Shows / This Day (An America 250 History Show)
This Day (An America 250 History Show)
To mark our 250th birthday, “This Day” presents "50 Weeks That Shaped America," a series of deep dives into the stories that brought us to this moment.
"This Day" takes you beyond the head-spinning headlines of today and into the unexpected historical moments that have shaped American politics and culture. 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…
Episodes
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Ross Perot: The Giant Sucking Sound (Part Two)
Our conversation about Ross Perot continues with a look at his drop -- and re-entry -- into the 1992 presidential race, including those iconic infomercials…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Ross Perot: Crashing The Parties (Part One)
For the fortieth installment of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go to 1992, when Texas billionaire Ross Perot crashed the presidential election contest. We…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
The Myth of Lewis & Clark [Some Sunday Context]
This past week we looked at the voyage of Lewis & Clark's Corps of Discovery. Today, we re-run an episode from last fall about how the story of the journey…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Lewis & Clark: What They Found (Part Two)
Our conversation about the Lewis & Clark expedition continues with a look at Sacagawea's role on the journey, the Native American encounters throughout the…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Lewis & Clark: The Corps Sets Off (Part One)
For the thirty-ninth installment of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go to the spring of 1804, when Meriwether Lewis and William Clark are tapped by Thomas…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
John Brown's Body [Some Sunday Context]
This past week we talked about the life of John Brown, and his attempted raid on Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Here's an episode from the archives about his…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
John Brown: The Raid (Part Two)
Our conversation about John Brown continues with a look at how he raised the funds and put together the group that would mount a raid on Harpers Ferry -- and a…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
John Brown: Radicalization (Part One)
For the thirty-eighth installment of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go to October of 1859, and abolitionist John Brown's raid on the munitions depot in…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Introducing "The Speaker: How Nancy Pelosi Changed the Face of Power"
Today we present a show we think you'll love: "The Speaker" from KQED Radio. Before her historic Speakership, even before she got to the House of…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
FDR And Polio: The Cover-Up (Part 2)
Our conversation about FDR and polio continues with a look at how his public image obscured the fact that he was in a wheelchair -- while the story of his…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
FDR And Polio: The Scourge (Part 1)
For the thirty-seventh installment of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go to the 1920s and the moment Franklin Delano Roosevelt contracted polio. We look at…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
The Age Of Dark Money w/ Alex Lovit [Some Sunday Context]
Every Sunday during our month-long collaboration with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, Jody Avirgan chats with Alex Lovit, host of the Kettering podcast…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Citizens United: Corporations Are People Too w/ Celina Stewart (Part Two)
All this month, we're partnering with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation for a series called "Democracy Under Construction." You can find out more about their…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Citizens United: Money Is Speech w/ Celina Stewart (Part One)
All this month, we're partnering with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation for a series called "Democracy Under Construction." You can find out more about their…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Our Dog Whistle Politics w/ Alex Lovit [Some Sunday Context]
Every Sunday during our month-long collaboration with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, Jody Avirgan chats with Alex Lovit, host of the Kettering podcast…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Southern Realignment: Hunting Where the Ducks Are w/ Eric K. Ward (Part Two)
All this month, we're partnering with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation for a series called "Democracy Under Construction." You can find out more about their…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Southern Realignment: The Impossible Coalition w/ Eric K. Ward (Part One)
All this month, we're partnering with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation for a series called "Democracy Under Construction." You can find out more about their…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Seneca to Prohibition to the 19th w/ Alex Lovit [Some Sunday Context]
Every Sunday during our month-long collaboration with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, Jody Avirgan chats with Alex Lovit, host of the Kettering podcast…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Seneca Falls: The Legend w/ Deva Woodly (Part Two)
All this month, we're partnering with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation for a series called "Democracy Under Construction." You can find out more about their…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Seneca Falls: The Burnt-Over District w/ Deva Woodly (Part One)
All this month, we're partnering with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation for a series called "Democracy Under Construction." You can find out more about their…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Are We Locked In To Two Parties? w/ Alex Lovit [Some Sunday Context]
Every Sunday during our month-long collaboration with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, Jody Avirgan chats with Alex Lovit, host of the Kettering podcast…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Bill Of Rights: Factions w/ Dahliah Lithwick (Part Two)
All this month, we’re partnering with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation for a series called “Democracy Under Construction.” You can find out more about their…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Bill Of Rights: We Forgot Freedom w/ Dahliah Lithwick (Part One)
All this month, we’re partnering with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation for a series called “Democracy Under Construction.” You can find out more about their…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Inside A Music Festival w/ Craig Finn [Some Sunday Context]
This past week we talked about Woodstock and the mix of culture, politics, and nostalgia wrapped up in the most famous music festival in U.S. history. Today…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Woodstock: Generation Gap (Part 2)
Our conversation about Woodstock continues with a look at the instant nostalgia for the event, how it captures the mix of culture and politics in the Baby…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Woodstock: Before The Mud (Part 1)
For the thirty-second installment of "50 Weeks That Shaped America," we go pehaps the most iconic cultural event in US history -- the Woodstock "Aquarian…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
"The Giant Pool of Money" Revisited w/ Alex Blumberg [Some Sunday Context]
This past week, we did a two-parter on the 2008 financial crisis. In it, we discussed how This American Life's "Giant Pool of Money" episode helped explain the…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
2008 Crash: The Bailout (Part 2)
Our conversation about the 2008 financial crisis continues with a look at the decision to bail out the banks, the response by the Obama and McCain campaigns…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
2008 Crash: The Collapse (Part One)
For the thirty-first installment of "50 Weeks That Shaped America," we go to fairly recent history -- the spring and summer of 2008, when the US banking…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Teaching Evolution [Some Sunday Context]
This past week we did a two-parter on the Scopes "monkey trial" in 1925 -- today we bring you an episode from the archives about the repeal of the Butler Act…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Scopes Monkey Trial: Darrow v Bryan (Part 2)
Our conversation about the so-called "Monkey Trial" continues with a showdown between Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan. Jody, Niki, and Kellie then…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Scopes Monkey Trial: Evolution in Schools (Part 1)
For the thirtieth installment of "50 Weeks That Shaped America," we go to 1925 and a small courthouse in the town of Dayton, Tennessee, and a trial over the…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
JFK's Fallout Shelters [Some Sunday Context]
This past week we did a two-parter on the race to the moon, whichs started under JFK, and started as part of a growing arms race with Russia. Today, for our…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Moon Landing: It Was Not Faked (Part 2)
We continue our conversation about the moon landing with a play-by-play of how Apollo 11 made its way to the surface; a conspiracy-by-conspiracy debunking of…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Moon Landing: One Giant Leap (Part 1)
For the twenty-ninth installment of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go to 1969 and the United States victory in the race to the moon. Jody, Niki, and Kellie…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Eleanor Roosevelt'sTuskegee Plane Ride [Some Sunday Context]
This past week we did a two-parter on the desegregation of the military. For today's "Sunday Context" episode, we revisit an episode we dd about the time First…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Military Integration: Pressure On Truman (Part Two)
Our conversation about military integration continues with a look at Harry Truman and the civil-rights battle within the Democratic party. After a contentious…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Military Integration: Double V (Part One)
For the twenty-eighth installment of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go to 1948 and the moment that Harry Truman issued an executive order to — finally…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
The Capitol Cornerstone Conspiracy (Revolutionary Rerun)
As we take a mid-summer-post-4th-of-July break, we are bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives about the Revolutionary era. We'll be back…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
The "Coup" Against Washington (Revolutionary Rerun)
As we take a mid-summer-post-4th-of-July break, we are bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives about the Revolutionary era. We'll be back…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
The Only US Raid On British Soil (Revolutionary Rerun)
As we take a mid-summer-post-4th-of-July break, we are bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives about the Revolutionary era. We'll be back…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
That Other Midnight Ride (Revolutionary Reruns)
As we take a mid-summer-post-4th-of-July break, we are bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives about the Revolutionary era. We'll be back…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
A Declaration Abstention w/ John Dickerson (Revolutionary Rerun)
As we take a mid-summer-post-4th-of-July break, we are bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives about the Revolutionary era. We'll be back…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Franklin's French Fantasies w/ Mike Duncan (Revolutionary Rerun)
As we take a mid-summer-post-4th-of-July break, we are bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives about the Revolutionary era. We'll be back…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Lexington, Concord, and Menotomy? (Revolutionary Rerun)
As we take a mid-summer-post-4th-of-July break, we are bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives about the Revolutionary era. We'll be back…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Liberty Trees (Revolutionary Rerun)
As we take a mid-summer-post-4th-of-July break, we are bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives about the Revolutionary era. We'll be back…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Ben Franklin's ALMANACK (Revolutionary Rerun)
As we take a mid-summer-post-4th-of-July break, we are bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives about the Revolutionary era. We'll be back…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
A Show We Love: "The Rest Is History" on George Washington
We're so excited to present an episode of one of our favorite shows: The Rest Is History. In this episode, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore the life…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Mid-Year Mailbag w/ Jody, Niki, and Kellie
Coming off the 4th of July weekend, we check in on how the big America 250 celebrations went, how we marked the day, and answer some listener questions about…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The Declaration of Independence (Live from Boston) w/ A.J. Jacobs
For this 4th of July weekend, our "50 Weeks That Shaped America" series lands in, no surprise, 1776 and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 250…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Books We'd Save From A Fire (Part 2) w/ Jon Meacham
We continue our 250-year look at the most significant works of history by looking at the rise of popular presidential biography, and the correctives to history…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
The Books That Shaped America w/ Jon Meacham (Part 1)
This week, as we head to the 4th of July weekend, we are bringing you a special two-part episode that provides a capstone for our month-long collaboration with…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)A Nation Of Readers: Poetry, Essay, Hanif and Javier
Hanif Abdurraqib and Javier Zamora both float between poetry, memoir, essay, spoken word and more -- finding the right form to explore their personal…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Stonewall: Does It Matter Who Threw The First Brick? (Part 2)
Our conversation about the 1969 riots at the Stonewall Inn continues with an account of how the tension ratcheted up that night -- and how the story of that…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Stonewall: The Breaking Point (Part 1)
For the twenty-fifth installment of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go to June 1969, and New York City’s Greenwich Village. Police raids on the Stonewall…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)A Nation Of Readers: The Gaps In History
A conversation about finding historical inspiration in all sorts of unique places, with Tiya Miles, author of "All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Little Bighorn: Custer's Last Stand and Custer's Legend (Part 2)
In part two of our look at the Battle Of Little Bighorn, we discuss what actually went down in Custer's Last Stand, how it was more chaotic than the reports…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Little Bighorn: The U.S. Conquers The West (Part 1)
For the twenty-fourth installment of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go to the Montana Territory in the spring of 1876. General George Custer (and his…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)A Nation Of Readers: Nate DiMeo's Memory Palace
Nate DiMeo, host of "The Memory Palace" podcast and author of "The Memory Palace" book, on the small details that shape the work of history. For the past 250…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
After Watergate: The Backslide (Part 2)
In part two of our conversation about the long shadow of Watergate, we discuss the ways in which Nixon tried to rehabilitate his image -- and how many of the…