603 episodes

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.

This Day in Esoteric Political History Radiotopia

    • History
    • 4.5 • 2 Ratings

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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.

Listen on Apple Podcasts
Requires subscription and macOS 11.4 or higher

    The Shamrock Summit (1985)

    The Shamrock Summit (1985)

    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

    • 15 min
    FDR Says Bottoms Up (1933)

    FDR Says Bottoms Up (1933)

    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

    • 14 min
    Kennedy's Latin American Marshall Plan (1964)

    Kennedy's Latin American Marshall Plan (1964)

    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

    • 15 min
    Hoover Almost Takes Over Baseball (1951)

    Hoover Almost Takes Over Baseball (1951)

    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

    • 19 min
    When "Primary" Became A Verb (2004)

    When "Primary" Became A Verb (2004)

    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

    • 18 min
    The Ask President Carter 1-900 Number (1977)

    The Ask President Carter 1-900 Number (1977)

    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

    • 16 min

Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5
2 Ratings

2 Ratings

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