This Day (An America 250 History Show)

It’s March 18th. This day in 2005, a feeding tube was removed from Terri Schiavo for the final time. She would die later that month. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Schiavo case became such a media sensation and political cause. 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. If you want...

It’s March 16th. This day in 1988, President Reagan ordered 3000 US troops to Honduras, along the border with Nicaragua. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the decision in the context of the larger Iran-Contra scandal — this move took place the very same day that two key Reagan officials were indicted. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory This Day In Esoteric Poli...

It’s March 14th. This day in 1783, George Washington gave an address to his troops camped in Newburgh, NY, that averted a possible coup attempt. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Washington’s troops were upset in the last year of the war, whether the “coup” plot was legit, and how much to believe the story that it was the sheer power of Washington’s words that averted catastrophe. Find a transcri...

It’s 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:  ht...

It’s March 9th. On this day in 1993, Dr. David Gunn was murdered outside the women’s clinic at which he worked by an anti-abortion protester. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the incident and how it marked a turn towards a more violent, with-us-or-against-us, chapter in the abortion debate. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory This Day In Esoteric Political Hist...

It’s March 7th. On this day in 1854, vandals broke into the construction site at the Washington Monument, made off with the “Pope’s Stone,” and threw it in the Potomac River. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss the incident, why it was part of rising anti-Catholic sentiment in the United States, and the very rocky construction of the Washington Monument. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https://t...

It’s March 4th. This day in 1855, a British sanitary commission arrived in Istanbul to inspect a field hospital where soldiers were dying at alarming rates. Among the nurses treating the soldiers was Florence Nightingale, who would go on to make one of the most famous data analysis of the conditions at the hospital. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by writer Tim Harford to discuss Nightingales fi...

It’s March 2nd. This day, in 1971, the leftist group The Weather Underground carries out a bombing at the US Capitol. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the bombing, and the rise of more violent direct action coming out of the late 1960s protest movements. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia f...

It’s February 28th. This day in 1859 (February 27th, actually) a New York representative named Daniel Sickles shot and killed Phillip Barton Key, the son of Francis Scott Key, in a dispute over an affair that Key was reportedly having with Sickles’s wife. Jody, Niki, Kellie and special guest Wright Thompson discuss the shooting in broad daylight, and the many twists and turns of Daniel Sickles’s l...

It’s February 25th. This day in 1972, Democratic frontrunner Edmund Muskie of Maine was embroiled in a “scandal” that would ultimately sink his candidacy. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the various twists and turns of the scandal, from a fake letter to possibly fake tears. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud m...

It’s February 23rd. This day in 1954, children in Pittsburgh began to receive vaccines as part of the first clinical trials for Dr Jonas Salk’s polio eradication efforts. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the arrival of the vaccine, the initial distrust, and the inequities in development and distribution of the vaccine to various communities. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https://tinyurl.com...

It’s February 21st. This day in 1963 (actually, it was the 19th), Betty Friedan published her enormously influential book “The Feminine Mystique.” Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Nichole Perkins to discuss the publishing of the surprisingly-academic book, the kind of women it addressed, and the women who were left out of the conversation around second wave feminism Check out Nichole’s new pod...

It’s February 18th. On this day in 1984, a New York State liquor board is holding hearings on the all-male strip club Chippendale’s. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the way in which Chippendale’s subverted and reinforced ideas about men, women, sex, and empowerment. Niki is a producer on the new podcast series “Welcome to Your Fantasy,” all about the wild history of Chippendale’s. Check it out now!...

It’s February 16th. On this day in 1804, US Marines carried out a mission to destroy a ship that had been captured by enemy forces off the coast of Tripoli. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the first Barbary War, why the US (and Sweden!) were involved in a Mediterranean battle, and tensions between naval warfare and westward expansion. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https://tinyurl.com/esote...

It’s February 14th. On this day in 1935, a Congressional committee released a report acknowledging what came to be known as “The Business Plot,” a scheme by Wall St financiers to stage a violent coup and replace Roosevelt with a military dictator. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the coup scheme, how it was not taken seriously at the time, and how seriously to take talk of fascist schemes today. Fin...

It’s February 11th. On this day in 1954, President Eisenhower expressed deep skepticism about US involvement in Vietnam. That would, of course, come to change. Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how Eisenhower tried to avoid involvement, but also established the “Domino Theory” approach to viewing Vietnam that may have set up an inevitable US intervention. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https:...

It’s February 9th. On this day in 1886, a mob descended on Seattle’s Chinatown, amid growing tensions between white and Chinese workers. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the events of the day, and the role of Chinese immigrant and Chinese-American workers in building the West — and how labor unions were often used to drive wedges between different ethnic groups. Find a transcript of this episode at:...

It’s Februrary 7th. On this day in 1820, 86 freed slaves boarded a ship from New York City headed to a region in West Africa that would soon come to be known as Liberia. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the “reverse Middle Passage” journey of the ship, the American Colonization Society, and tensions between anti-slavery groups and abolitionists. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https://tinyurl...

It’s February 4th. On this day in 1973, president Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the legislation, how it fit into the growing environmental movement of the time, and whether Nixon gets enough credit for his green efforts. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud memb...

It’s February 2nd. On this day in 1920, Senator Warren G Harding pens a letter to his long-time mistress, laying out the terms under which they could break off their affair. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss Harding’s affair, why the racy letters took so long to be made public, and what to make of Harding’s disastrous presidency. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https://tinyurl.com/esoterichist...

It’s January 31st. On this day (actually, February 1st) 1865, the House passed the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the 13th — especially the parts of the story that may be lesser known. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud me...

It’s January 28th. This day in 1850, Senator Henry Clay introduced a series of resolutions aimed at trying to build compromise and forestall the Civil War. Jody, Niki and Kellie discuss the series of bills, also known as “The Compromise of 1850,” and how the question of slavery was so tied up with the project of territorial expansion. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https://tinyurl.com/esot...

It’s January 26th. On this day in 1964, Margaret Chase Smith announced that she was running for the GOP nomination for president. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss Smith’s trailblazing run, the legacy of women inside Republican politics, and the power of “symbolic” candidates. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https://tinyurl.com/esoterichistory This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud...

It’s January 24th. On this day in 1945, the town of Grand Rapids, Michigan became the first town in the country to add fluoride to its drinking water. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the program was a huge success when it came to public health, but nevertheless spawned a generation of conspiracy theories about fluoridation. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https://tinyurl.com/esoterichist...

It’s January 21st. On this day in 1861, Mississippi Senator Jefferson Davis gave a farewell address in the Senate, announcing that his state (along with several others) would be seceding from the United States. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how Davis tried to position the move, and how this dramatic moment fit into the run-up to the Civil War. Find a transcript of this episode at:  https://tinyur...