This Day

**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate**It's December 18th. This day (or thereabouts) President Polk gave a speech in which he confirmed reports that gold had been found in the hills of California.Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how 1848 was a year of gold rush fever, and how Polk's speech added a major political and economic element to the speculation.Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch!Find out more at thisdaypod.comThis 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.comGet in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypodOur 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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate**////[Today we're bringing you an episode from the archives]It’s September 29th. This day in 1896, a postal worker sets out to deliver the mail to ten rural towns in West Virginia. It’s the start of the Rural Free Delivery service.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the program changed the way Americans got their mail, lined the pockets of the politicians and businessmen who backed the project — and transformed the country’s infrastructure. Plus: can you really mail a baby?Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.comAnd 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.comGet 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 @thisdaypodOur 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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate**////[Today we're bringing you an episode from the archives]It’s February 23rd. This day in 1954, children in Pittsburgh began to receive vaccines as part of the first clinical trials for Dr Jonas Salk’s polio eradication efforts.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the arrival of the vaccine, the initial distrust, and the inequities in development and distribution of the vaccine to various communities.Find a transcript of this episode at: https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistoryThis Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.If you want to support the show directly, you can do so on our website: ThisDayPod.comGet 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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate**It's December 12th. In 2000, the contested election between Bush and Gore finally comes to a close with a Supreme Court ruling -- and a concession speech.Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Leon Neyfakh to discuss Gore's speech, in which he deferred to both the court's ruling and the election process, while also calling to a higher ideal of preserving American democracy. But was he too deferential to the norms at the expense of the right outcome?Leon's FIASCO series "Bush v Gore" is now available everywhere you listen to your podcasts!Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch!Find out more at thisdaypod.comThis 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.comGet in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypodOur 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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate**It's December 9th. In 1997, Bill Clinton hosted a series of town hall conversations about America's race relations.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Clinton felt the town hall format was the best way to convene these events, and why the "national conversation on race" didn't lead to much actual policy change. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch!Find out more at thisdaypod.comThis 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.comGet in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypodOur 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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Discover the layers of meaning behind 'The Wizard of Oz,' from its allegorical ties to the 1893 banking crisis to its portrayals of economic struggles. Explore how the film reflects early American values through its symbolism and characters. The discussion also uncovers modern adaptations and feminist themes. Plus, delve into the surprising connections between the movie and Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon.' This journey reveals the timeless relevance and cultural impact of a beloved classic.

**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate**Jody, Niki, and Kellie continue their conversation with Wright Thompson, author of "The Barn," about how the story of Emmett Till's death stretches back for centuries, and how we can try to reconcile memory and history in modern America.Wright's new book is available now wherever you get your books!Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch!Find out more at thisdaypod.comThis 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.comGet in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypodOur 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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate**It's December 3rd. This day in 1955, the Civil Rights movement is gaining attention across the South and the country, due in part to the protest by Rosa Parks, and the death of 14-year-old Emmett Till earlier that summer. Both acts are often portrayed as singular moments of protest and tragedy, but understanding them in context requires us to address much harder questions.Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Wright Thompson, author of "The Barn," to discuss Till's death and his work to place the murder in a centuries-long history of Mississippi, slavery, memory, and more.Wright's new book is available now wherever you get your books!Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch!Find out more at thisdaypod.comThis 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.comGet in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypodOur 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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate**///It’s November 26th. On this day in 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had declared that Thanksgiving would take place a week earlier than usual. Americans were not happy.Jody and Niki are joined by Adam Conover of “Adam Ruins Everything” and the podcast Factually to discuss why FDR tried to move the holiday, how it became politicized, and what Thanksgiving means to us in 2020.Find a transcript of this episode at: https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistoryThis Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.If you want to support the show directly, you can do so on our website: ThisDayPod.comGet 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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate**It's November 26th. This day, in 2000, the US Congress passed an agriculture subsidy bill that included a substantial financial bailout for apple growers in Washington State.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why growers were in so much trouble -- mostly because they'd foisted the substandard "Red Delicious" on American consumers for decades and decades.Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch!Find out more at thisdaypod.comThis 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.comGet in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypodOur 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 Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices