This Day (An America 250 History Show)

It's December 17th. This day in 1947, the US and UK film industries are in a trade war -- a couple years after the two countries fought together in an actual war. Jody, NIki, and Kellie talk about the year-long battle over taking the film industries, how Britain tried to protect its domestic industry from US dominance -- and the various ripple effects for the cultural dominance of the two countrie...

It's December 15th. This winter, 1971, the first season of "All In The Family" is coming to a close, and it's already the biggest show in America. It's a total sensation, in part because of its willingness to dive into the cultural and political battles of the age. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Oscar Winberg to discuss the way All In The Family captured a fractured country, and in particula...

It's December 11th. This day in 1971, Representative Charles C Diggs of Michigan resigned from a UN delegation in order to protest the US stance towards South Africa's apartheid regime. Jody, NIki, and Kellie are joined by Dr. Marion Orr of Brown University to discuss Diggs's decades-long fight to oppose apartheid, and his long tenure in Congress, where he built bridges and worked the halls of pow...

It's December 8th. This day in 1952, the New York Daily News runs a feature on Christine Jorgensen headlined "Ex-GI Becomes Blond Beauty."  Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the life and legacy of Christine Jorgensen, who became the first transgender celebrity -- and how her story reflected sexual and cultural norms of the era. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the stuff w...

Welcome to Some Sunday Context, where we bring you new conversations and archival episodes to provide some context on the stories playing out in the news today. This week, we just wrapped up our two-part series on early vaccine skeptics from the 1890s through the 1920s. We discussed how a lot of the skepticism began to fade away in mid-century, in part because of the success of vaccines. Perhaps t...

It's December 1st. This week, a two-part look at the roots of vaccine skepticism and anti-vaccine activism in the United States. First we look at the early legal battles of the 1860s-1900s, then discuss how anti-vaccine activists found more purchase in the cultural and political spheres going into the first half of the 20th century. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the...

It's December 1st. This week, a two-part look at the roots of vaccine skepticism and anti-vaccine activism in the United States. First we look at the early legal battles of the 1860s-1900s, then discuss how anti-vaccine activists found more purchase in the cultural and political spheres going into the first half of the 20th century. Sign up for our newsletter! We’ll be sending out links to all the...

This Thanksgiving Week, some episodes favorite about community, what binds us -- and food! It’s April 2nd. This day in 1910, a Louisiana senator proposes allocating a quarter of a million dollars to import hippos from Africa and grow them in American swamps, then harvest them for food. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Dan Pashman of The Sporkful to talk about how the hippo plan was intended to...

This Thanksgiving Week, some episodes favorite about community, what binds us -- and food! It’s May 2nd. In 1847, a US military ship, the USS Jamestown, was loaded up with food and other relief to sail to Ireland and help with the famine in that country. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how disparate communities in the US rallied around the cause, and how the Jamestown represented one of the first m...

The new Netflix series "Death By Lightning" focuses on the unexpected rise of James Garfield in the 1880 election, and his assassination by Charles Guiteau. It also features Nick Offerman as Chester Arthur, a product of machine politics who ends up as Garfield's VP and then as president. So, today, some Sunday context in the form of an episode we recorded a few years ago about Chester Arthur and h...

It's the last week in November -- on November 25th, 1783, British troops finally left New York City, which had suffered a brutal two years since the formal end of the Revolutionary War. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss what life was like in the period when British troops were occupying the city, what Evacuation Day was actually like -- and why the commemoration of that day was eventually overshadowe...

It's November 18th. This day in 1805, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark have returned back east to report on their trip to President Jefferson. It hasn't been very successful. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how their names faded into relative obscurity in the years after they returned, and how the myth of Lewis and Clark has been revived -- often to fit the myths of the era -- in the de...

Welcome to our Sunday Context series, where we try and bring you new conversations and episodes from the archives to give a little context for the news of the day. Today, a look at the very first one-cent coins, as the US minted the very last new penny. ..... It’s April 20th. This day in 1787, Congress authorized the production of the country’s first coin. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the “Fugio...

We continue with part two of our look at the birth of Sesame Street. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the show's premier, how it was received -- and what the program has meant to them over the years. 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 Eso...

It's November 11th. This day in 1969, a new show for children is on the airwaves -- Sesame Street. Jody, Niki, and Kellie dive into a two-part look at the birth of this new show, from the big ideas about television and children's psychology, to the set design and use of puppets. Sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical tidbits. https://thisd...

It's November 6th. This day in 1868, Martha Hughes Cannon becomes the first female state senator in US history, when she beats her husband in a Utah election. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss Cannon's career as a doctor, her move into women's rights and then politics -- and how the question of polygamy hovered over the entire political landscape of Utah in that era. Sign up for our America250 Watch...

It's Election Day in many parts of the country, including in New York City, which may elect a Democratic Socialist mayor. 100 years ago, many cities in the US had socialist mayors, who came to be known as "sewer socialists" for their relentless focus on city services. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss Milwaukee's history of electing socialist mayors, how they found a foothold in day-to-day issues --...

It's October 30th. This day (technically November 2nd) in 1982, a Honda Accord rolls off the assembly line at a new plant in Marysville, Ohio -- the first Japanese car made by American workers. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the rise of Japanese auto manufacturing throuhgout the 1970s, the arguments over protectionism and American manufacturing that arose as a result -- and the compomise during th...

It's October 28th. This day in 1964, the presidential election is in the home stretch, with candidates like Lyndon B Johnson, Barry Goldwater -- and Dizzy Gillespie? Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the only-half-joking candidacy of the legendary jazz trumpeter, and the intersection of entertainment and politics in that era. Plus: the power of great merch. Sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter...

This Sunday, we are convening a teach-in in Washington DC with our friend Nate DiMeo of The Memory Palace. Here is Nate's latest episode , where he discusses the path to this event and the need to defend the work of history and museums. Find out more information about the teach in here . Sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get links and lots more historical tidbits. http...

It's October 22nd. This day in 1999, in Annapolis, MD, the last of the so-called "Liberty Trees" was cut down. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the original liberty trees that served as gathering spots for political ideas to be shared -- and political violence to play out -- during the American revolution. And they make the case for bringing back gatherings-under-trees as a political act. Sign up fo...

It's October 21st. This day in 1982, residents of Warren County, NC are fighting back against plans to dump tons of PCB-laden dirt in their local landfill. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how Warren County came to be a target of this environmental disaster, how residents banded together, and the legacy of "environmental racism." Sign up for our America250 Watch newsletter, where you'll also get lin...

It's 1903. This day, Teddy Roosevelt is visiting Ellis Island amid a fierce conversation about American immigration policy. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Andrew Porwancher of Arizona State to discuss how Roosevelt's views on immigration were always shifting, from a humanitarian instinct to electoral concerns to scientific ideas about racial superiority. They also discuss the blunt language...

It's October 13th. This day in 2013, the healthcare.gov website is a total fiasco. It had launched a couple weeks earlier and was immediately unusable, with only six people being able to enroll in the Obamacare exchanges on the first day. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the website was so broken, the blame game that ensued, and the lessons about implementation found in the website's sordid tale...

It's October 9th. Today, we look back at the first "teach-ins" at the University of Michigan in 1965, and discuss the power of gathering together to learn and teach. Plus, we announce our very own teach-in, taking place in Washington DC on October 26th! Jody, NIki, and Kellie are joined by Nate DiMeo, host of our fellow Radiotopia show "The Memory Palace," who is co-organizing the upcoming teach-i...