This Day

It’s December 16th. This day in 1860, Union General Ulysses Grant issued Order Number 11, which expelled Jews from Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky. Grant was trying to cut down on illegal trading in the region, and based his policy on an Semitic stereotype about Jewish merchants. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss Grant’s order, anti-Semitism in the United States, and the was in which Grants relationship with Jewish community evolved over the years. 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, Executive Producer at Radiotopia Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s December 14th. This day in 2008, at a press conference in Baghdad, an Iraqi journalist flung his shoes at George W Bush. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the incident, why Muntadhar al-Zaidi was moved to fling his shoes, and the many interesting wrinkles to the story — including the massive monument to the shoes that was built in Tikrit. 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, Executive Producer at Radiotopia Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s December 12th. This day in 1941, the US Congress provides an overwhelming vote in support of Roosevelt’s declaration of war. But Jeanette Rankin of Montana was the lone dissenter. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss Rankin’s vote, her role as the first woman to hold elected federal office, and her long history of pacifism. 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, Executive Producer at Radiotopia Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s December 9th. This day in 1958, a group of twelve men met in Indianapolis to found the “John Birch Society,” a virulently anti-communist, conspiracy-minded group that would come to be influential and controversial in 20th century conservatism. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by John S Huntington to discuss what the Birchers were hoping to accomplish, how they’ve floated in and out of conservative movement, and why a John Birch style of thinking is alive and well today. John’s book is “Far-Right Vanguard” — find out more about his work on his website. 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, Executive Producer at Radiotopia Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s December 7th. In 1898, a white supremacist coup took place in Wilmington, NC — in which white leaders overthrew a biracial, democratically elected government. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the incidents in Wilmington, what it says about the backlash to Reconstruction, and the living legacy of the coup. 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, Executive Producer at Radiotopia Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s December 5th. This day in 1962, comedian Lenny Bruce is arrested in Chicago during a performance at a nightclub. His arrest is ostensibly because of underage patrons at the club, but Bruce had been targeted and arrested a number of times for his use of obscenity, and for making jokes about religion, big business, and more. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss Bruce’s legacy and the way in which norms and laws around speech, comedy, and profanity have been negotiated over the years. 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, Executive Producer at Radiotopia Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s December 2nd. This day in 1864, a plot to burn down New York City just barely fails. A group of eight saboteurs tried to light simultaneous fires in hotels around the city on “evacuation day,” part of an effort to spark Confederate sympathy in the north. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why the plot failed, and what it says about pro-slavery forces in the north, and the razor’s edge on which the Civil War was balanced until the very end. 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, Executive Producer at Radiotopia Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

It’s November 30th. This day in 1999, the city of Seattle was the site of massive protests during the meeting of the World Trade Organization. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the WTO protests represented a new kind of coalition between populist and environmental forces, and more — and marked a new era of protest in this country. 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, Executive Producer at Radiotopia Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This Thanksgiving week, we’re running some favorite episodes from the year that you may have missed. We’ll be back with new episodes the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. ///// This episode originally ran on March 11th. This day in 1861, the Confederate States of America ratifies its own constitution. It’s largely based on the United States constitution, but with some key changes. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss what values were expressed in the constitutional do-over, and why the similarities between the two documents might mean more than the differences. Find a transcript of this episode at: https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory 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, Executive Producer at Radiotopia Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

This Thanksgiving week, we’re running some favorite episodes from the year that you may have missed. We’ll be back the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. //// This episode originally aired on April 15th. On this day in 1996, Oprah Winfrey hosted a segment on her show about “Mad Cow Disease” and proclaimed that she would no longer eat beef. That same day, cattle futures plummeted, and she was soon sued by the cattle industry. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the power of Oprah, the “veggie libel laws” and how she turned the trial into both television and a free speech crusade. Find a transcript of this episode at: https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory 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, Executive Producer at Radiotopia Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices