This Day (An America 250 History Show)

Latest Episodes:

Franklin's French Fantasies w/ Mike Duncan (Revolutionary Rerun) Jul 19, 2026

Show notes

As we take a mid-summer-post-4th-of-July break, we are bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives about the Revolutionary era. We'll be back with new "50 Weeks That Shaped America" episodes 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 values of the Founding Fathers continue to be contested and politicized.

Check out Mike’s book “Hero of Two Worlds.”

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This Day 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 future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia.

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Lexington, Concord, and Menotomy? (Revolutionary Rerun) Jul 16, 2026

Show notes

It's April 1775. This day in 1775, the Revolutionary War is sparked when British troops enter the towns of Lexington and Concord. But later that same day there's a third battle in a third town that is often forgotten.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss what happened in the town of Menotomy, how the fighting there was much more brutal than in Lexington and Concord -- and why it has been written out of the tidy story of the Revolution.

This Day 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 future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia.

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Liberty Trees (Revolutionary Rerun) Jul 14, 2026

Show notes

It's October 22nd. This day in 1999, in Annapolis, MD, the last of the so-called "Liberty Trees" was cut down.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the original liberty trees that served as gathering spots for political ideas to be shared -- and political violence to play out -- during the American revolution. And they make the case for bringing back gatherings-under-trees as a political act.

This Day 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 future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Ben Franklin's ALMANACK (Revolutionary Rerun) Jul 12, 2026

Show notes

It’s December 19th. This day in 1732, Benjamin Franklin first published “Poor Richard’s Almanack” — his book of weather forecast, practical advice, and all sorts of aphorisms about living your best life.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why the Almanack became such a sensation in Colonial America, and why his advice still feels like it could find an audience today.

This Day 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 future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Mid-Year Mailbag w/ Jody, Niki, and Kellie Jul 05, 2026

Show notes

Coming off the 4th of July weekend, we check in on how the big America 250 celebrations went, how we marked the day, and answer some listener questions about this year, and this show. Thanks to everyone who checked in, we've got a few special things lined up over the next couple weeks -- and of course "50 Weeks That Shaped America" continues through the summer and into the second half of the year!

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The Declaration of Independence (Live from Boston) w/ A.J. Jacobs Jul 03, 2026

Show notes

For this 4th of July weekend, our "50 Weeks That Shaped America" series lands in, no surprise, 1776 and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 250 years ago, a group writing assignment fell in Thomas Jefferson's lap, and he drafted a document that spurred a revolution.

Jody, Niki and Kellie travelled up to Boston to WBUR's Cityspace and were joined by A.J. Jacobs, author of "The Year of Living Constitutionally" to talk about how the document came together, some of the key changes that were made to it -- and how it has served as a guiding light in the 250 years since.

This Day 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 future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Books We'd Save From A Fire (Part 2) w/ Jon Meacham Jul 02, 2026

Show notes

We continue our 250-year look at the most significant works of history by looking at the rise of popular presidential biography, and the correctives to history offered over the last 15 years. Plus, books that have aged well, aged poorly, and the ones we'd save from the flames...

This Day 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 future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Books That Shaped America w/ Jon Meacham (Part 1) Jun 30, 2026

Show notes

This week, as we head to the 4th of July weekend, we are bringing you a special two-part episode that provides a capstone for our month-long collaboration with Random House about the books that have shaped American history.

Over almost two hours, we took a 250-year-tour of the books that shaped this country’s history. Niki, Kellie and Jody were joined by Pulitzer-prize winning presidential historian Jon Meacham, who is also Niki’s fellow Vanderbilt professor.

We tried to touch on a lot of books, and also group them into basic schools of thought that we could use to trace how the story of American history shifted over time.

For a full list of the books discussed, check out our newsletter.

This Day 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 future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

A Nation Of Readers: Poetry, Essay, Hanif and Javier Jun 28, 2026

Show notes

Hanif Abdurraqib and Javier Zamora both float between poetry, memoir, essay, spoken word and more -- finding the right form to explore their personal experience within American history. They join Jody Avirgan to discuss their work and its impact.

For the past 250 years of America’s existence, books have been fundamental instruments through which we preserve, interpret, and engage in history as an ongoing practice of free expression.

At “This Day”, we’re partnering with Random House, the legendary book publisher, to bring you a special, month-long series called “A Nation of Readers.” In this series, we’ll be talking to an all-star cast of authors -- all published by Random House --- about how books and the act of distributing ideas through publishing shape and reshape American history.

We'll have new episodes every Sunday in the This Day feed, and a special two-part episode in the final week of June.

Find out more about A Nation Of Readers here.

This Day 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 future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Stonewall: Does It Matter Who Threw The First Brick? (Part 2) Jun 25, 2026

Show notes

Our conversation about the 1969 riots at the Stonewall Inn continues with an account of how the tension ratcheted up that night -- and how the story of that night has been shared and contested over the decades since.

This Day 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 future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

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