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)MLK at Riverside (1967) w/ Peniel Joseph
It’s April 4th. This day in 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr delivers his “Beyond Vietnam” speech at Riverside Church in New York City. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Blowing Smoke
It’s April 1st. This day in the early 1980s, a surprising discovery at Mt Vernon. Jody, Niki, and Kellie talk about George Washington, conspiracy theories, and…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The Rosenbergs (1951) w/ Jamelle Bouie
It’s March 30th. This day in 1951, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg are convicted of spying in order to share nuclear secrets with the U.S.S.R. They would be…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Three Mile Meltdown (1979)
It’s March 28th. This day, in 1979, a partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear facility outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Jody, Niki, and Kellie…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)I'm On A Boat (1933)
It’s March 25th. This day in 1933, the USS Sequoia is commissioned as a presidential yacht. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the long and strange history of…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Illinois Blazes A Trail (1872)
It’s March 23rd. This day in 1872, the Illinois becomes the first state to pass a law guaranteeing equal employment for women. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)La Masacre de Ponce (1937) w/ Alana Casanova-Burgess
It’s March 21st. On Palm Sunday, 1937, a peaceful march in Ponce. Puerto Rico was attacked by police who shot and killed 19 Puerto Ricans, including a seven…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Terri Schiavo's Right To Die (2005)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)3000 Troops To Honduras (1988)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The Newburgh Conspiracy (1783)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The Confederate Constitution (1861)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The Murder of Dr. Gunn (1993)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Know-Nothings Steal The Pope's Stone (1854)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Florence Nightingale, Huge Nerd (1855) w/ Tim Harford
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The Weather Underground Bombs the Capitol (1971)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Sickles, American Weirdo (1859) w/ Wright Thompson
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The Canuck Letter and Muskie's Tears (1972)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The Polio Vaccine Arrives! (1954)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Betty Friedan's Critique (1963) w/ Nichole Perkins
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The Chippendale's Conundrum (1984)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)US vs Pirates (1804)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)A Fascist Coup Plot (1935)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Ike's Vietnam (1954)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Martial Law in Seattle (1886)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The Mayflower of Liberia (1820)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Nixon Saves The Eagle (1973)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Harding's Lust Letters (1920)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The 13th You May Not Know (1865)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Delaying The Civil War (1850)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Run Margaret Run (1964)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Fluoride Scare (1945)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)"Blood In The Air" at the Capitol (1861)
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…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Inauguration Day Special (and Kellie's First Show!)
On this Inauguration Day 2021, we look back at some notable other transition ceremonies, and discuss whether the day is pure symbolism or if it actually…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The Pets.Com Implosion (2001) w/ Julia Furlan
It’s January 17th. On this day in 2001, the company pets.com was in the process of liquidating its assets, after just 18 months in existence. Jody and Niki are…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Ford's (Second) Assassin (1976)
It’s January 14th. On this day in 1976, Sara Jane Moore was sentenced to life for her attempt to assassinate President Gerald Ford. Jody and Niki discuss…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Victory Sausages (1943)
It’s January 12th. On this day in 1943, the US announces limits to the amount of meat Americans could eat, as well as a re-working of the meat content in…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Vatican Ties (1984)
It’s January 10th. On this day in 1984, the United States and the Vatican established formal diplomatic relations for the first time in 117 years. Jody and…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Bush Vomits on the Japanese PM (1992)
It’s January 8th. On this day in 1992, President George HW Bush, on a diplomatic trip to Japan, ate some bad food and vomited during a state dinner, right onto…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The Nixon Recount Committee (1961)
