

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

Sep 14, 2021 • 29min
Attica (1971) w/ Heather Ann Thompson
It’s September 14th. This day in 1971, the Attica Prison uprising was coming to a close. Over the prior four days, a massive riot had rocked the facility, killing dozens of prisoners and guards.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Heather Thompson to discuss how the story of Attica has been manipulated through the years — from the very first moments — and what lessons there are for prison reform today.
Heather Thompson’s book is called Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy
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

Sep 12, 2021 • 16min
Ship of Gold (1857)
It’s September 12th. This day in 1857, the SS Central America, a ship loaded with 30,000 pounds of gold, sank to the bottom of the ocean in a hurricane off the coast of South Carolina.
Jody, Niki and Kellie discuss the ship’s sinking and how the loss of the gold destabilized the world economy and may have even had implications for the civil war.
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

Sep 9, 2021 • 28min
Monkey Business (1987) w/ Matt Bai
It’s September 9th. This day in 1987, former Colorado Senator Gary Hart gave an interview on Nightline where he, finally, admitted that he’d been unfaithful to his wife. But it was too little, too late.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Matt Bai, author of “The Frontrunner,” to discuss the infidelity scandal that brought down Hart’s campaign, and changed political journalism forever.
Matt’s book was also turned into the movie “The Frontrunner” starring Hugh Jackman.
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

Sep 7, 2021 • 16min
McKinley Shot (1901)
It’s September 7th. This day in 1901, President William McKinley is in Buffalo, NY when he is shot twice in the chest. He would succumb to the injury a few weeks later.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss McKinley’s assassination and how it came at a moment when the nature of the presidency and American politics were shifting radically.
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

Sep 5, 2021 • 18min
The Condom On Jesse Helms's House (1991)
It’s September 5th. This day in 1991, members of the group ACT UP erected a giant yellow condom over the home of North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms to protest his stance on AIDS research and awareness.
Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the stunt, why Helms was a target, and just how you go about removing a two-story condom.
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

Sep 2, 2021 • 19min
Camp Casey (2005)
It’s September 2nd. This day in 2005, Cindy Sheehan embarks on a tour around the country to protest the Iraq War, where her son Casey had died the prior year.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss Sheehan’s protests, the “Camp Casey” encampment she established outside of George W. Bush’s Texas ranch, and how public opinion around a number of issues was starting to shift in late 2005.
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

Aug 31, 2021 • 17min
Fred Korematsu's Internment (1942)
It’s August 31st. This day in 1942, a judge upholds the arrest of a Japanese-American man named Fred Korematsu.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how Korematsu tried to resist the detention of Japanese-Americans in the wake of Pearl Harbor, and the legal battles that broke out after the Roosevelt administration moved hundreds of thousands of people to concentration camps along the west coast.
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

Aug 29, 2021 • 17min
Teacher In Space (1984)
It’s August 29th. This day in 1984, NASA and the Reagan administration announced a “Teacher in Space” program intended to find one American teacher who would join a shuttle mission.
Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the program to reinvigorate interest in space travel, some of the criticism it received — and the tragic conclusion two years later with the Challenger explosion.
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

Aug 26, 2021 • 17min
Capitol for A Day (1814)
It’s August 26th. This day in 1814, the small town of Brookeville, MD becomes the Capitol of the United States — for one night.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Brookeville became the seat of government amidst the chaos of the War of 1812. Plus, a bonus conversation about another story on this day, from 1970 — the bombing of a research facility at the University of Wisconsin.
Thanks to Ana and Chris, the listeners who wrote in to suggest these two stories!
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

Aug 24, 2021 • 17min
The Battle of Blair Mountain (1921) w/ Anna Sale
It’s August 24th. This day in 1921, tensions are mounting in southwestern West Virginia, where some 10-15,000 miners are going on strike to protest working and economic conditions. Eventually, this would lead to a violent showdown with the mining companies, local police, and federal forces — including bombs dropped from airplanes on the protesters.
Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Anna Sale, West Virginia native and host of the podcast “Death, Sex & Money” to discuss the Battle of Blair Mountain.
Find DSM wherever you get your podcasts — and check out Anna’s book “Let’s Talk About Hard Things.”
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


