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
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
