This Day (An America 250 History Show)

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Early Prohibition and The Rise of Weird Liquor Laws (1838) Jan 27, 2022

Show notes

IT’s January 27th. This day in 1838, some 80 years before national prohibition, the country’s first liquor restriction was passed.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how the temperance movement gained momentum alongside other moral crusades in the mid-19th century, and how we are still living with a weird patchwork of alcohol laws around the country.

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 U.S. Almost Nukes Itself (1961) Jan 25, 2022

Show notes

It’s December 25th. In 1961, on the night of January 23rd, a bomber carrying two massive nuclear weapons broke up in the sky over eastern North Carolina. The bombs came crashing to the ground and an investigation later revealed that they had gone through several of the steps required for detonation.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the near-disaster, how many times the U.S. has come close to this sort of incident, and the big “what if” at the heart of this story.

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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Carter Pardons Draft Dodgers (1977) Jan 23, 2022

Show notes

It’s January 23rd. This day in 1977, on his first day in office, President Jimmy Carter pardoned Americans who had evaded service in the Vietnam War.

Jody, Nicole, and Kellie discuss how Carter saw a difference between “pardon” and “amnesty” for draft dodgers, the various ways in which people got out of military service, and how much this decision set the tone for the entire Carter presidency.

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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Lurleen Wallace, Proxy Governor (1967) Jan 20, 2022

Show notes

It’s January 20th. This day in 1967, Lurleen Wallace took office as the Govenor of Alabama, only the third female governor in the United States history.

She was the wife of segregationist governor George Wallace, who was unable to run because of term limits. Instead, he asked his wife to run and they campaigned on a thinly-disguised “two governors, one cause” platform.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the dynamic between the Wallace’s, the proxy campaign — and how Lurleen Wallace’s health struggles and eventual death in office affect how we should view the story.

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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Silver Shenanigans (1980) w/ Bijan Stephen Jan 18, 2022

Show notes

It’s January 18th. This day in 1980, a group of Texas oil billionaires were in the middle of a scheme to drive up the worldwide price of silver. This would culminate in a few months later on what came to be known as “Silver Thursday,” when their speculation collapsed and sent worldwide markets into chaos.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Bijan Stephen, host of the podcast “Eclipsed,” which is currently running a four-part series on the Hunt brothers and Silver Thursday.

Listen to Eclipsed wherever you get your podcasts.

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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The Great Boston Molasses Flood (1919) w/ Cara Giaimo Jan 16, 2022

Show notes

It’s January 16th. This day in 1919, the North End neighborhood of Boston is digging out from under 2.3 million gallons of molasses, which flooded city streets after a storage tank burst.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by science and history writer Cara Giaimo to discuss how the flood has been reduced to a quirky tidbit of history, when in fact it should be taken serious as an industrial disaster that could have been prevented.

Cara wrote about the flood for Atlas Obscura in 2019 and also did a great Twitter thread touring the North End and looking for clues of the disaster.

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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The Hawaii (False) Missile Alert (2018) Jan 13, 2022

Show notes

It’s January 13th. This day in 2018, at 8:07am, residents of Hawaii received a disturbing alert on their phones: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL..

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the false alert, how the mistake was made, and how residents of Hawaii reacted in the almost 40 minutes before word got out that it was a false alarm.

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 Harrisburg Seven's Plot to Kidnap Kissinger (1971) Jan 11, 2022

Show notes

It’s January 11th. This day in 1971, the federal government charged a group of anti-war activists, led by Catholic priest Father Phillip Berrigan, in a scheme to bomb tunnels in Washington DC and kidnap Henry Kissinger.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the details of the plot, Berrigan’s life of activism, and how it mixed with his religious pacifism.

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

Declaring "War" on Poverty (1964) Jan 09, 2022

Show notes

It’s January 9th. In 1964, in his State of the Union speech, president Johnson declared “war on poverty.” It was part of his ambitious Great Society agenda to remake American lives from birth to death.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the language that Johnson used in his speech, and how branding an effort as a “war” can help or hurt a cause.

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, Executive Producer at Radiotopia

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

January 6th, In Context (2021) Jan 06, 2022

Show notes

This episode, a conversation about the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol one year ago, and how the stories and themes we’ve discussed on this show can help us understand what took place.

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, Executive Producer at Radiotopia

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

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