This Day (An America 250 History Show)

Latest Episodes:

Tractorcade! (1979) Feb 07, 2023

Show notes

It’s February 7th. This day in 1979, thousands of tractors descended on Washington, D.C. as part of a protest over agricultural policy.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why farmers were upset with the Carter administration’s economic policy, how D.C. residents felt about the tractors — and what happened when a blizzard descended on the city.

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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

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

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Huey Long Invents a Bank Holiday (1933) Feb 05, 2023

Show notes

It’s February 4th. This day in 1933, Louisiana Senator Huey Long invents a holiday out of whole cloth in order to close banks and prevent a bank run.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the bank needed to close, and how Long settled on commemorating the day in 1917 when the US cut off diplomatic relations with Germany.

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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 future topics, or just want to say hello. Our website is thisdaypod.com Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, 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

Laddie Boy! First Celebrity Presidential Pet (1929) Feb 02, 2023

Show notes

It’s February 2nd. This day in 1929, Laddie Boy died and the country mourned.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss Warren Harding’s dog, and why he was such a beloved celebrity.

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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 future topics, or just want to say hello. Our website is thisdaypod.com Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, 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

Carter Hacks Iowa (1976) Jan 31, 2023

Show notes

It’s January 31st. This day in 1976, Jimmy Carter is coming out of Iowa having rocketed to the top of the Democratic nomination field. This is in large part because he was the first to recognize the particular way in which the Iowa caucus system favored a certain kind of politics.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why Carter was such a great fit for the Iowa style of campaign politics.

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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 future topics, or just want to say hello. Our website is thisdaypod.com Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, 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

Elian Gonzalez, Stuck in the US (2000) w/ Geraldo Cadava Jan 29, 2023

Show notes

It’s January 29th. This day in 2000, the Cuban relatives of Elian Gonzalez are in the United States arguing that the six-year-old child should be returned to Cuba — while his relatives in Miami and many in the Cuban-American community are fighting for him to be kept in the U.S.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Northwestern history professor Geraldo Cadava to discuss why the Gonzalez story became such a flashpoint, and how it played into the political moment.

Be sure to subscribe to Gerry’s excellent newsletter Latinos in Depth!

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 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. Our website is thisdaypod.com Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, 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 Black Panther Breakfast Program (1969) w/ Mary Phillips Jan 26, 2023

Show notes

It’s January 26th. This day in 1969, free meals are being handed out to kids in Oakland, California as part of the Black Panther Party Free for Children Breakfast Program.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie are joined by Mary Phillips, history professor at Lehman College, to discuss why the panthers started the program, how it reflected the community work they were doing — and how it subverted gender roles within the organization.

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 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. Our website is thisdaypod.com Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, 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 Billy Possum Craze (1909) Jan 24, 2023

Show notes

It’s January 24th. This day in 1909, the administration of William Howard Taft has gone completely possum crazy — and is desperately trying to make “Billy Possum” a mascot along the lines of the Teddy Bear.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Taft was so infatuated with the possum, and the key differences between the origin stories of the Teddy Bear and Billy Possum marketing campaigns.

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 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. Our website is thisdaypod.com Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, 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 Lumbees vs. the KKK (1958) Jan 22, 2023

Show notes

It’s January 22nd. This day in 1958, near Maxton, North Carolina, a KKK rally was broken up by a group of armed members of the Lumbee tribe.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss what came to be known as the “Battle of Hayes Pond,” the relationship between Black, White, and Native Americans in the region, and the role of armed resistance in the Civil Rights era.

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 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. Our website is thisdaypod.com Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, 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 Donkey and the Elephant (1870) Jan 19, 2023

Show notes

It’s January 19h. This day in 1870, a political cartoon by Thomas Mast depicts a donkey to represent southern Democrats. Around this same time, Nast also starts to use the elephant for Republicans.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the very convoluted origins of the very strange mascots — and whether the donkey-elephant divide even works anymore.

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 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. Our website is thisdaypod.com Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, 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

Topsy the Elephant is Electrocuted (1903) Jan 17, 2023

Show notes

It’s January 16th. This day in 1903, film of the electrocution of an elephant, Topsy, is being viewed in kinetoscopes across the country. Topsy was executed on Coney Island a few weeks earlier.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the story of Topsy’s death lands at a moment when there are lots of changes in the way Americans thought about electricity, corporal punishment, animal rights — and how the death evokes the spectacle and bloodlust of the lynching era.

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 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. Our website is thisdaypod.com Follow us on social @thisdaypod

Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, 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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