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This Day in Esoteric Political History
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This Day in Esoteric Political History

Author: Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia

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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.
608 Episodes
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It’s March 27th This day in 1839, a North Carolina man by the name of John Hoover is found guilty and sentenced to be executed for killing a woman he’d enslaved named Mira. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why it was so rare to see slave-owners held accountable in this way, and why the laws around killing enslaved people cut right to the illogic at the heart of slavery. Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
It’s March 26th. This day in 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft planted two cherry trees in Washington, DC. The trees were a gift from Japan, and have become a staple of spring in the nation’s capital. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the arrival of the trees was the result of a long lobbying campaign, what the trees came to symbolize — and they go through some of the other gifts that countries have given us. Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
Today we’re bringing you a favorite recent episode, in part because there’s a new series on Apple TV about the aftermath of the Lincoln Assassination. Enjoy! /// It’s August 30th. This day in 1894, a man by the name of Thomas H “Boston” Corbett is presumed dead in a fire in Minnesota. Boston Corbett led a troubled life, particularly over the previous thirty years, during which he was best known as the man who killed John Wilkes Booth — the man who killed Abraham Lincoln. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the circumstances under which Corbett killed Booth, the way in which he was treated as a hero, and the spiral Corbett’s life took as he embraced the role of “Lincoln’s Avenger.” Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com And don’t forget about Oprahdemics, hosted by Kellie, out now from Radiotopia. 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 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 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
It’s March 21st. This day in 1972, a group of 100 regular citizens are meeting to re-write Montana’s constitution. Among other provisions, the new document enshrines a “right of privacy.” Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why this right worked its way into the new document — and why the constitutional convention should take place in more states more often. Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
It’s March 19th. This day in 1879, a small group of Southern Democrats is holding up budget appropriations bills in order to force a fight over federal troops in the South. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how, for the first time, a government shutdown became a proxy war for a bigger political battle — and how it mirrors the many shutdown battles we see today. Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! It’s March 16th. This day in 1985, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney met for what came to be known as “The Shamrock Summit,” which started to repair frayed relations between the two countries. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why a shared Irish heritage became the focal point for the meeting, and how a little singing and drinking probably helped as well. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
It’s March 14th. This day in 1933, just over a week after taking office, President Frankin Roosevelt announces that a top priority is legalizing 3.2% alcohol beer. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why FDR was so keen on legalizing beer sales, how it fit into his economic recovery program, and how Americans rejoiced at the return of their low-ABV suds. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
It’s March 12th. This day in 1961, President John F Kennedy is hosting 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 Plan in Europe — and why US attempts to support Latin America generally fell short. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
It’s March 10th. This day in 1951, the owners of Major League Baseball are looking for a new commissioner, and a surprising name appears on the list — FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why Hoover was a candidate, and what these two institutions — the FBI and MLB — meant in the post-war era. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
It’s March 4th. This day in 2004, Pat Toomey is challenging Republican Senator Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania senate race — trying to outflank him from the right in the state’s primary. Jody, Niki, and Kellie look back at the moment where “to primary someone” became a political phenomenon, and talk to Nick Troiano of Unite America about why the primary system has been weaponized. Nick’s new book is “The Primary Solution” — it’s out now! Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
It’s March 5th. This day in 1977, President Jimmy Carter and CBS’s Walter Cronkite took phone calls, unfiltered, from Americans all over the country who had dialed into 1-900-242-9611. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss what happened during the Dial-A-President experiment, the logistics of how it all came together, and how it serves as a perfect snapshot of the era. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
Throughout this election year, we’re going to be doing a few special series tied to the notable stretches in an election cycle, from primaries to conventions and October surprises and more. This is “Hangers-On Week” our look at the point in the primary calendar where candidates are, for one reason or another, still hanging around. For our final episode of Hangers On Week, Jody, Niki, and Kellie look at Al Smith, who ran for president in 1924 and 1928, at a time when the Democratic party was building a new religious, racial, and demographic coalition. He may not have won, but he set the stage for FDR. Who else deserves to be on our list of hangers-ons? What other categories would you slot candidates into? Let us know! Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
Throughout this election year, we’re going to be doing a few special series tied to the notable stretches in an election cycle, from primaries to conventions and October surprises and more. This is “Hangers-On Week” our look at the point in the primary calendar where candidates are, for one reason or another, still hanging around. For the third episode of Hangers On Week, Jody, Niki, and Kellie look at Jesse Jackson, who ran in 1984 and 1988, evolving from civil rights activism to electoral politics, and trying to push his message towards larger economic justice issues. Who else deserves to be on our list of hangers-ons? What other categories would you slot candidates into? Let us know! Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
Throughout this election year, we’re going to be doing a few special series tied to the notable stretches in an election cycle, from primaries to conventions and October surprises and more. This is “Hangers-On Week” our look at the point in the primary calendar where candidates are, for one reason or another, still hanging around. For the second episode of Hangers On Week, Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report to talk about a few failed candidates who layed the groundwork for Trump’s eventual win. Who else deserves to be on our list of hangers-ons? What other categories would you slot candidates into? Let us know! Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
Throughout this election year, we’re going to be doing a few special series tied to the notable stretches in an election cycle, from primaries to conventions and October surprises and more. This is “Hangers-On Week” our look at the point in the primary calendar where candidates are, for one reason or another, still hanging around. For the first episode of Hangers-On Week, Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report to lay out the basic categories of the candidates who stick around a little too long: from those who want to shape policy, to those who become punchlines, and those with a different agenda in mind. Who else deserves to be on our list of hangers-ons? What other categories would you slot candidates into? Let us know! Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
It’s February 22nd. This day (February 21st, in fact) in 1965, Malcolm X is assassinated as he’s giving a speech at a Harlem ballroom. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why X felt as if his killing was almost an inevitability, why the details of that day remain murky — and how two of the accused were exonerated decades later. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
It’s February 20th. This day in 2006, the news — and the jokes — are swirling about the incident that took place earlier in the month, when Vice President Dick Cheney shot his hunting partner Harry Whittington on a Texas ranch. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why it took so long for the news of the incident to come out, why Whittington apologized to Cheney at a press conference — and why it took so long for this podcast to talk about this moment. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
It’s February 18th. This day in 1804, the Northern state of New Jersey passed a law that included a call for a “gradual emancipation of slaves.” Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the laws around abolition and the reality on the ground often differed considerably — but how in cases like this, you also had the law codifying the slow transition away from slavery. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
It’s February 15th. This day in 1933, in Miami, Giuseppe Zangara pulled out a pistol and, while yelling “too many people are starving!” fired at President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why Zangara was trying to kill FDR, the others who were hurt in the incident — and the true “what if” in American history had Zangara succeeded. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
It’s February 13th. This day — actually, February 11th — in 1990, South African leader Nelson Mandela emerges from prison after 27 years. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how attempts to keep Mandela out of the limelight backfired during his imprisonment, and how he once again picked up the freedom cause. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com 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 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
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Comments (5)

Saba Qamar

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Feb 9th
Reply

it

THANKS! OH MY, yes, this is definitely something to talk about! not only do passengers have to be (way) more respected, but also the planet!

Dec 19th
Reply

D Dd

No beachfront property? You got a case, bud.

Nov 29th
Reply

Joseph Y.

I was under the impression this was going to be a podcast about political history but it turns out that this is just a progressive roundtable that would feel at home on MSNBC primetime.

Sep 11th
Reply

Mermadone

Summary: A bunch of progressives miss the entire point of what happened in Benghazi and only talk about how to right side of politics mentioned it a lot. They completely miss the point of what happened and don't even bother going over the history

Aug 25th
Reply
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