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 producer and researcher Jacob Feldman is also one of the co-writers of the excellent Sunday Long Reads newsletter. They just launched a podcast series about the art of the obituary. Jacob is joined by Don Van Natta to talk about Ronald Reagan’s obit and what they learned about the artform. Subscribe to the SLR and check out the podcast series he...
Jun 04, 2023•22 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: Kellie’s other podcast is back! You Get A Podcast looks at the rich and wild history of the Oprah Winfrey Show, and the Queen of Talk’s influence on our culture and politics. Be sure to check it out wherever you get your podcasts or at YouGetAPodcast.com Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommended later thi...
Jun 01, 2023•28 min
It’s May 30th. This day in 1979, a Manhattan 6-year-old by the name of Etan Patz goes missing on his two-block walk to the bus stop. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the Patz case became such a media sensation, and contributed to the rise of the “stranger danger” era, with kids being warned about abductions, faces plastered on the side of milk cartons, and more. 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.c...
May 30, 2023•19 min
It’s Memorial Day — today we’re bringing you an episode from the archives to mark the weekend. We’ll be back with new episodes next week. It’s November 12th. On this day in 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial opened in Washington, DC. Jody and Niki discuss the controversy over the memorial’s design, the additions over the years, and how we memorialize forever wars. Find a transcript of this episode at: https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member o...
May 28, 2023•15 min
We’re doing a special two-part series on the American Girl Doll line of historical dolls! This is part two. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Aisha Harris of NPR to look at Addy, the first Black American Girl Doll. Turns out, there was a lot of research done into developing the character — as unsettling as her backstory may be. Be sure to check out Aisha’s work on Pop Culture Happy Hour, and pre-order her new book Wannabe: Reckonings With The Pop Culture That Shaped Me Sign up for our newslet...
May 25, 2023•25 min
We’re doing a special two-part series on the American Girl Doll line of historical dolls! Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Aisha Harris of NPR to look at the origins of the American Girl Doll, the various periods of American history represented by the series — and how they served as an entry point to history for many people. Be sure to check out Aisha’s work on Pop Culture Happy Hour, and pre-order her new book Wannabe: Reckonings With The Pop Culture That Shaped Me Next episode: a deep dive...
May 23, 2023•24 min
It’s May 21st. This day in 1934, William Burns resigns from the Bureau of Investigations in scandal, replaced by J Edgar Hoover. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how Burns had gained the reputation as “America’s Sherlock Holmes” as an independent investigator, then eventually was brought in to run the BOI — before eventually getting enveloped in various corruption scandals. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommended later this week. Find out more at this...
May 21, 2023•17 min
It’s May 18th. This day in 1927, a man detonated bombs at a school in Bath, Michigan, killing dozens of children, then killing himself. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how Andrew Kehoe was motivated, in part, by anti-tax and anti-government animus, and how this school tragedy resonates with more modern violence at schools. 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 i...
May 18, 2023•16 min
It’s May 16th. This day in 1973, a 70-day standoff at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation comes to an end. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Native activists occupied the town, how it tied into the larger Civil Rights movement, and why celebrities were so drawn to the standoff. 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 P...
May 16, 2023•18 min
It’s the second of two episodes we’re doing with Paul Kix about the critical weeks in Birmingham, Alabama in May 1963. This day, in New York City, a group of civil rights leaders meets with Attorney General Robert F Kennedy to talk about the incidents in Birmingham and the state of the movement. The meeting is contentious, but it pushes RFK to ultimately support significant legislation. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Paul Kick to discuss the meeting, and the critical role that Harry Belafo...
May 14, 2023•28 min
It’s May 11th. This day in 1963, a series of bombs explode in Birmingham, Alabama — one at the hotel in which Martin Luther King, Jr. was staying, and one at his brother’s house. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by journalist Paul Kix to discuss the bombings, and how they fit in to a momentous stretch of time for the Civil Rights movement, centered in Birmingham. Paul’s new book is You Have to Be Prepared to Die Before You Can Begin to Live: Ten Weeks in Birmingham That Changed America — it’s a...
May 11, 2023•21 min
It’s May 9th. This day in 2012, President Obama gives an interview in which he expresses his support for gay marriage, a stance that he’d been reluctant to take up until that point. His hand was forced, in part, because a few days earlier Vice President Biden had said he supported gay marriage in another interview — which. was largely seen as a “gaffe” on Biden’s part. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Sasha Issenberg to discuss how Biden spoiled the administration’s stance — and where this m...
May 09, 2023•31 min
It’s May 7th. This day in 1994, during a town hall airing on MTV, President Bill Clinton is asked whether he wears “boxers or briefs.” Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined once again by the hosts of Normal Gossip to discuss why MTV was hosting a town hall with the president, why Clinton even bothered to answer — and what we make of the more gossipy political interview approach. Be sure to check out Normal Gossip wherever you get your podcasts ! Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links...
May 07, 2023•21 min
We’re doing a couple episodes on moments of historical gossip with our new Radiotopia pals from the show Normal Gossip . Today, we discuss Anne Royall, who in 1826 began publishing books and articles based on her travels around the country talking to everyday folks about their everyday lives. She was able to gather stories and map society in a new way — and also recieved a lot of pushback for it. Jody, NIki, and Kellie are joined by Kelsey McKinney and Alex Sujong Laughlin of Normal Gossip to di...
May 04, 2023•24 min
It’s May 2nd. In 1847, a US military ship, the USS Jamestown, was loaded up with food and other relief to sail to Ireland and help with the famine in that country. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how disparate communities in the US rallied around the cause, and how the Jamestown represented one of the first moments of international camaraderie for a new country. 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 ...
