This Day (An America 250 History Show)

Latest Episodes:

Latasha Harlins and the LA Riots (1991) Mar 15, 2022

Show notes

It’s March 15th. On March 16th, 1991, a young girl, Latasha Harlins, was killed by a shopkeeper in South Central Los Angeles.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how Harlins’s death led to outrage in the Black community in LA, inflamed Korean-American and African-American tensions, and eventually fed into the riots and violence around the Rodney King beating.

Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com

And don’t forget about Oprahdemics, hosted by Kellie, coming soon from Radiotopia.

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; Julie Shapiro and Audrey Mardavich, Executive Producers at Radiotopia

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The US Hunts Pancho Villa (1916) Mar 13, 2022

Show notes

It’s March 13th. This day in 1916, some 6,000 US troops are getting ready to enter Mexico to track down rebel leader Pancho Villa.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why President Wilson sent the troops into Mexico, and what it said about US meddling around the world, and colonial ambitions, in that era.

Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com

And don’t forget about Oprahdemics, hosted by Kellie, coming soon from Radiotopia.

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

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A Raisin In The Sun (1959) Mar 10, 2022

Show notes

It’s March 10th. This day in 1959, “A Raisin In The Sun” debuted on Broadway. It was the first Broadway show written by an African-American woman, and marked the arrival of Loraine Hansberry as a major creative force.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie talk about the play’s critique of the mid-century American dream, Hansberry’s creative peers, and the legacy she left despite her short life.

Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com

And don’t forget about Oprahdemics, hosted by Kellie, coming soon from Radiotopia.

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

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We Are The World (1985) Mar 08, 2022

Show notes

It’s March 8th. This day in 1985, a song was released featuring virtually every major American music star, to raise money and awareness about the famine in Ethiopia.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how “We Are The World” came together, some of the stories from the recording session, and what the effort teaches us about charity, celebrity, and effective advocacy.

Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com

And don’t forget about Oprahdemics, hosted by Kellie, coming soon from Radiotopia.

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

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

The War on Pinball (1948) w/ Harry Siegel Mar 06, 2022

Show notes

It’s March 6th. This day in 1948, New York City’s war on pinball was raging, with police smashing machines

Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Harry Siegel of The Daily Beast and The Daily News to discuss why Mayor La Guardia was so concerned with pinball machines and the long history of vice policing in New York City.

Listen to Harry’s podcast FAQ NYC for all things NYC!

(Harry also recommended Italo Calvino’s T Zero, which you can find here)

Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com

And don’t forget about Oprahdemics, hosted by Kellie, coming soon from Radiotopia.

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

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

The Woman Behind The New Deal (1933) w/ Jenny Kaplan Mar 03, 2022

Show notes

It’s March 3rd. This day in 1933, Frances Perkins is appointed Secretary of Labor, the first woman to hold a cabinet position.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Jenny Kaplan of Womanica to discuss Perkins’ role inside the FDR administration, the way she navigated both her person and professional worlds — and whether Perkins was the real architect of the New Deal.

Be sure to subscribe to the Womanica podcast wherever you get your shows!

Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com

And don’t forget about Oprahdemics, hosted by Kellie, coming soon from Radiotopia.

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

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

Mixing at Mardi Gras (1992) w/ Oliver Thomas Mar 01, 2022

Show notes

It’s March 1st, the first day of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. This day in 1992, a city ordinance mandating that all Mardi Gras krewes be integrated in order to march on city streets is in effect — making this a Mardi Gras unlike any in history.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by New Orleans city Councilman Oliver Thomas (also a poet, actor, and radio host) to talk about what the new law means for the very old tradition, and how difficult it is to enforce legal discrimination laws in largely social contexts.

Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com

And don’t forget about Oprahdemics, hosted by Kellie, coming soon from Radiotopia.

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

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

Lincoln At Cooper Union, The Speech That Changed Everything (1860) Feb 27, 2022

Show notes

It’s February 27th. This day in 1860, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech at the Cooper Union in New York City. Before the speech, he was relatively unknown and not considered a viable candidate for president in that fall’s election. This speech changed everything.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how the speech both boosted Lincoln as a candidate, but also laid out his intellectual vision — one that was as much about continually evolving ideas on slavery as anything.

Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com

And don’t forget about Oprahdemics, hosted by Kellie, coming soon from Radiotopia.

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

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

Our Favorite "Making Trouble" Stories Feb 24, 2022

Show notes

All this week, shows across the Radiotopia network are doing special episodes around the theme of “making trouble.” It’s being done to celebrate the Radiotopia fundraiser. If you want to support our work, become a member today at https://on.prx.org/367yNHv

For our contribution, we talk about how the word “trouble” has meant different things in different points in history. Then, we each nominate our favorite historical troublemakers.

Who’s yours? Let us know at thisdaypod.com or on social @thisdaypod

Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com

And don’t forget about Oprahdemics, hosted by Kellie, coming soon from Radiotopia.

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

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

Birth of The Peace Symbol (1958) w/ Ian Chillag Feb 22, 2022

Show notes

It’s the Radiotopia fundraiser! We couldn’t make this show without your support. Become a member now at radiotopia.fm

It’s February 22nd. This day in 1958, in advance of a massive nuclear disarmament protest in London, designer Gerald Holtom came up with a simple design that would go on to be the logo not just for the no-nukes movement, but come to be known as the peace symbol.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Ian Chillag of Everything is Alive to talk about Holtom’s original design, whether the peace symbol is now hopelessly cheesy — and whether it will ever come back into fashion.

Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com

And don’t forget about Oprahdemics, hosted by Kellie, coming soon from Radiotopia.

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

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

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