Touring History 6-16-25

TOURING HISTORY PODCAST SCRIPT

Episode: June 16th - "Divided Houses, Space Women, and Presidential Announcements"

Runtime: 10-12 minutes

Hosts: Lane & Dave

 

---

 

OPENING

LANE: Welcome to Touring History, the podcast where we discover that every day in history was basically someone's "well, this escalated quickly" moment. I'm Lane—

DAVE: And I'm Dave, and before we dive into today's collection of presidential speeches, space firsts, and corporate empires, we need to thank Randy's Donuts. You know, that iconic giant donut sign in Inglewood has been a landmark since 1952—

LANE: —and it's survived everything we're about to talk about today: political upheavals, cultural revolutions, even the birth of Ford Motor Company, which feels weirdly connected since both involve American innovation and slightly questionable decision-making.

DAVE: When you're processing the fact that we live in a timeline where ballet dancers defect during the Cold War and presidential campaigns launch via escalator—which we absolutely are today—you need the comfort of knowing that some things endure. Like that 32-foot donut sign that's probably visible from the International Space Station.

LANE: Speaking of things that endure, it's June 16th, which means we have literary giants, golf legends, and—oh no—Dave's going to have opinions about the Monterey Pop Festival, isn't he?

DAVE: I'm absolutely going to have opinions about Monterey Pop. But first, we need to talk about how this day gave us both profound political speeches and the most chaotic music festival of the 1960s. Starting with...

 

---

 

BIRTHDAY SECTION

LANE: Birthdays! Joyce Carol Oates turns 87 today, and I just want to point out that she's written approximately 847 books, which means she's probably been writing continuously since 1952.

DAVE: That's not mathematically possible, but knowing Joyce Carol Oates, she's probably figured out how to write in her sleep. Also celebrating: Phil Mickelson at 55, John Cho at 53, and—this is where it gets interesting—Tupac Shakur would have been 54.

LANE: And Justin Jefferson, the NFL receiver, turns 26. So we have a literary powerhouse, a golf legend, a beloved character actor, a hip-hop icon who died too young, and a current sports star. That's like the full spectrum of American achievement right there.

DAVE: You know what's fascinating? Joyce Carol Oates has been writing professionally longer than some of these other people have been alive. She started publishing in the early '60s, which means she's witnessed literally everything we're about to discuss as it happened.

LANE: Meanwhile, Justin Jefferson was born in 1999, which means the internet has existed for his entire life. Different worlds, same birthday. Speaking of different worlds, Dave, let's talk about Abraham Lincoln's house metaphors.

 

---

 

HISTORICAL EVENTS - CHRONOLOGICAL

1858 - Lincoln's "A House Divided" Speech

VIDEO PROMPT: 1858 Springfield, Illinois Republican convention with Abraham Lincoln at wooden podium addressing crowd of men in period clothing, gaslight illumination, serious faces in the audience

LANE: June 16th, 1858. Abraham Lincoln delivers his "A house divided against itself cannot stand" speech in Springfield, and basically predicts the Civil War three years early.

DAVE: This is where your fascination with political foreshadowing really kicks in, doesn't it?

LANE: Look, Lincoln literally said "I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free." Not "I hope we can work this