This Day in Esoteric Political History - Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia

2024 Election Sunday: Final Days, Polling, Lawn Sings, Balance Nov 03, 2024

On Sundays between now and the election, we're going to dip into the 2024 race to talk about the latest events -- plus offer some historical perspective.

And these will all be video episodes! So if you'd like to watch the conversation, visit our YouTube page.

www.youtube.com/@ThisDayPod

Today, Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the final days of the campaign, how to process polling, and Kellie tells the tale of her missing lawn signs.

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

You can also find our newsletter, merch store, transcripts, and lot more on our site.

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; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

SNL's Political Impact (1974-Present) Oct 31, 2024

It's October 31st. Happy Halloween! In October 1974, Saturday Night Live premiered and, from the jump, included political satire.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the way that SNL's spoofs have changed, whether their skits have had a political impact -- and why it can be a struggle to do spoofs in the Trump era.

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

You can also find our newsletter, merch store, transcripts, and lot more on our site.

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; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

The Harrison-Cleveland Rematch Takes A Pause (1892) Oct 29, 2024

It's October 29rd. This day in 1892, Benjamin Harrison and Grover Cleveland are locked in a presidential election rematch, but not out on the campaign trail in the final days of the election.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the campaigns both took a pause after Harrison's wife died -- and ask whether we need to do all this campaigning anyway.

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

You can also find our newsletter, merch store, transcripts, and lot more on our site.

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; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

Hamilton's Diss Letter To Adams (1800) w/ Lindsay Chervinsky Oct 24, 2024

It's October 23rd. This day in 1800, Alexander Hamilton penned a letter titled "The Public Conduct and Character of John Adams."

Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Lindsay Chervinsky to talk about why Hamilton wrote the scathing letter, and how it played into the politics of the time, just weeks before that year's election.

Lindsay's new book is "Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic"

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

You can also find our newsletter, merch store, transcripts, and lot more on our site.

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; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

Reagan's Age and "Youth and Inexperience" Quip (1984) Oct 22, 2024

It's October 22nd. This day in 1984, Ronald Reagan served up one of the most memorable lines in political history when he said that he would not "exploit, for political purposes, my opponents youth and inexperience."

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why the line was so effective, and how deep the concerns over Reagan's mental fitness really were in the 1984 election.

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

You can also find our newsletter, merch store, transcripts, and lot more on our site.

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; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

2024 Election Sunday: Trump Is Addled, The New Dark Money Oct 20, 2024

On Sundays between now and the election, we're going to dip into the 2024 race to talk about the latest events -- plus offer some historical perspective.

And these will all be video episodes! So if you'd like to watch the conversation, visit our YouTube page.

www.youtube.com/@ThisDayPod

Today, Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the increasingly addled nature of Trump's rallies; how Howard U is treating the Kamala run; and a very unfortunate reference to Arnold Palmer's penis size.
Then they're joined by Dave O'Brien of RepresentUS to talk about the new money flowing into this year's election.

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

You can also find our newsletter, merch store, transcripts, and lot more on our site.

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; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

A Brief History Of Election TV Ads (Part 2) Oct 17, 2024

We continue our look at the history of television ads in American elections. This episode, how ads got so negative, and who watches TV ads anymore anyway?

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

You can also find our newsletter, merch store, transcripts, and lot more on our site.

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; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

A Brief History Of Election TV Ads (Part 1) Oct 15, 2024

As we wrap up our very informal "media ecosystem week" we take a look at the history of television ads in American elections. This episode, how Madison Avenue execs crafted the first ads for Eisenhower, and how the Johnson "Daisy" ad changed the game in 1964.

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

You can also find our newsletter, merch store, transcripts, and lot more on our site.

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; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

2024 Election Sunday: Obama Scolds, A Podcast Election? Oct 13, 2024

On Sundays between now and the election, we're going to dip into the 2024 race to talk about the latest events -- plus offer some historical perspective.

And these will all be video episodes! So if you'd like to watch the conversation, visit our YouTube page.

www.youtube.com/@ThisDayPod

Today, Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the coin-flip nature of the race, Barack Obama's scolding message to Black men, and more.

Then they're joined by Nayeema Raza, co-host of Semafor's Mixed Signals podcast.

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

You can also find our newsletter, merch store, transcripts, and lot more on our site.

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; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

FOX News's First Broadcast (1996) w/ Josh Levin Oct 10, 2024

We're kicking off a series of episodes about the media environment during the election season. Today, a look at the birth of FOX News Channel.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Slate's Josh Levin to talk about the launch of FOX News in October 1996. They discuss how the tensions between journalism and partisanship were present in the channel from the very beginning -- but got supercharged with the 2000 election and the post-9/11 Bush presidency.

Josh's new season of Slow Burn is called "The Rise Of Fox News"

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

You can also find our newsletter, merch store, transcripts, and lot more on our site.

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; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

McCain Suspends Campaign To Deal With Financial Crisis (2008) Oct 08, 2024

It's October 8th. This week in 2008, John McCain announced that he was suspending his campaign in order to focus on dealing with the fallout of the financial crisis.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why McCain felt it was necessary to stop running for president -- and how the move ultimately backfired on him.

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

You can also find our newsletter, merch store, transcripts, and lot more on our site.

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; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

2024 Election Sunday: Cross-Party Endorsements, A Race In Stasis Oct 06, 2024

On Sundays between now and the election, we're going to dip into the 2024 race to talk about the latest events -- plus offer some historical perspective.

And these will all be video episodes! So if you'd like to watch the conversation, visit our YouTube page.

www.youtube.com/@ThisDayPod

Today, Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss Liz Cheney's endorsement of Kamala Harris, whether notable endorsements change the election, and why this race feels like it's in a bit of a state of stasis.

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

You can also find our newsletter, merch store, transcripts, and lot more on our site.

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; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

October Surprise! LIVE w/ Josh Gondelman (Part 2) Oct 03, 2024

It's the October before a presidential election, which means that some final twists and turns are surely on the way.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie were recently joined by comedian Josh Gondelman at This Day's first ever live show, at WBUR's CitySpace in Boston. They talked about the history of October Surprises, from gaffes to unforseen world events, to pure shenanigans.

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

You can also find our newsletter, merch store, transcripts, and lot more on our site.

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; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia

October Surprise! LIVE w/ Josh Gondelman (Part 1) Oct 01, 2024