Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories. ...
Apr 04, 2024•16 min
It’s April 2nd. This day in 1863, a riot breaks out in the Confederate capitol of Richmond, due to deepening hunger and frustration among residents as the Civil War dragged on. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the war was so brutal for the residents of Richmond, and how the riots revealed the class dynamic within the city as the confederacy waged their war with the north. Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Your suppo...
Apr 02, 2024•17 min
It’s March 31st. This day (actually March 29th) President Harry Truman announces that he won’t be seeking the Democratic re-nomination for the election that fall. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Truman was bowing out in this moment, what that meant for his party’s chances in the fall — and how the story does and doesn’t mirror some of the conversations today about Joe Biden’s candidacy. Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from...
Mar 31, 2024•23 min
It’s March 27th This day in 1839, a North Carolina man by the name of John Hoover is found guilty and sentenced to be executed for killing a woman he’d enslaved named Mira. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why it was so rare to see slave-owners held accountable in this way, and why the laws around killing enslaved people cut right to the illogic at the heart of slavery. Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Your support hel...
Mar 28, 2024•17 min
It’s March 26th. This day in 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft planted two cherry trees in Washington, DC. The trees were a gift from Japan, and have become a staple of spring in the nation’s capital. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the arrival of the trees was the result of a long lobbying campaign, what the trees came to symbolize — and they go through some of the other gifts that countries have given us. Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud mem...
Mar 26, 2024•18 min
Today we’re bringing you a favorite recent episode, in part because there’s a new series on Apple TV about the aftermath of the Lincoln Assassination. Enjoy! /// It’s August 30th. This day in 1894, a man by the name of Thomas H “Boston” Corbett is presumed dead in a fire in Minnesota. Boston Corbett led a troubled life, particularly over the previous thirty years, during which he was best known as the man who killed John Wilkes Booth — the man who killed Abraham Lincoln. Jody, Niki, and Kellie d...
Mar 24, 2024•18 min
It’s March 21st. This day in 1972, a group of 100 regular citizens are meeting to re-write Montana’s constitution. Among other provisions, the new document enshrines a “right of privacy.” Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why this right worked its way into the new document — and why the constitutional convention should take place in more states more often. Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Your support helps foster indep...
Mar 21, 2024•23 min
It’s March 19th. This day in 1879, a small group of Southern Democrats is holding up budget appropriations bills in order to force a fight over federal troops in the South. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how, for the first time, a government shutdown became a proxy war for a bigger political battle — and how it mirrors the many shutdown battles we see today. Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Your support helps foster ...
Mar 19, 2024•20 min
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! It’s March 16th. This day in 1985, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney met for what came to be known as “The Shamrock Summit,” which started to repair frayed relations between the two countries. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why a shared Irish heritage became the focal point for the meeting, and how a little singing and drinking probably helped as well. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thi...
Mar 17, 2024•15 min
It’s March 14th. This day in 1933, just over a week after taking office, President Frankin Roosevelt announces that a top priority is legalizing 3.2% alcohol beer. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why FDR was so keen on legalizing beer sales, how it fit into his economic recovery program, and how Americans rejoiced at the return of their low-ABV suds. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud memb...
Mar 14, 2024•14 min
It’s March 12th. This day in 1961, President John F Kennedy is hosting a couple hundred Latin American diplomats to lay out his vision for the “Alliance for Progress,” an ambitious plan to support democracy and economic development throughout the region. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how this effort mirrored some of the elements of The Marshall Plan in Europe — and why US attempts to support Latin America generally fell short. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find o...
Mar 12, 2024•16 min
It’s March 10th. This day in 1951, the owners of Major League Baseball are looking for a new commissioner, and a surprising name appears on the list — FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why Hoover was a candidate, and what these two institutions — the FBI and MLB — meant in the post-war era. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Your s...
Mar 10, 2024•20 min
It’s March 4th. This day in 2004, Pat Toomey is challenging Republican Senator Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania senate race — trying to outflank him from the right in the state’s primary. Jody, Niki, and Kellie look back at the moment where “to primary someone” became a political phenomenon, and talk to Nick Troiano of Unite America about why the primary system has been weaponized. Nick’s new book is “The Primary Solution” — it’s out now ! Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day ...
Mar 07, 2024•18 min
It’s March 5th. This day in 1977, President Jimmy Carter and CBS’s Walter Cronkite took phone calls, unfiltered, from Americans all over the country who had dialed into 1-900-242-9611. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss what happened during the Dial-A-President experiment, the logistics of how it all came together, and how it serves as a perfect snapshot of the era. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is...
Mar 05, 2024•17 min
Throughout this election year, we’re going to be doing a few special series tied to the notable stretches in an election cycle, from primaries to conventions and October surprises and more. This is “Hangers-On Week” our look at the point in the primary calendar where candidates are, for one reason or another, still hanging around. For our final episode of Hangers On Week, Jody, Niki, and Kellie look at Al Smith, who ran for president in 1924 and 1928, at a time when the Democratic party was buil...
Mar 03, 2024•23 min
Throughout this election year, we’re going to be doing a few special series tied to the notable stretches in an election cycle, from primaries to conventions and October surprises and more. This is “Hangers-On Week” our look at the point in the primary calendar where candidates are, for one reason or another, still hanging around. For the third episode of Hangers On Week, Jody, Niki, and Kellie look at Jesse Jackson, who ran in 1984 and 1988, evolving from civil rights activism to electoral poli...
Feb 29, 2024•22 min
Throughout this election year, we’re going to be doing a few special series tied to the notable stretches in an election cycle, from primaries to conventions and October surprises and more. This is “Hangers-On Week” our look at the point in the primary calendar where candidates are, for one reason or another, still hanging around. For the second episode of Hangers On Week, Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report to talk about a few failed candidates who layed...
Feb 27, 2024•17 min
Throughout this election year, we’re going to be doing a few special series tied to the notable stretches in an election cycle, from primaries to conventions and October surprises and more. This is “Hangers-On Week” our look at the point in the primary calendar where candidates are, for one reason or another, still hanging around. For the first episode of Hangers-On Week, Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report to lay out the basic categories of the candidate...
Feb 25, 2024•30 min
It’s February 22nd. This day (February 21st, in fact) in 1965, Malcolm X is assassinated as he’s giving a speech at a Harlem ballroom. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why X felt as if his killing was almost an inevitability, why the details of that day remain murky — and how two of the accused were exonerated decades later. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. ...
Feb 22, 2024•19 min
It’s February 20th. This day in 2006, the news — and the jokes — are swirling about the incident that took place earlier in the month, when Vice President Dick Cheney shot his hunting partner Harry Whittington on a Texas ranch. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why it took so long for the news of the incident to come out, why Whittington apologized to Cheney at a press conference — and why it took so long for this podcast to talk about this moment. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This...
Feb 20, 2024•19 min
It’s February 18th. This day in 1804, the Northern state of New Jersey passed a law that included a call for a “gradual emancipation of slaves.” Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the laws around abolition and the reality on the ground often differed considerably — but how in cases like this, you also had the law codifying the slow transition away from slavery. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is ...
Feb 18, 2024•18 min
It’s February 15th. This day in 1933, in Miami, Giuseppe Zangara pulled out a pistol and, while yelling “too many people are starving!” fired at President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why Zangara was trying to kill FDR, the others who were hurt in the incident — and the true “what if” in American history had Zangara succeeded. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is ...
Feb 15, 2024•17 min
It’s February 13th. This day — actually, February 11th — in 1990, South African leader Nelson Mandela emerges from prison after 27 years. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how attempts to keep Mandela out of the limelight backfired during his imprisonment, and how he once again picked up the freedom cause. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Your support helps f...
Feb 13, 2024•23 min
It’s February 11th. This day in 1924, the State of Nevada executed a man named Gee Jon, using the gas chamber for the first time as capital punishment. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how the adoption of gas reflected the Progressive Era, and how the way we kill people often tells us a lot about the time we’re living in. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. You...
Feb 11, 2024•19 min
It’s February 8th. This day in 1976, officials for defense and airline manufacturer Lockheed Martin admit to spending millions of dollars to bribe Japanese government officials. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the Lockheed bribes were exposed, and how they were part of a larger era of multinational corporate meddling and corruption — as companies began to get more and more entangled in U.S. foreign interests. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisd...
Feb 08, 2024•19 min
It’s February 6th. This day in 1937, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt announces a plan to reforming the judiciary, most notably forcing older members of the Supreme Court to retire, and expand the number of justices. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why FDR felt that he had a mandate after the previous fall’s election, and why he felt that expanding the court was a key step to passing many of his reforms. Ultimately, the plan backfired and helped close the window for FDR’s reform efforts. Sign ...
Feb 06, 2024•22 min
It’s February 4th. This day in 1877, a hastily assembled commission is meeting to try and sort out the very messy aftermath of the previous fall’s election between Samuel Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes. Hayes won the popular vote, but in the end, they would hand the election to Hayes after a bargain with southerners that effectively ended reconstruction. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the 1876 election was so close, how a few rogue states were able to hold the process hostage — and what the ...
Feb 04, 2024•23 min
It’s February 1st. This day in 1877, the first Groundhog Day ceremony is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania — in which a small rodent’s shadow determines long-term meteorological forces. Jody, Niki and Kellie discuss how this ceremony came to be, and some of the very weird elements, from elixirs of everlasting life to secret societies pulling the strings. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History is a prou...
Feb 01, 2024•16 min
