It's January 9th. This day in 1964, riots broke out in the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone over the flying of a Panamanian flag alongside the U.S. flag at a local High School. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the roots of the tensions in the zone, and how these riots created a flashpoint that eventually led to renegotiations of the Panama Canal treaty, and return of the canal to local control. Plus: what to make of Trump's claims that he wants to get control back. Sign up for our newsletter! Get...
Jan 09, 2025•21 min
It's January 7th. Today, we take a look at the history of presidential pardons, which often take place at the end of an outgoing president's term. Joe Biden is expected to -- and is being pressured to -- grant a number of pardons over the next few weeks. Jody, NIki, and Kellie are joined by Shannon Lynch of the New America Foundation to look at the history of pardons, why they are often used for what seems like self-dealing, and how they can occasionally be used to right wrongs in the justice sy...
Jan 07, 2025•25 min
It's January 4th. This day, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing enslaved Americans in the South. It also freed up Black soldiers to fight for the Union army -- but many of them found conditions in the military restrictive and oppressive as well. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Jonathan Lande of Purdue University to discuss what life was like for Black soldiers -- and why many of them chose to escape from the army as well. Jonathan's latest book is call...
Jan 05, 2025•24 min
Happy New Year, everyone! What will 2025 bring? We're not in the prediction business, but we do think there's a lot of history that can help us navigate whatever this year has in store. We discuss which historical era and theme we have at the top of mind, how to stay engaged as things seem to be spiraling out of control; and what we want this little podcast of ours to be in the coming year. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In ...
Jan 02, 2025•30 min
We wrap up the year by talking about the death of Jimmy Carter, who we've done almost ten episodes about -- and was president during a period of American history that has lots of lessons for today. Then, we talk about 2024 - our favorite episodes, some of the big ideas that got us through the year, and more. Next episode we'll look forward to 2025. Happy New Year, everyone! This is a video episode -- be sure to catch the full video on our YouTube page: youtube.com/@ThisDayPod Sign up for our new...
Dec 30, 2024•36 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** // Today we're bringing you a favorite episode from the archives! 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. ...
Dec 29, 2024•19 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** // Today we're bringing you a favorite episode from the archives! It’s February 6th. This day in 1987, federal regulations go into effect limiting where federal workers can smoke cigarettes. Smoking rooms, smoking couches, and the little designated smoking areas on sidewalks spring up as a res...
Dec 26, 2024•28 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** It's December 24th. This day in 1982, the Reagan administration is putting focus on the high rates of drunk driving on American roads, especially around the holidays. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how the push to combat drunk driving was a mix of grassroots efforts, government policy, social ...
Dec 24, 2024•20 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** It's December 21th. This day in 1956, President Eisenhower is on his annual retreat to Augusta National golf course in Georgia -- and he is waging a vendetta against a pine tree that keeps getting in the way of his shots. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why Ike was so obsessed with this tree, h...
Dec 22, 2024•15 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** It's December 18th. This day (or thereabouts) President Polk gave a speech in which he confirmed reports that gold had been found in the hills of California. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how 1848 was a year of gold rush fever, and how Polk's speech added a major political and economic elemen...
Dec 19, 2024•16 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** //// [Today we're bringing you an episode from the archives] It’s September 29th. This day in 1896, a postal worker sets out to deliver the mail to ten rural towns in West Virginia. It’s the start of the Rural Free Delivery service. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the program changed the wa...
Dec 17, 2024•19 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** //// [Today we're bringing you an episode from the archives] It’s February 23rd. This day in 1954, children in Pittsburgh began to receive vaccines as part of the first clinical trials for Dr Jonas Salk’s polio eradication efforts. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the arrival of the vaccine, the...
Dec 15, 2024•21 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** It's December 12th. In 2000, the contested election between Bush and Gore finally comes to a close with a Supreme Court ruling -- and a concession speech. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Leon Neyfakh to discuss Gore's speech, in which he deferred to both the court's ruling and the electio...
Dec 12, 2024•30 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** It's December 9th. In 1997, Bill Clinton hosted a series of town hall conversations about America's race relations. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Clinton felt the town hall format was the best way to convene these events, and why the "national conversation on race" didn't lead to much act...
Dec 10, 2024•27 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** Today, with the release of WICKED in movie theaters, we look at the many political interpretations of "The Wizard of Oz." Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Ranjit Dighe, chair of the Economics department at SUNY-Oswego, to discuss the theory that "The Wizard of Oz" is a parable about the 18...
Dec 08, 2024•32 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** Jody, Niki, and Kellie continue their conversation with Wright Thompson, author of "The Barn," about how the story of Emmett Till's death stretches back for centuries, and how we can try to reconcile memory and history in modern America. Wright's new book is available now wherever you get your...
Dec 05, 2024•16 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** It's December 3rd. This day in 1955, the Civil Rights movement is gaining attention across the South and the country, due in part to the protest by Rosa Parks, and the death of 14-year-old Emmett Till earlier that summer. Both acts are often portrayed as singular moments of protest and tragedy...
Dec 03, 2024•29 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** /// It’s November 26th. On this day in 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had declared that Thanksgiving would take place a week earlier than usual. Americans were not happy. Jody and Niki are joined by Adam Conover of “Adam Ruins Everything” and the podcast Factually to discuss why FDR...
Nov 28, 2024•23 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** It's November 26th. This day, in 2000, the US Congress passed an agriculture subsidy bill that included a substantial financial bailout for apple growers in Washington State. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why growers were in so much trouble -- mostly because they'd foisted the substandard "Re...
Nov 26, 2024•22 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** It's November 24th. This day in 1922, seven Western States enter into the Colorado River Compact, which splits up access to the water supply from the major river -- but cuts out access to indigenous tribes. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by reporter Charly Edsitty to discuss how the compact...
Nov 24, 2024•22 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** It's November 21st. This day in 1977, the National Women's Conference in Houston is coming to a close after a joyous but tense event. It would be the first and last conference of its kind. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the conference came together, how it tried to bring together the many ...
Nov 21, 2024•22 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** As Trump floats RFK Jr -- a fluoride skeptic -- as a possible name to lead the Heath and Human Services department, we thought we'd bring you an episode from the archives about when fluoride first came to the United States. /// It’s January 24th. On this day in 1945, the town of Grand Rapids, ...
Nov 19, 2024•16 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** All this week, we're joined by Nate DiMeo of The Memory Palace to talk about his new book , his long-running podcast, and the art of history storytelling. Be sure to get your copy of Nate's new book " The Memory Palace " now! Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find o...
Nov 17, 2024•24 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** All this week, we're joined by Nate DiMeo of The Memory Palace to talk about his new book , his long-running podcast, and the art of history storytelling. Today: Jody, Niki, Kellie and Nate discuss how the legend of Plymouth Rock got worked into US history, more than a century after the actual...
Nov 14, 2024•25 min
**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate** All this week, we're joined by Nate DiMeo of The Memory Palace to talk about his new book , his long-running podcast, and the art of history storytelling. Today: Jody, Niki, Kellie and Nate discuss the story of Hercules Posey, a man enslaved by George Washington, how it complicates Washington'...
Nov 12, 2024•25 min
It's November 9th. This day in 1970, a Soviet computer scientist named Victor Glushkov pitched to his bosses for a series of decentralized computer networks that would share information with one another. In other words: an early internet. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Kevin Roose of the New York Times to discuss Glushkov's ambitious idea, why it ultimately clashed with Soviet-style innovation, and how it may have spurred the US to advance its efforts to develop the first computer networks...
Nov 10, 2024•24 min
One final episode about the 2024 election, as we gather to discuss Donald Trump's decisive victory on Tuesday night, how to place it in historical context, and what comes next. And these will all be video episodes! So if you'd like to watch the conversation, visit our YouTube page. www.youtube.com/@ThisDayPod 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 h...
Nov 06, 2024•28 min
Happy Election Day! Today we're bringing you an episode from earlier this year about how we ended up with Tuesday as our voting day to begin with. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why that day was designated, and the many pitfalls that now exist around the fact that Election Day is only one day, and on a Tuesday. 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...
Nov 05, 2024•17 min
On Sundays between now and the election, we're going to dip into the 2024 race to talk about the latest events -- plus offer some historical perspective. And these will all be video episodes! So if you'd like to watch the conversation, visit our YouTube page. www.youtube.com/@ThisDayPod Today, Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the final days of the campaign, how to process polling, and Kellie tells the tale of her missing lawn signs. This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radio...
Nov 03, 2024•34 min
It's October 31st. Happy Halloween! In October 1974, Saturday Night Live premiered and, from the jump, included political satire. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the way that SNL's spoofs have changed, whether their skits have had a political impact -- and why it can be a struggle to do spoofs in the Trump era. 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 supp...
Oct 31, 2024•23 min