It’s January 5th. On this day in 1961, Vice President Richard Nixon, acting as President of the Senate, certified the electoral college results of the 1960…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
2020 Favorite: "Coya Come Home" w/ Harry Enten
To wrap up 2020, and give ourselves a week off, we’re re-running some of our favorite episodes from the year. Thanks for listening all year, and we have lots…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
2020 Favorite: Dukakis on the Tank w/ Amy Walter
To wrap up 2020, and give ourselves a week off, we’re re-running some of our favorite episodes from the year. Thanks for listening all year, and we have lots…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
2020 Favorite: Wyoming's Suffrage w/ Maeve Higgins
To wrap up 2020, and give ourselves a week off, we’re re-running some of our favorite episodes from the year. Thanks for listening all year, and we have lots…
- This Day (An America 250 History Show)
2020 Favorite: Obama's Tan Suit w/ Sam Sanders
To wrap up 2020, and give ourselves a week off, we’re re-running some of our favorite episodes from the year. Thanks for listening all year, and we have lots…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The War On Christmas (Part 2) w/ Michael Hobbes
It’s December 24nd. This Christmas week, we’re doing something a little different — a two-part special on the history of The War on Christmas. In part two…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The War On Christmas (Part 1) w/ Michael Hobbes
It’s December 22nd. This Christmas week, we’re doing something a little different — a two-part special on the history of The War on Christmas. In part one…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Back On The Montgomery Bus (1956) w/ Christina Greer
It’s December 20th. On this day in 1956, the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott ended after 381 days. Jody and Niki are joined by Christina Greer of Fordham…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Ellis Island Opens (1900) w/ Brian Lehrer
It’s December 17th. On this day in 1900, the Ellis Island immigration center in New York harbor opened its doors. Jody and Niki are joined by Brian Lehrer of…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Boss Tweed Goes Down (1871)
It’s December 15th. On this day in 1871, William “Boss” Tweed is arrested in Manhattan while returning to the city to, reportedly, see the Christmas lights…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Trump the Moderator (2011) w/ James Poniewozik
It’s December 13th. On this day in 2011, Donald Trump wrote a letter announcing that he was bowing out of moderating (!) a Newsmax presidential debate. Jody…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The Great Toledo War (1836) w/ Hanif Abdurraqib
It’s December 10th. On this day in 1836, the final days of the “Great Toledo War,” a conflict over a strip of territory between the state of Ohio and the…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The ANTI-Suffragettes (1915) w/ Kimberly Hamlin
It’s December 8th. On this day in 1915, newspapers reported a “near riot” at a meeting of the Democratic party, when pro- and anti-suffrage women debated each…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)United States vs One Book Called Ulysses (1933) w/ Kurt Andersen
It’s December 6th. On this day in 1933, a judge ruled that James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” which had been effectively banned in the United States, was not obscene…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)US, Meet UN (1945)
It’s December 3rd. On this day in 1945 (technically, December 4th), the United States Senate voted to ratify an agreement to have the US join the United…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)John Brown's Body (1859)
It’s December 1st. On this day in 1859, abolitionist John Brown was awaiting his execution by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Jody and Niki discuss John Brown’s…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Harvey Milk is Assassinated (1978)
It’s November 29th. On this day in 1978, San Fransisco is in mourning, and there is violence in the streets, in the wake of the assassination of Harvey Milk, a…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Franksgiving! (1939) w/ Adam Conover
It’s November 26th. On this day in 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had declared that Thanksgiving would take place a week earlier than usual…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The Alcatraz Occupation (1969) w/ Julian Brave Noisecat
It’s November 24th. On this day in 1969, Native American activists have staged an occupation of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. Jody and Niki are joined…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)Queen of Code (1943) w/ Mar Hicks
It’s November 22nd. On this day in 2016, Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to computer programmer Grace Hopper, who entered the Navy in…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The US Rejects A Peace Treaty (1919) w/ Christopher McKnight Nichols
It’s November 19th. On this day in 1919, the US Senate rejected the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles. Jody and Niki are joined by Christopher McKnight…
This Day (An America 250 History Show)The Governator (2003)
It’s November 16th. On this day in 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as Governor of California, after having won a recall election that ousted former…