

This Day
Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia
“This Day” takes you beyond the head-spinning headlines of today and into the unexpected historical moments that have shaped American politics. 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 uncover its lasting impact. On Sunday episodes, Jody, Niki and Kellie react to current news with their usual mix of humor, analysis, and historical perspective.New episodes released Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Lots more on our Instagram page, YouTube, and newsletter. Find it all at thisdaypod.com.This Day is a proud member of the Radiotopia podcast network from PRX.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 8, 2022 • 19min
The Video Game Freakout (1993)
*** The Radiotopia fundraiser is happening right now! Support this show by becoming a member today: https://on.prx.org/3Ehr3B6 ***
It’s December 8th. In 1993, Senator Joe Lieberman announces hearings to air concerns about violence in video games. Jody, Niki and Kellie discuss how the moral panic about video game violence came to be, and how there will always be something for parents to freak out about.
Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com
And 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.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; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Dec 6, 2022 • 17min
The Nullification Crisis and the Almost-Civil-War (1832)
*** The Radiotopia fundraiser is happening right now! Support this show by becoming a member today: https://on.prx.org/3Ehr3B6 ***
It’s December 6th. In 1832, South Carolina threatens to ignore a number of US tariff laws, and begins to threaten succession. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the “nullification crisis” and whether the country could have erupted into Civil War 30 years earlier than it eventually did.
Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com
And 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.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; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Dec 4, 2022 • 15min
Colored Conventions Movement (1830)
*** The Radiotopia fundraiser is happening right now! Support this show by becoming a member today: https://on.prx.org/3Ehr3B6 ***
It’s December 4th. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the Colored Conventions movement, which provided and intellectual and political space for Black leaders in the years before, during, and after the Civil War.
Check out the Colored Conventions database at coloredconventions.org
Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com
And 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.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; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Dec 1, 2022 • 17min
The First Email. Probably. (1971)
*** The Radiotopia fundraiser is happening right now! Support this show by becoming a member today: https://on.prx.org/3Ehr3B6 ***
It’s December 1st. In late 1971, a man by the name of Ray Tomlinson sends what is generally considered to be the first email message. He has virtually zero memory of what it actually was. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the history of this innovation is so murky, and how their relationship with email has changed over the years.
Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com
And 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.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; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Nov 29, 2022 • 13min
Jews To Alaska (1938)
*** The Radiotopia fundraiser is happening right now! Support this show by becoming a member today: https://on.prx.org/3Ehr3B6 ***
It’s November 29th. In 1938, weeks after Kristallnacht, a plan emerges to accept Jewish refugees from Europe and settle them in Alaska. This was an attempt to skirt strict U.S. immigration quotas. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the plan and the larger context of anti-semitism and anti-refugee sentiment among Americans and congressional leaders.
Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com
And 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.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; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Nov 27, 2022 • 12min
401 Episodes! w/ Jacob Feldman
*** The Radiotopia fundraiser is happening right now! Support this show by becoming a member today: https://on.prx.org/3Ehr3B6 ***
It’s November 27th. We continue our chat with our producer, Jacob Feldman, about how the show comes together and some of the lessons he’s learned along the way of helping make 400 episodes. Thanks to all of you who have been there along for the ride.
Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com
And 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.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; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Nov 24, 2022 • 17min
400 Episodes! (pt 1) w/ Jacob Feldman
*** The Radiotopia fundraiser is happening right now! Support this show by becoming a member today: https://on.prx.org/3Ehr3B6 ***
It’s November 24th. And this is our 400th episode! We chat with our producer, Jacob Feldman, about how the show comes together and some of the lessons he’s learned along the way of helping make 400 episodes. Thanks to all of you who have been there along for the ride.
Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com
And 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.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; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Nov 22, 2022 • 24min
The Jekyll Island Secret Meeting (1910) w/ Jacob Goldstein
*** The Radiotopia fundraiser is happening right now! Support this show by becoming a member today: https://on.prx.org/3Ehr3B6 ***
It’s November 22nd. In 1910, a group of the most powerful bankers in the country were invited to the secluded Jekyll Island, off the coast of Georgia, to develop a plan for what would eventually become the Federal Reserve.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Jacob Goldstein of Pushkin Industries to discuss the cloak and dagger arrangements for the meeting, why there was so much pressure to develop a plan, and how it changed the US economy.
Jacob’s book is “Money: The True Story of a Made Up Thing.” And his podcast is What’s Your Problem.
Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com
And 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.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; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Nov 20, 2022 • 25min
Jaywalking (1923) w/ Doug Gordon
*** The Radiotopia fundraiser is happening right now! Support this show by becoming a member today: https://on.prx.org/3Ehr3B6 ***
It’s November 20th. In 1923, in Cincinnati, a referendum to limit the speed of cars fails after massive lobbying on the part of the auto industry. The referendum came up for a vote after tens of thousands of people signed a petition asking to limit the damage cars could do to pedestrians. In the wake of this, cities also passed jaywalking laws, effectively tilting the balance from pedestrians to automobiles.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Doug Gordon of the “War on Cars” podcast to talk about early concerns over cars, anti-car populism, and how the streets were designed to favor the automobile.
Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com
And 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.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; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Nov 17, 2022 • 17min
Trotter Confronts Wilson (1914)
*** The Radiotopia fundraiser is happening right now! Support this show by becoming a member today: https://on.prx.org/3Ehr3B6 ***
It’s November 17th. In 1914, activist William Monroe Trotter confronted President Wilson, in the Oval Office, over the treatment and degradation of Black Americans. Wilson became enraged at the conversation and threw Trotter out of the White House.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the heated moment, the larger Jim Crow context for the confrontation, and Trotter’s larger legacy.
Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.com
And 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.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; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia
Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices