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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.

This Day in Esoteric Political History

It’s August 17th. This day in 1979, a young college student by the name of James Dallas Egber III disappeared into a steam tunnel below his university, intending to commit suicide. But the story of his disappearance became a media - and moral - panic because of his affinity for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss what we know and don’t know about Egber’s troubled life, and why the D&D narrative was so pervasive.

Don't forget to sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical tidbits.

https://thisdaypod.substack.com/

Find out more about the show 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

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Moral Panics, D&D, Steam Tunnels and More (1979) [Archive Favorite]

It's August 15th. This day in 2017, President Donald Trump gave a press conference in which he offered remarks about the violence that took place in Charlottesville, VA a couple days before.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the roots of the white supremacist rallies and violence in Charlottesville, as well as Trump's comments that there were "very fine people on both sides." Those comments have since been contested and decontextualized by his supporters.

If you want a deeper dive on the Unite The Right rally, check out Niki's six-part podcast A12.

Don't forget to sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical tidbits.

https://thisdaypod.substack.com/

Find out more about the show 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

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Trump On Charlottesville: "Very Fine People" (2017) [Archive Favorite]

It's August 13th. This day in 1846, Henry David Thoreau is thrown in jail -- for one night -- for refusing to pay his back taxes.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why Thoreau objected to the poll tax, and how his political stances intersected with the more personal work that emerged from his two years living on Walden Pond.

Don't forget to sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical tidbits.

https://thisdaypod.substack.com/

Find out more about the show 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

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail (1846) [Archive Favorite]

It's August 7th. This day in 1945, the US has bombed the Japanese city of Hiroshima, and two days later would drop a nuclear weapon on Nagasaki.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by author and journalist Garrett Graff to discuss the 80th anniversary of the bombings, how they played into the final months of WWII -- and what perspectives we are losing as the memories of WWII slip away.

Garrett has a new oral history of the making of the atomic bomb called "The Devil Reached Toward The Sky" -- it's available now!

Don't forget to sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical tidbits.

https://thisdaypod.substack.com/

Find out more about the show 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

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and The Brutal Calculus of WWII (1945) w/ Garrett Graff

It's August 5th. This day in 1944, a crucial moment in World War II history, a series of internment camps are being set up in Texas. Unlike the more widely known camps on the US West Coast, these camps held not only Japanese Americans but also individuals of Japanese, German, and Italian descent from Latin America, who were deported to this country.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the US was bringing people into the country just to put them behind fences; what life was like inside Crystal City; and why this story has been largely forgotten.

Don't forget to sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical tidbits.

https://thisdaypod.substack.com/

Find out more about the show 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

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

WWII Internment: Latin Americans in Texas (1944)

One of the biggest stories today, in 2025, is that Texas Democracts have left the state and are in Illinois, looking to hold up drastic redistricting legislation proposed by the GOP. In 2020, we recorded an episode about another time that Texas Dems fled the state to stop redestricting... 

We're bringing it to you now as part of our ongoing series to provide some historical context for stories playing out in American politics right now.

Join our newsletter community! https://thisdaypod.substack.com/

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

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Texas Dems Flee To Stop Redistricting (Some Context) w/ Harry Enten

Last episode, we talked about the history of historical markers, and what they indicate about the present. Today, a tour through some of our favorite examples of strange and controversial markers from around the country. Be sure to share your favorite historical marker in our newsletter chat!

https://thisdaypod.substack.com/

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

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Weird, Controversial, and Fake Historical Markers (Part 2)

It's July 29th. This day in 1913, Pennsylvania passed a law that would establish a system for adding historical markers and plaques around their state. Over the coming decades, other states would follow suit, and into the first half of the 20th century, the United States saw a flourishing of those road-side historical markers.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why there was such an appetite for historical commemoration in the early 20th century, and how something ends up getting a marker in the first place. Next episode, we'll look at some of our favorite examples from around the country.

Got a favorite historical marker? Get in touch through our newsletter - sign up now!

https://thisdaypod.substack.com/

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

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The History Of History Markers (Part 1) (1913)

It's July 24th. This day in 1892, labor activist Alexander Berkman attempts to assasinate industrialist Henry Clay Frick, head of the Carnegie Steel Corporation.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the ratcheting tensions around the Homestead mill strike, and why Berman thought this "propaganda of the deed" would arouse class solidarity.

Help out with America 250 Watch! Subscribe to our newsletter for our ongoing coverage and commentary on how America 250 is playing out.

https://thisdaypod.substack.com/

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

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Frick Near-Assassination (1892)

It's July 22nd. This day in 1934, gangster John Dillinger is killed by federal agents while walking out of a movie theater in Chicago.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the media environment that helped turn Dillinger into a star, and how J Edgar Hoover used the showdown with him and other gangsters to build the FBI as we know it.

Help out with America 250 Watch! Subscribe to our newsletter for our ongoing coverage and commentary on how America 250 is playing out.

https://thisdaypod.substack.com/

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

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

John Dillinger Is Killed, The FBI Is Born (1934)

It’s October 4th. On this day in 1988, Lloyd Bentsen delivered one of the most memorable debate lines of all time when he told his VP opponent Dan Quayle that he “was no Jack Kennedy.”

Jody and Niki are joined by Mike Pesca, the host of Slate’s “The Gist,” to discuss why Benson’s line worked so well and what it can teach us about other great debate moments.

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.

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

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Election Sunday: A Great Debate Zinger (1988) w/ Mike Pesca

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