It's February 6th. This day in 1968, 82 crewmembers of the U.S.S. Pueblo have been captured by North Korea, setting off a major hostage crisis in the midst of an already very tumultuous year. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the Pueblo came to be captured, what the eleven-month negotiations revealed about U.S. power, and why the incident isn't as well-remembered as some of the other events of 1968. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com Th...
Feb 06, 2025•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's February 4th. This day in 1980, the story is breaking about the FBI's "ABSCAM" operation -- a bribery sting that ended up implicating many congressman and other elected officials. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the sting morphed from art theft to political corruption, the murky line between political maneuvering and corruption, and the waning appetite for political shenanigans post-Watergate. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com T...
Feb 04, 2025•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today, an episode from the archives that may provide some context for the news playing out today. We'll be doing more Sunday episodes -- from the archives and fresh conversations -- throghout the first year of the second Trump administration. /// It’s December 17th. This day in 1978, holiday travelers are flying around the country under a regulatory system that was about to come to an end. The next year, the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 would kick in. Jody, NIki, and Kellie are joined by Gan...
Feb 02, 2025•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's January 29th. In 1964, because of an impasse over redistricting, the state of Illinois held elections in which every candidate was at-large. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss what happened when voters entered the booth and were confronted with 118 races to weigh in on. 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 foster independent, artist-owned p...
Jan 30, 2025•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's January 28th. This day in 1888, a new society is formed in Washington D.C. to support the exploration of the entire globe -- and soon thereafter the magazine bearing its name would hit the shelves. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the National Geographic Society was founded, how it fit into the late 19th century American vision of the world, and how the magazine took off in the years since. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com This ...
Jan 28, 2025•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's January 25th. This day in 1939, Republicans in Congress are holding hearings to impeach labor secretary Frances Perkins, claiming that she'd failed to deport a communist labor organizer. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Rebecca Brenner Graham to discuss why they were going after Perkins in this moment, and how the impeachment effort fits into the wide scope of Perkins's politics and activism. Rebecca Brenner Graham, postdoctoral research associate at Brown University and author of the n...
Jan 26, 2025•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's January 23rd. This day, we discuss Donald Trump's first 48 hours, and how other presidents have spent their first hours, days, and weeks in office. 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 foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories. If you want to support the show directly, you can do so on our website: ThisDayPod.c...
Jan 23, 2025•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's January 21st. This day in 2017, millions of people marched in Washington, DC and across the United States to protest for women's rights and against the inauguration of Donald Trump. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the "pussy hat" movement was born, what it symbolized about resistance to the first Trump administration -- and how resistance will look very different for the next four years. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Da...
Jan 21, 2025•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's January 19th. Today, we look at Joe Biden's farewell address, and the history of presidential goodbyes. 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 foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories. If you want to support the show directly, you can do so on our website: ThisDayPod.com Get in touch if you have any ideas for fu...
Jan 19, 2025•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's January 16th. 1920, at midnight (of the 17th) the Volstead Act took hold, bringing prohibition to the United States. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why this did very little to actually curb alcohol consumption, in those first hours and beyond. Plus, some thoughts on the decline of drinking in our modern age. 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 suppo...
Jan 16, 2025•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's January 14th. This day in 1864, an Illinois woman by the name of Elizabeth Packard is on trial, claiming that she has been wrongfully imprisoned -- and accused of insanity -- by her husband. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Therese O'Neill to discuss why Packard was sent to a mental institution to begin with, how she argued for freedom from her husband, and her subsequent career of activism. Therese is the author of the book " Unbecoming A Lady: The Forgotten Sluts and Shrews Who Shaped...
Jan 14, 2025•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today, we're honored to present an episode of a wonderful new podcast -- " A Breach Repairer's Song ," hosted by Yara Allen and Rev. William Barber. A Breach Repairer's Song is an immersive series soundtracking the marriage between music as an art form and music as a tool for activism. Through interview, retrospection, and the dissection of one song per episode, this show explores the deep roots music and the pursuit of justice and equity have in America's history—and how song can move us to act...
Jan 12, 2025•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast **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•Transcript available on Metacast **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•Transcript available on Metacast **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•Transcript available on Metacast **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•Transcript available on Metacast **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•Transcript available on Metacast **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•Transcript available on Metacast **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•Transcript available on Metacast **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•Transcript available on Metacast **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•Transcript available on Metacast **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•Transcript available on Metacast **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•Transcript available on Metacast **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•Transcript available on Metacast **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•Transcript available on Metacast 
