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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

Today, we look back an episode we did about October 2013, when the United States government shut down after the Congress was unable to agree to a new budget proposal, that had been saddled with provisions that would have defunded Obamacare.

Jody and Niki are joined by NBC/MSNBC correspondent Steve Kornacki to discuss the shutdown, how Ted Cruz used it to increase his profile, and why we may be suffering from shutdown fatigue.

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 First Modern Shutdown w/ Steve Kornacki (2013) [Archive Episode]

On Sundays, we try to bring you new conversations and episodes from the archives that provide a little context for the news of 2025. Today: a look back at the very first government shutdown, and how shutdowns have wrapped up budget fights and larger ideological battles before.

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 First Time Democrats Shut Down The Government (1879) [Some Sunday Context]

It's October 2nd. This day in 1989, Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire," which name-checks a ton of events that took place from the 50s through the 80s, is rocketing up the charts.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Joel felt compelled to write the song, some of the more obscure references in the song -- and whether they are buying Joel's historical argument presented in the song.

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

"We Didn't Start The Fire's" Crash Course In History (1989)

It's September 30th. This day in 1919, a bloody racial conflict is breaking out in the Arkansas Delta.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how a push to organize sharecroppers, combined with rumors and a frenzied media led to possibly hundreds of Black residents being killed by white mobs.

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 Elaine Massacre (1919)

This week, we're bringing you two episodes that highlight periods in American history where political speech was being policied, repressed, and persecuted -- much like it is today.

Today: A look back at the way speech was policed in the wake of the 9-11 attacks. Bill Maher lost his job, professors were fired, Clear Channel removed songs that mentioned airplane crashes... and the Bush White House told people to "watch what they say."

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

Post-911 Patriotic Mania (2001) [Chilled Speech Week Pt 2]

It's September 22nd. This week, we're bringing you two episodes that highlight periods in American history where political speech was being policied, repressed, and persecuted -- much like it is today.

Today: A look back at "Red Channels," an anti-Communist newsletter that started to create lists, mostly in the entertainment industry, of suspected Communist sympathizers. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss who funded Red Channels, how people ended up on the list, and how political, cultural, media, and academic forces all swirled together to stifle speech and derail lives.

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 Red Channels Whisper Network (1950) [Chilled Speech Week Pt 1]

It's Sunday, and on Sundays we like to bring you new conversations and conversations from the archives that help provide a little context for the stories playing out today. Today, as we see a chilling effect on free speech around the country, we revisit part of our conversation on the history of universities and government funding, and how a lot of pressure was applied during the Cold War era for academics to pledge loyalty to the United States.

Plus, a plug for our upcoming two-parter on the history of chilled speech -- which newsletter subscribers can watch in full right now!

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

Campus Loyalty Oaths [Some Sunday Context]

It's September 17th. This day in 1793, President Washington visits a site where construction is beginning on what would be the Capitol.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how the ceremony around the laying of the cornerstone was shot through with Masonic symbolism and pageantry --- and some of the many conspiracy theories that surround the cornerstone.

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

Washington's Masonic Cornerstone (1793)

It's September 16th. This day in 1896, a railroad executive named William Crush (really) has a brilliant idea: take two trains and hurtle them towards each other in the middle of the Texas prairie.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Crush had this idea, the incredible hype around the event -- and how it went exactly the way you'd expect.

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 Great Crush Train Crash (1896)

On Sundays, we try to bring you fresh conversations and stories from the archives that give you a little context on the news playing out in front of us. Today, Jody and Niki discuss the very dish-y news that Oliver North secretly married Fawn Hall, 40 years after they worked together and testified during the Iran-Contra scandal. Then, we rerun our episode from 2021 about North running for Senate in 1994.

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

Ollie North, Still In The News [Some Sunday Context]

**It's the Radiotopia fundraiser! We can only make this show with your support. Give now and help support This Day and all the independent shows at Radiotopia. Thank you! https://www.radiotopia.fm/donate**

It's December 9th. In 1997, Bill Clinton hosted a series of town hall conversations about America's race relations.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why Clinton felt the town hall format was the best way to convene these events, and why the "national conversation on race" didn't lead to much actual policy change. 

Sign up for our newsletter! Get your hands on This Day merch!

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

Clinton's National Conversation On Race (1997)

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