This Day (An America 250 History Show)

Latest Episodes:

Ollie! (1994) Jun 06, 2021

Show notes

Want to see the “Big List of Ideas” document we use to plan the show? Become a Radiotopia member today, let us know, and we’ll give you a glimpse behind the scenes.

Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories.

Donate today at https://on.prx.org/3wl9pWn

It’s June 6th. This day in 1994 (June 4th, in fact) disgraced former National Security Council advisor Oliver North wins the GOP primary for the Virginia Senate race. He would go on to lose in an extremely close election.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss North’s second act, how the 1994 campaign was an extremely modern and ugly affair, and how there are indeed second acts in American life.

Find a transcript of this episode at: https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory

This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

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

Zoot Suit Riots (1943) w/ Emily Spivak Jun 03, 2021

Show notes

It’s the Radiotopia Spring Fundraiser! Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories.

Donate today at https://on.prx.org/3wl9pWn

It’s June 3rd. This day in 1943 marked the start of the “Zoot Suit Riots,” a series of skirmishes and attacks in Los Angeles targeting Mexican-Americans, who were often identified by their flashy ensembles.

Jody, Niki and Kellie are joined by Emily Spivack of “Worn Stories” to discuss the causes of the riots, how the zoot suit became a political symbol, and whether super-baggy clothes are on their way back.

Check out Emily’s “Worn Stories” book and the new series on Netflix!

Find a transcript of this episode at: https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory

This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

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

Harriet The Spy (1863) Jun 01, 2021

Show notes

It’s the Radiotopia Spring Fundraiser! Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories.

Donate today at https://on.prx.org/3wl9pWn

It’s June 1st. This day in 1863, Harriet Tubman led Union soldiers on a nighttime to free some 700 enslaved people in South Carolina.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the Combahee River Raid, where it fits into Harriet Tubman’s long and varied life, and whether Tubman’s legacy has become flattened and distorted.

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

The Day Before The Tulsa Massacre (1921) w/ Cord Jefferson May 30, 2021

Show notes

It’s the Radiotopia Spring Fundraiser! Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories.

Donate today at https://on.prx.org/3wl9pWn

It’s May 30th. This day in 1921 was the day before a white mob descended on the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, burning hundreds of buildings to the ground in what was known as “Black Wall Street.”

Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Cord Jefferson, writer for the HBO series “Watchmen,” which opens during the massacre and helped to introduce the story of Tulsa for many viewers. They discuss what Greenwood looked like just before the riots, and how the massacre led to generations of lost wealth for Black Oklahomans.

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

Voyage of the Damned (1939) May 27, 2021

Show notes

It’s May 27th. This day in 1939, authorities in Cuba turned away the SS St. Louis, a ship full of Jewish refugees escaping Nazi persecution in Germany. The U.S. and Canada would also turn the ship away, which had to eventually return to Europe.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the voyage of the St. Louis, and how it helps us understand the way the U.S. has treated refugees throughout history.

It’s the Radiotopia Spring Fundraiser! Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories.

Donate today at https://on.prx.org/3wl9pWn

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

The Unabomber Gets His Start (1978) May 25, 2021

Show notes

It’s May 25th. This day in 1978, a suspicious package mailed to a university in Chicago blows up.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the start of what would be a 15-year campaign by Ted Kaczynski to mail packages to universities, airlines, and other people he saw as causing the advance of modernity and the destruction of the environment. Kaczynski would eventually be captured and be known as “The Unabomber.”

Find a transcript of this episode at: https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory

This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

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

A Texas Dem Split (1944) May 23, 2021

Show notes

It’s May 23rd. This day in 1944, Texas Democrats hold two competing conventions ahead of the fall’s election, with the party split over FDR’s policies and larger civil rights issues.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the roots of the split, and the way in which internal fractures within a party can plant the seeds for political re-alignment.

Find a transcript of this episode at: https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory

This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

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

Slow Your Roll (1901) May 20, 2021

Show notes

It’s May 20th. This day in 1901, Connecticut passed the first ever speed limit law for automobiles in the United States.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the chaos of the city streets, the rise of automobile regulation, and how anxieties over speed help define us.

Find a transcript of this episode at: https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory

This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

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

Dan Quayle vs Murphy Brown (1992) May 18, 2021

Show notes

It’s May 18th. This day in 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle gave a speech about the erosion of “family values” in America, and towards the end criticized the TV show Murphy Brown, in which the main character had recently become a single mother.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the ensuing controversy, and how it mirrors the culture wars of today.

Find a transcript of this episode at: https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory

This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

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 First Radio Debate (1948) May 16, 2021

Show notes

It’s May 16th. This day in 1948, New York Governor Thomas E Dewey and former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen were preparing for the first nationally broadcast presidential debate.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how the debate came together and the way in which it centered around one provocative question.

Find a transcript of this episode at: https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory

This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

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 TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

This Day (An America 250 History Show)

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected