This Day (An America 250 History Show)

Out conversation about the Golden Gate Bridge continues with the opening of the bridge, and a bunch of people who didn't get enough credit. Plus, what the story says about how we need big ideas even in moments when things feel especially dire.

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For the seventeeth installment of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we travel to California in the 1930s, where San Francisco planners have a big idea — build a massive suspension bridge across the Golden Gate strait. We discuss how the project came together despite the Great Depression, the big egos involved, what the story says about how audacious projects can pull a country out of malaise… and why the bridge is the color i...

This past week we discussed the Bay of Pigs fiasco in Cuba, 1961. Today, another episode about JFK' in the very same time period -- when he hosted a couple hundred Latin American diplomats to lay out his vision for the “Alliance for Progress,” an ambitious plan to support democracy and economic development throughout the region.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how this effort mirrored some of the elements of The Marshall Pla...

We continue our conversation about the Bay of Pigs invasion with a look at how it all went wrong on the two days of combat in Cuba. Plus, the long-term lessons for JFK, the CIA, and US foreign policy.

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For the sixteenth installment of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go, for the first time to the Cold War. It’s April 1961, and the US is concerned about Cuba’s new leftist leader, Fidel Castro. The US has a new leader of its own, JFK, who adopts - and adapts - a plan from Eisenhower’s CIA to send a group of renegade Cuban dissidents into the Bay of Pigs to spark a revolution. It does not go well! We get into the botched p...

For our "Sunday Context" episode, we look at how the Confederacy scrambled to draft a constitution as Civil War broke out in 1861. Plus, a quick follow up and correction about the founder of baseball.

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We continue our conversation about the start of the Civil War with why Fort Sumter was the site of the first battle, and how the fallout from Fort Sumter galvinized both North and South.

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For the fifteenth installment of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go to the end of 1860 and the first months of 1861. Lincoln's election made it inevitable that Northern and Southern states would have a showdown over slavery. Despite last-ditch attempts to avert war, tensions mount at Fort Sumter in South Carolina, bringing the country to the brink of Civil War.

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For our "Sunday Context" episode, we look at the 40-year battle for honoring Martin Luther King, Jr with a federal holiday. Many states and notable politicians dragged their feed and manipulated the system to prevent giving King this honor, until Ronald Reagan finally proclaimed the new holiday.

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Our conversation about MLK's assassination continues with a look at the day of King's death and the capture of James Earl Ray. Then, Niki, Kellie and Jody discuss how King's legacy has been contested and sanitized from the moment of his death up until today.

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For the fourteenth episode of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go (for the first time) to 1968 and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. In the months leading up to his killing, King had become much more class-conscious, and spoken out against the Vietnam War. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how his politics and activism evolved over the late 60s, how Americans responded — and how many cheered his death.

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We’re kicking off a series of chats that (until we find a better name) we’re calling “How to 250.” This is our chance to check in with some friends of the show - historians, writers, podcast folks - about how they are marking America 250, and what it means to do the work of history in this moment. And what better way to kick it off than with filmmaker Ken Burns! We get into his work, the idea of American history as a “seri...

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We continue our discussion about WWI with Wilson's speech to Congress making the case for entering the war. Soon, troops are mobilizing and American men are experiencing a kind of brutality never seen before. In the wake of the war, the country tries to move forward.

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For the thirteenth episode of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go to 1917 and the growing pressure on Woodrow Wilson to send American troops to Europe and enter WWI. We discuss the various factions, from warhawks to "America First" and peace activists. Teddy Roosevelt emerges as Wilson's main antagonist, and Germany keeps bombing US boats. By the spring of 1917, Wilson is prepared to ...

For our "Sunday Context" episode, we look at another industrial disaster from the 1910s -- the time a river of molasses wiped out much of Boston's North End. While not as tragic as the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, and somewhat ridiculous at its heart, the molasses flood was nevertheless a product of many of the same shoddy industrial regulations and protections of the era.

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Our conversation about the Triangle Shirtwaist fire continues with how reformers responded to the tragedy, and how those who witnessed the fire personally made it their life's mission to change labor laws in America.

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For the twelfth episode of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go to 1911 and the massive fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. The fire started on the 8th floor, spread to the 9th and 10th, and would lead to deaths of almost 150 people, mostly poor women who worked in the factory. This fire took place during an era of growing labor reform, and the tragedy — which took place with many of th...

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For our "Sunday Context" episode, we go back to an episode from week two (!) of this podcast to look at the controversy over Obama's "cling to guns and religion" comments. Plus: a teaser of a doc on Obama-Wright that Jody produced for FiveThirtyEight. It's available in full for paying newsletter subscribers.

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Our conversation about Barack Obama and Reverend Jeremiah Wright continues with a look at what he said about race in America during his "A More Perfect Union" speech. Jody, Niki, and Kellie also look at how the speech previewed -- or didn't -- how Obama would talk about race and race relations throughout his presidency.

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