This Day (An America 250 History Show)

It's June 24th. In 2003, Jimmy Wales, the owner of Wikipedia, made the decision to put the site under the ownership of a non-profit company. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why this decision made a huge difference for the site, and reflected a lot of the ways that the Internet has worked, and not worked, in the decades since. They are joined by journalist Garrett Graff, host of a new series called...

It's June 19th. Today is Juneteenth, a federal holiday in the United States marking the end of slavery. We're bringing you an episode from 2020 on the history of the date and the holiday -- but before that some thoughts from Jody about how this very recent holiday reflects the way history is getting written before our eyes. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out mor...

It's June 17th. This day in 1975, Steven Spielberg's JAWS is in theaters -- it is the first proper summer blockbuster, and also has a massive political and cultural effect. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how the movie ruined the reputation of sharks, and also served as a parable for late-1970s American malaise. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdayp...

It's June 12. This day in 1967, President Johnson nominates Thurgood Marshall as the first Black Supreme Court justice.  Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss Marshall's stories legal career up until this point -- but why Johnson was still taking a major risk in putting him forward. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch! Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Politica...

It's June 9th. This day in 1933, the Roosevelt administration is asking Americans to turn their gold into the government -- or be jailed. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how FDR sought to stabilize the economy, how Americans reacted to the order to turn in their heavy metals -- and how this moment led the US to become less and less reliant on the gold standard. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your...

Today, as part of our "Some Sunday Context" series, Jody offers some thoughts on the story playing out in Los Angeles where the Trump administration has called in the national guard, over the objections of local officials. This is the first time something like that has happened since 1965. We've done a number of stories that include the moment where the national guard appears, and it is often just...

It's June 5th. This day in 1943, the United States is in the process of deporting Qian Xuesen, a Chinese aerospace engineer who had lived in the US for decades and contributed significantly to WWII-era scientific research. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how Qian came to the U.S. in the first place, rose the scientific and political ranks -- but then got caught up in larger geopolitical fears about...

It's June 3rd. This day in 1913, boxer Jack Johnson is sentenced under the Mann Act, a vice law that sought to curb prostitution -- though many saw the sentencing as targeing Johnson for being a prominent and outspoken Black athlete. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss Johnson's boxing career, the many "great White hope" boxers he defeated, and how his prosecution reflected larger fears about miscegina...

Today, another in our "Some Sunday Context" series, where we bring you new conversations and episodes from the archives that try to help us make sense of life here in 2025. Nathan Fielder's "The Rehearsal" -- unexpectedly -- has many of us thinking about airline safety and aviation policy. His show is concerned with the interpersonal dynamics inside a cockpit, but the larger context is of an indus...

It's May 28th. This day in 1830, President Andrew Jackson has signed the Indian Removal Act into law, leading to the forcible removal of Native Americans in Georgia and elsewhere, culminating in the Trail of Tears a couple years later. But despite Jackson getting his way, there was widespread resistance at the political, legal, cultural and moral spheres to the action. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discu...

It's May 26th. This day in 1970, Richard Nixon is hosting a group of labor leaders at the White House, where they present him with a hard hat. A few weeks earlier, in New York City, construction workers had attacked tens of thousands of anti-war protesters in lower Manhattan, cheered on by Wall Street workers. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how the events of that Spring realigned the cultural and...

It's May 21st. This day in 1904, a fight over taxing margarine reaches the Supreme Court. It's a key moment in the long fight between traditional butter and its margarine subsitute. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why the fight has been so contentious, and some of the more absurd ways in which Big Butter has tried to stop the spread of margarine. Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This D...

It's May 20th. This day in 1775, the town of Mecklenburg, North Carolina went ahead and declared independence from Britain, before anywhere else in the country had formally done so. Or, at least, that's the story that North Carolina likes to tell about itself. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Jeremy Markovich to discuss the Mecklenburg Declaration, what we really know about its origins -- and...

