This Day in Esoteric Political History
We’re living in unprecedented times. Maybe. In this show, Jody Avirgan (538, 30for30, TED) and historians Nicole Hemmer (Vanderbilt) and Kellie Carter Jackson (Wellesley) take one moment, big or small, from that day in U.S. political history and explore how it might inform our present –– all in about fifteen minutes. New episodes release Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Sign up for the newsletter and more at ThisDayPod.com. We’re also posting about moments from the past @thisdaypod on Threads and Instagram. If you have a suggestion for a topic, get in touch. This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of the Radiotopia podcast network from PRX.
Episodes
Our very own Kellie Carter Jackson has a brand new book! You can get "We Refuse" now wherever you get your books, and all this week we'll be looking at some of the most interesting stories she covers in the work.
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.
Our very own Kellie Carter Jackson has a brand new book! You can get "We Refuse" now wherever you get your books, and all this week we'll be looking at some of the most interesting stories she covers in the work.
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.
Our very own Kellie Carter Jackson has a brand new book! You can get "We Refuse" now wherever you get your books, and all this week we'll be looking at some of the most interesting stories she covers in the work.
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.
It's May 7th. This day in 1787, the writers of the constitution are debating a central question -- how many presidents should the United States have?
Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by author A.J. Jacobs, whose new book "The Year of Living Constitutionally" dives into the weird world of our founding document. They discuss why the founders were concerned with the imperial presidency, and how the system we have was finally ...
It's May 28th. This day in 1892, the newspaper offices of Ida B. Wells are ransacked by a white mob in Memphis, TN.
Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the incident that led up to the attack on Wells's office, why her journalism on lynching in the South was such a threat to white supremacy, and why she ultimately decided to leave Memphis and eventually land in Chicago.
Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all...
In the runup to Memorial Day, we're bringing you some stories from the archives about war and the cost of war. We'll be back with new episodes next week!
It’s March 27th. This day in 1863, Jefferson Davis declared a “day of fasting and prayer” to support the Confederate cause in the Civil War.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the role of days like this — the fasting was as much about food shortages as anything — and how religi...
In the runup to Memorial Day, we're bringing you some stories from the archives about war and the cost of war. We'll be back with new episodes next week!
It’s August 25th. In 1944, a group of sailors at Port Chicago in California are facing mutiny charges, after refusing to work under dangerous conditions. Just under a month earlier, there had been a massive explosion at the same location, killing hundreds.
Jody, Niki, and K...
In the runup to Memorial Day, we're bringing you some stories from the archives about war and the cost of war. We'll be back with new episodes next week!
It’s September 2nd. This day in 2005, Cindy Sheehan embarks on a tour around the country to protest the Iraq War, where her son Casey had died the prior year.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss Sheehan’s protests, the “Camp Casey” encampment she established outside of George W....
In the runup to Memorial Day, we're bringing you some stories from the archives about war and the cost of war. We'll be back with new episodes next week!
It’s January 7th. In 1970, the New York Times published an article with the headline “Statisticians Charge Draft Lottery Was Not Random.”
Jody and Niki are joined by data reporter Walt Hickey to talk about how statistical analysis exposed that people born in December were m...
It's May 16th. This day in 1964, the FBI drops its years-long investigation into the pop song "Louie Louie."
Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why there was a moral and political panic over the song and its indecipherable lyrics -- and look into what the song is actually about.
This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.
Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-w...
It's May 14th. This day in 1958, Vice President Richard Nixon is on a goodwill tour of South America when his motorcade is attacked by a violent mob in Venezuela.
Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how the incident reflected the larger tensions between the United States and the region -- and how the U.S. saw Latin America as a key pawn in the growing Cold War showdown with Communism.
This Day In Esoteric Political History is a p...
It's May 12th. This day in 1867, Jefferson Davis, the former President of the Confederacy, left a courthouse in Richmond after waiting in jail on treason charges for two years. His trial would never take place.
Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why Davis was brought up on charges in the first place, and the way in which his trial got delayed and eventually cancelled mirrored the overall progress of Reconstruction throughout th...
Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by author A.J. Jacobs, whose new book "The Year of Living Constitutionally" dives into the weird world of our founding document. They discuss the debate over what to call the new leader of the executive branch, and what that signaled about the direction of the new country.
A.J.'s new book is out now! And be sure to check out The Puzzler too!
The book A.J. mentioned is called "For Fear Of An ...
It's May7th. This day in 1882, Congress passes the Chinese Exclusion Act, aimed at curbing Chinese immigration as fears about Asian immigrants threatening White American jobs is on the rise.
Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how the American economy relied on Chinese labor at the same time that policy sought to exclude Chinese immigrants -- and how the decades after the Civil War applied new pressures on race-based legislation...
It's May 5th. This day in 1960, a British theater critic named Kenneth Tynan is hauled before a Senate sub-committee to answer questions about what is seen as his anti-American work.
It's a moment that captures the cultural and political swirl of the late 50s, which is the subject of Benjamen Walker's new audio series "Not All Propaganda Is Art," out now as part of the Radiotopia show "Theory of Everything." Check it out!
It's May 2nd. This day in 1989, Pepsi cuts a trade deal with the USSR in which it receives 17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why exactly Pepsi is amassing a small naval fleet, and how the company found a market behind the Iron Curtain going back decades.
Find out more at thisdaypod.com
This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.
Your suppor...
It's April 30th. This day in 1968, Columbia University asks the NYPD to intervene and break up campus protests. Sound familiar?
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss what the protests in '68 were about, how they married campus politics with national politics -- and why so many of the lessons of that year have still not been learned.
Find out more at thisdaypod.com
This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopi...
Welcome to Veepstakes Week! From time to time this election year, we're going to do some special series that highlight the rhythm of an election cycle. This week, we are looking at the process of speculating, vetting, and selecting a Vice Presidential pick.
Today: How JFK ended up picking Lyndon Johnson as his VP nominee. Its was an incredibly fraught and personal process, which of course had massive implications after JFK'...
Welcome to Veepstakes Week! From time to time this election year, we're going to do some special series that highlight the rhythm of an election cycle. This week, we are looking at the process of speculating, vetting, and selecting a Vice Presidential pick.
Today: We go to Juneau, Alaska, in the spring of 2007 to discuss the conservative-magazine-sponsored cruise rides where Governor Sarah Palin wined-and-dined the Washingt...
Welcome to Veepstakes Week! From time to time this election year, we're going to do some special series that highlight the rhythm of an election cycle. This week, we are looking at the process of speculating, vetting, and selecting a Vice Presidential pick.
Today: What are the main considerations that go into a VP pick? What does a good, and not so good, vetting process look like?
Find out more at thisdaypod.com
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