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PODCAST

This Day (An America 250 History Show)

Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia

To mark our 250th birthday, “This Day” presents "50 Weeks That Shaped America," a series of deep dives into the stories that brought us to this moment. "This Day" takes you beyond the head-spinning headlines of today and into the unexpected historical moments that have shaped American politics and culture. Hosted by Jody Avirgan (538), and historians Nicole Hemmer (Vanderbilt), and Kellie Carter Jackson (Wellesley), each episode explores a moment from that day in U.S. political history to

history

All Episodes

27:04

Hippo For Thanksgiving w/ Dan Pashman [Thanksgiving...

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/11/27

This Thanksgiving Week, some episodes favorite about community, what binds us -- and food!It’s April 2nd. This day in 1910, a Louisiana senator proposes allocating a quarter of a million dollars to import hippos from Africa and grow them in American swamps, then harvest them for food.Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Dan Pashman of The Sporkful to talk about how the hippo plan was intended to solve a hunger and ecological crisis — and why Americans never quite found the taste for hippo

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13:41

An Aid Ship To Ireland (1847) [Thanksgiving Week]

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/11/25

This Thanksgiving Week, some episodes favorite about community, what binds us -- and food!It’s May 2nd. In 1847, a US military ship, the USS Jamestown, was loaded up with food and other relief to sail to Ireland and help with the famine in that country.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how disparate communities in the US rallied around the cause, and how the Jamestown represented one of the first moments of international camaraderie for a new country.Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be

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15:36

"Death By Lightning" and Chester Arthur's Rise (Some...

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/11/23

The new Netflix series "Death By Lightning" focuses on the unexpected rise of James Garfield in the 1880 election, and his assassination by Charles Guiteau. It also features Nick Offerman as Chester Arthur, a product of machine politics who ends up as Garfield's VP and then as president. So, today, some Sunday context in the form of an episode we recorded a few years ago about Chester Arthur and how he took control when he became president.Sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where

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23:07

Evacuation Day: NYC's Forgotten Holiday (1783)

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/11/20

It's the last week in November -- on November 25th, 1783, British troops finally left New York City, which had suffered a brutal two years since the formal end of the Revolutionary War.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss what life was like in the period when British troops were occupying the city, what Evacuation Day was actually like -- and why the commemoration of that day was eventually overshadowed by Thanksgiving.Sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and

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13:32

The Penny Is Dead [Some Sunday Context]

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/11/16

Welcome to our Sunday Context series, where we try and bring you new conversations and episodes from the archives to give a little context for the news of the day. Today, a look at the very first one-cent coins, as the US minted the very last new penny......It’s April 20th. This day in 1787, Congress authorized the production of the country’s first coin.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the “Fugio cent,” designed — some say over-designed — by Ben Franklin, and what it meant for a new country

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26:27

Sesame Street Premieres (1969)

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/11/13

We continue with part two of our look at the birth of Sesame Street. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the show's premier, how it was received -- and what the program has meant to them over the years.Sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical tidbits.https://thisdaypod.substack.com/Find out more about the show at thisdaypod.comThis Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.Your support helps foster

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24:54

The Birth of Sesame Street (1969)

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/11/11

It's November 11th. This day in 1969, a new show for children is on the airwaves -- Sesame Street.Jody, Niki, and Kellie dive into a two-part look at the birth of this new show, from the big ideas about television and children's psychology, to the set design and use of puppets.Sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical tidbits.https://thisdaypod.substack.com/Find out more about the show at thisdaypod.comThis Day In Esoteric Political

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24:49

The Sewer Socialist Mayor (1916)

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/11/04

It's Election Day in many parts of the country, including in New York City, which may elect a Democratic Socialist mayor. 100 years ago, many cities in the US had socialist mayors, who came to be known as "sewer socialists" for their relentless focus on city services.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss Milwaukee's history of electing socialist mayors, how they found a foothold in day-to-day issues -- and what Zohran Mamdani's rise says about the revival of this brand of socialism.Sign up for our

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24:13

Dizzy Gillespie For President (1964)

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/10/28

It's October 28th. This day in 1964, the presidential election is in the home stretch, with candidates like Lyndon B Johnson, Barry Goldwater -- and Dizzy Gillespie?Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the only-half-joking candidacy of the legendary jazz trumpeter, and the intersection of entertainment and politics in that era. Plus: the power of great merch.Sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical

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11:21

The Memory Palace: This Weekend's Teach-In

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/10/24

This Sunday, we are convening a teach-in in Washington DC with our friend Nate DiMeo of The Memory Palace. Here is Nate's latest episode, where he discusses the path to this event and the need to defend the work of history and museums.Find out more information about the teach in here.Sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical tidbits.https://thisdaypod.substack.com/Find out more about the show at thisdaypod.comThis Day In Esoteric

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24:17

The (Actual) Tree Of Liberty

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/10/23

It's October 22nd. This day in 1999, in Annapolis, MD, the last of the so-called "Liberty Trees" was cut down.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the original liberty trees that served as gathering spots for political ideas to be shared -- and political violence to play out -- during the American revolution. And they make the case for bringing back gatherings-under-trees as a political act.Sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical

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25:15

A Toxic Town Fights Back (1982)

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/10/21

It's October 21st. This day in 1982, residents of Warren County, NC are fighting back against plans to dump tons of PCB-laden dirt in their local landfill.Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how Warren County came to be a target of this environmental disaster, how residents banded together, and the legacy of "environmental racism."Sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical tidbits.https://thisdaypod.substack.com/Find out more about the show

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31:11

Teddy Roosevelt's "Race Suicide" Fears (1903) w/...

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/10/16

It's 1903. This day, Teddy Roosevelt is visiting Ellis Island amid a fierce conversation about American immigration policy.Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Andrew Porwancher of Arizona State to discuss how Roosevelt's views on immigration were always shifting, from a humanitarian instinct to electoral concerns to scientific ideas about racial superiority. They also discuss the blunt language used around race and immigration at the time, including Roosevelt's fears that the "right" kind

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24:27

The Elaine Massacre (1919)

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/09/30

It's September 30th. This day in 1919, a bloody racial conflict is breaking out in the Arkansas Delta.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how a push to organize sharecroppers, combined with rumors and a frenzied media led to possibly hundreds of Black residents being killed by white mobs.Sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical tidbits.https://thisdaypod.substack.com/Find out more about the show at thisdaypod.comThis Day In Esoteric

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17:28

The Great Crush Train Crash (1896)

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/09/16

It's September 16th. This day in 1896, a railroad executive named William Crush (really) has a brilliant idea: take two trains and hurtle them towards each other in the middle of the Texas prairie.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Crush had this idea, the incredible hype around the event -- and how it went exactly the way you'd expect.Don't forget to sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical

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22:40

The Irish-Americans Fighting For Mexico (1847)

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/09/11

It's 1847. This day, a battalion of Irish immigrants are hung by the U.S. Army for deserting to the Mexican side in the Mexican-American War.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the "San Patricios Battallion" was formed, why Irish immigrants might feel more allegiance to Mexico than the United States, and how this group became martyrs in both Mexico and Ireland.Don't forget to sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical

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19:21

The Hummer Takes Over (2001)

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/09/09

It's September 9th. This day in 2001, a nationwide advertising campaign is underway for The Hummer truck, which has recently been taken over by GM and is poised to be everywhere.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the Hummer moved from the Gulf War to US streets, was all over hip-hop videos, and how it came to define a form of agressive American masculinity that is resurging today.Don't forget to sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more

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23:04

Fred Tuttle Goes From Mockumentary to Senate...

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/09/04

It's September 4th. This day in 1998, an elderly Vermont farmer by the name of Fred Tuttle has all of a sudden found himself as the Republican Senate candidate, after initially entering the race as a joke.Jody, Niki, and Kelllie discuss how Tuttle first came to attention by staring in a mockumentary, why Vermonters started to actually support him, and how his unlikely candidacy presaged an era of populist-celebrity politics.Don't forget to sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where

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18:31

Alaska vs. Ohio: Mt McKinley To Denali And Back Again...

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/09/02

We're back with new episodes! Today, it's September 2nd, 2015. The Obama administration has just signed paperwork to re-name North America's tallest mountain from Mt McKinley to Denali, its traditional Alaskan name.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the Alaskan mountain was named for an Ohio politician to begin with, the sketchy political maneuvering that protected that name for decades -- and the back and forth over the last decade around renaming the summit.Don't forget to sign up for our

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19:40

Jefferson Gets An Anti-Slavery Appeal (1791) [Archive...

This Day (An America 250 History Show) ·

2025/08/17

It’s August 19th. This day in 1791, Benjamin Banneker sent an advance copy of his almanac to Thomas Jefferson. Along with the almanac, he included a letter pleading with Jefferson to recognize slavery as a moral wrong.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss Banneker’s enlightenment-era appeal, Jefferson’s reaction, and how the correspondence between the two helped galvanize the abolitionist movement.Don't forget to sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots

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