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
It's April 18th. This day in 1906, a massive earthquake devastates San Francisco.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the political impact of the quake -- from how it reshaped housing policy, shifted the demographics of the city, and provided a model for disaster response for years to come.
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It's April 16th. This day in 1962, Walter Cronkite takes over as the anchor of CBS's evening news program.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how Cronkite quickly became America's most trusted voice -- not just because he played it straight, but because he was willing to show some emotion. They also look at why there may never be a single voice as trusted as his again.
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It's April 14th. This day in 2000, GOP candidate for president George W. Bush meets with a group of "Log Cabin" Republicans to discuss how the GOP can better do outreach to gay conservatives.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Neil J. Young to talk about the "Austin Twelve" meeting, the big tent approach of the early 2000s, and how gay conservatives have tried to find a political home over the decades.
Neil's new book is "...
It’s April 11th. This day in 1877, Democrat Wade Hampton finally becomes the sole Governor of South Carolina after months of in-fighting and maneuvering following the previous fall's election.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how former confederate Democrats were able to regain political power in the aftermath of the Civil War, through the ballot and through mob violence -- marking an end to reconstruction and undermining dem...
It’s April 9th. This day in 1939, singer Marian Anderson performs for 75,000 people outdoors on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial -- after being denied the chance to perform in every indoor venue in Washington, DC.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the concert came together, what Anderson meant to the civil rights movement at the time, and the mix of racial and cultural politics of the era.
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It’s April 7th. This day in 2012, there is an effort underway to recall Republican Governor Scott Walker.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the recall effort gained momentum, why this race became a national cause, and why the effort ultimately failed.
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It’s April 4th. This day in 1841, President William Henry Harrison died, just 30 days after his inauguration.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the myth about how Harrison died -- he gave a speech in awful weather - what we really know about his illness; and what kind of president he might have been.
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It’s April 2nd. This day in 1863, a riot breaks out in the Confederate capitol of Richmond, due to deepening hunger and frustration among residents as the Civil War dragged on.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the war was so brutal for the residents of Richmond, and how the riots revealed the class dynamic within the city as the confederacy waged their war with the north.
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It’s March 31st. This day (actually March 29th) President Harry Truman announces that he won’t be seeking the Democratic re-nomination for the election that fall.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Truman was bowing out in this moment, what that meant for his party’s chances in the fall — and how the story does and doesn’t mirror some of the conversations today about Joe Biden’s candidacy.
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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.
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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.
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!
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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...
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 ...
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.
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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.
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.
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