Episodes

  • Miami Explodes Into Violence (1980)
    May 15 2025

    It's May 14th. This day in 1980, Miami is seeing the biggest racial uprising of the 70s or 80s, as riots and violence erupt with the acquittal of police officers accused of killing a man by the name of Arthur McDuffie.

    Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the violence broke out, how it echoes so many of the uprisings of the 1960s and 1990s -- but why the McDuffie Riots may not be as remembered as some other incidents.

    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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    23 mins
  • An Early Climate Change Warning Ignored (1957) w/ Amy Westervelt
    May 13 2025

    It's May 13th. This day in 1957, oceanographer Roger Revelle offered testimony to Congress about the perilous effects of carbon in the Earth's atmosphere.

    Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by climate journalist Amy Westervelt to discuss how the warnings about climate change were being presented much earlier than we may realize, and how voices like Revelle were ignored -- and then undermined -- by government and corporations.

    Be sure to check out Amy's work with Drilled and more here!

    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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    29 mins
  • SINNERS And The Deep History Of The Mississippi Delta (Some Sunday Context)
    May 11 2025

    SINNERS is the hit movie of the year so far, and Ryan Coogler's epic has a lot of people looking into the history of the Mississippi Delta in the first decades of the 20th century. There aren't real vampires, but from the music to the cultural mix, the region's history deserves a deeper look.

    Today, as part of our "Some Sunday Context" series, we're bringing you an episode from a few years ago about the 1927 Mississppi Flood. Almost 80 years before Katrina, the "great flood" reshaped the geography, politics, and economics of the entire region.

    Jody, Niki, and Kellie were joined by Wright Thompson of ESPN and The Atlantic.

    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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    25 mins
  • The Woman Who Invented -- The Disowned -- Mother's Day (1914)
    May 8 2025

    Happy Mother's Day! The holiday was invented and popularized in the first decade of the 20th century, often credited to a woman named Anna Jarvis, who had a very interesting relationship with her own mother.

    Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss where the idea came from, why Jarvis was so focused on it being about honoring her mother, specifically -- and how she came to regret the commercialization and popularization of the holiday.

    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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    17 mins
  • Reagan's German Cemetery Visit Controversy (1985)
    May 6 2025

    It's May 5th. This day in 1985, President Reagan visits a German military cemetery in Bitburg, where a number of SS Soldiers were buried.

    Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the visit to the cemetery had been a controversial decision for months, why Reagan still went ahead with the visit -- and how the attempt to clean up the mess afterwards didn't go any better.

    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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    18 mins
  • The Women's Health Vacuum (Some Sunday Context)
    May 4 2025

    The Trump administration is targeting health and scientific research -- often based on whether it includes keywods like "women." This presents the risk that a science vacuum will emerge, which could take years or decades to unwind.

    Today, as part of our "Some Sunday Context" series, we go back to a moment when there was a huge dearth of research and information about women's health -- and grassroots efforts to fix it.

    In Boston, in 1969, a group of women got together to share information about women’s health, which would eventually lead to writing a 193-page pamphlet, which would eventually lead to the book “Our Bodies, Our Selves.”

    Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why women felt the need to share this basic information about their health, the book’s influence over the generations, and whether it’s still needed today.

    Sign up for our newsletter! 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. 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; Julie Shapiro and Audrey Mardavich, Executive Producers at Radiotopia

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    17 mins
  • Lincoln Needs Troops (1861)
    May 1 2025

    It's May 1st. This day in 1861, the Civil War is breaking out and President Lincoln issues a desperate call for more military volunteers.

    Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how Lincoln's appeal galvanized the sides of the conflict, with Northern volunteers feeling called to duy and Southerners framing the battle as "northern agression."

    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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    20 mins
  • The Artists Who Worked For The CIA (1960) w/ Benjamen Walker
    Apr 29 2025

    [[This is an episode from the This Day archives -- we'll be back with a new conversation real soon!]]

    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!

    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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    26 mins