Monday, May 19th would have been Malcolm X's 100th birthday. Today, as part of our "Some Sunday Context" series, we bring you an episode we did last year about his assasination. There are a number of new books and lots of coverage about X's 100th birthday -- the story and context around his death tells us a lot about his life and legacy.  We'll be back with a new episode on Tuesday! Sign up for ou...

It's May 14th. This day in 1980, Miami is seeing the biggest racial uprising of the 70s or 80s, as riots and violence erupt with the acquittal of police officers accused of killing a man by the name of Arthur McDuffie. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the violence broke out, how it echoes so many of the uprisings of the 1960s and 1990s -- but why the McDuffie Riots may not be as remembered as so...

It's May 13th. This day in 1957, oceanographer Roger Revelle offered testimony to Congress about the perilous effects of carbon in the Earth's atmosphere. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by climate journalist Amy Westervelt to discuss how the warnings about climate change were being presented much earlier than we may realize, and how voices like Revelle were ignored -- and then undermined -- by...

SINNERS is the hit movie of the year so far, and Ryan Coogler's epic has a lot of people looking into the history of the Mississippi Delta in the first decades of the 20th century. There aren't real vampires, but from the music to the cultural mix, the region's history deserves a deeper look. Today, as part of our "Some Sunday Context" series, we're bringing you an episode from a few years ago abo...

Happy Mother's Day! The holiday was invented and popularized in the first decade of the 20th century, often credited to a woman named Anna Jarvis, who had a very interesting relationship with her own mother. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss where the idea came from, why Jarvis was so focused on it being about honoring her mother, specifically -- and how she came to regret the commercialization and p...

It's May 5th. This day in 1985, President Reagan visits a German military cemetery in Bitburg, where a number of SS Soldiers were buried. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the visit to the cemetery had been a controversial decision for months, why Reagan still went ahead with the visit -- and how the attempt to clean up the mess afterwards didn't go any better. Find out more at thisdaypod.com Thi...

The Trump administration is targeting health and scientific research -- often based on whether it includes keywods like "women." This presents the risk that a science vacuum will emerge, which could take years or decades to unwind. Today, as part of our "Some Sunday Context" series, we go back to a moment when there was a huge dearth of research and information about women's health -- and grassroo...

It's May 1st. This day in 1861, the Civil War is breaking out and President Lincoln issues a desperate call for more military volunteers. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how Lincoln's appeal galvanized the sides of the conflict, with Northern volunteers feeling called to duy and Southerners framing the battle as "northern agression." Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political Hi...

[[This is an episode from the This Day archives -- we'll be back with a new conversation real soon!]] It's May 5th. This day in 1960, a British theater critic named Kenneth Tynan is hauled before a Senate sub-committee to answer questions about what is seen as his anti-American work. It's a moment that captures the cultural and political swirl of the late 50s, which is the subject of Benjamen Walk...

We're reaching the 100 day mark of Donald Trump's second term in office. 100 days has traditionally been a benchmark for assessing how productive and impactful a presidency is. Today, Jody Niki and Kellie get together for a "Some Sunday Context" conversation to look back at where the idea of "first 100 days" came from, and run through some of the more eventful starts to American presidencies -- fr...

It's April 23rd. This day in 1778, John Paul Jones leads the only American raid on British soil in the Revolutionary War. Jody, Niki and Kellie discuss Jones's spotty past, and what brought him to the port of Whitehaven, where he launched a scheme to raid the town. It did not go well, but the day wasn't a total failure, as he later stumbled into one of America's great naval victories... Sign up fo...

It's April 22nd. This Day in 1978, former First Lady Betty Ford is in the Long Beach Naval Hospital, being treated for addiction to pain killers and alcohol. Outside, a spokesperson shares the news with the country. Jody, Niki, and Kellie look at the life of Betty Ford, from dancer to First Lady -- and why it was so significant that she shared her addiction and hospitalization with the American pu...