May 02, 2023•13 min
It’s April 30th. This day in 1994, an 18-year-old American named Michael Fay is awaiting his punishment in Singapore for acts of vandalism. That punishment included caning, which caused a media and diplomatic firestorm in the United States. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the details of Faye’s crime and punishment — and the way in which the incident revealed American’s appetite for corporal punishment. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommended later th...
Apr 30, 2023•16 min
It’s April 27th. In 2004, a report aired on 60 Minutes II featuring reports and photos of abuse by American troops at the Iraqi prison Abu Ghraib. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the photos caused such a scandal, and how the torture at the prison was largely within the framework of how the Bush administration conducted the war in Iraq. 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...
Apr 27, 2023•24 min
It’s April 25th. In 1777, a 16-year-old by the name of Sybil Luddington went on a 40-mile nighttime ride to warn Colonial troops and citizens of an impending British invasion. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Luddington’s midnight ride isn’t nearly as famous as Paul Revere’s — and how we can ever know if the details of her story are actually true. 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 ...
Apr 25, 2023•16 min
We’re re-running some favorite recent episodes this week, and will be back with brand new episodes very soon! It’s December 4th. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the Colored Conventions movement, which provided and intellectual and political space for Black leaders in the years before, during, and after the Civil War. Check out the Colored Conventions database at coloredconventions.org Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com And don’t forget about Oprahdemics , hosted by Kellie...
Apr 23, 2023•16 min
We’re re-running some favorite recent episodes this week, and will be back with brand new episodes very soon! It’s October 4th. In 1776, Benjamin Franklin is headed to France as the Continental Congress’s first diplomat, looking to secure support for the American independence movement. Jody and Kellie are joined by Mike Duncan, history podcaster behind series such as “Revolutions” and “The Fall of Rome.” They discuss Franklin’s diplomatic goal, his taste for the Parisian nightlife — and why the ...
Apr 20, 2023•33 min
We’re re-running some favorite recent episodes this week, and will be back with brand new episodes very soon! It’s December 15th. In 1960, a New Hampshire man lined his car with dynamite and planned to ram in to the limousine in which President-Elect John F Kennedy was riding. He ditched his plan at the last second, and was arrested shortly after. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the plot, the incredible way it was uncovered, and why Kennedy was the target of such hatred even before he took office...
Apr 18, 2023•13 min
It’s April 13th. This day 1810, a new canal is being built in Washington, DC in an attempt to give a little logic to the topography of the nation’s capital. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why DC was built where it was, and the persistent idea that DC is a “swamp” in both the literal and metaphorical sense. 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...
Apr 13, 2023•19 min
It’s April 11th. This day in 1962, ads are appearing in Louisiana newspapers offering one-way bus rides to northern cities for Black southerners. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the plan on the part of the racist Louisiana Citizens Council to mount “reverse freedom rides,” shipping Black southerners to northern cities. 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 ...
Apr 11, 2023•16 min
It’s April 8th. This day in 1994, the Florida legislature passed a bill that would offer some reparations and support for descendents of the Rosewood Massacre, when a Black town was burned down in 1923. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the original incident in Rosewood, the way the story faded from history for decades, and why in the early 90s there was a push to recognize and offer compensation for the tragedy. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff we recommended...
Apr 09, 2023•18 min
It’s April 6th. This day in 1926, a massive oil fire near San Luis Obispo, California is enveloping the area in smoke and heat and creating its own weather system. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss what came to be known as the Tank Fire, how the oil industry was lightly regulated in this era — and how you try to put out a miles-long river of fire. 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 Esote...
Apr 06, 2023•13 min
It’s April 3rd. This day in 1990, the Arizona Senate votes to remove Governor Evan Mecham from office — for all sorts of reasons. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss Mecham’s very sketchy track record on race, corruption, abuse of power and more; and how he ended up in office to begin with. 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 P...
Apr 04, 2023•19 min
It’s April 2nd. This day in 1910, a Louisiana senator proposes allocating a quarter of a million dollars to import hippos from Africa and grow them in American swamps, then harvest them for food. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Dan Pashman of The Sporkful to talk about how the hippo plan was intended to solve a hunger and ecological crisis — and why Americans never quite found the taste for hippo meat. Be sure to check out Dan’s podcast and the new pasta shape he created ! Sign up for our n...
Apr 02, 2023•26 min
It’s March 20th. This day in 1959, a skirmish between the fisheries police and an oyster boat results in the death of a Virginia oysterman — and sheds light on a decades-long battle known as the “Oyster Wars.” Jody, NIki, and Kellie are joined by Dr Christine Keiner of RIT to discuss why there was so much tension and violence along the Chesapeake Bay, going all the way back in the mid-1800s. Be sure to check out Christine’s book The Oyster Question: Scientists, Watermen, and the Maryland Chesape...
Mar 30, 2023•20 min
It’s March 27th. This day in 2009, the US is responding to the outbreak of the H1N1 flu, which would soon be a global pandemic. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Dr James Hamblin of the Yale School of Public Health to discuss the fairly strategic and effective response to that pandemic — and the lessons we failed to learn heading into future outbreaks. 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 D...
Mar 28, 2023•25 min
It’s March 27th. This day in 1863, Jefferson Davis declared a “day of fasting and prayer” to support the Confederate cause in the Civil War. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the role of days like this — the fasting was as much about food shortages as anything — and how religion and the cause of the war mixed for both north and south. 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...
Mar 26, 2023•19 min
