This Day

The Bicentennial Boondoggles (1976) [Part 2]

In part two of our look at the bicentennial, Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the festivities played out, and how Philadelphia ended up becoming the center of the action, depsite (or because of) their corrupt mayor Frank Rizzo.Join our America250 newsletter community! Subscribe for free to get the latest news and analysis of how America250 is playing out. Paying subscribers get access to early, ad-free versions of the show. Plus bonus features throughout the year. To support our work and get access to everything, subscribe now.This Day 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.comGet in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypodOur team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/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

Bicentennial Fever! (1976) [Part One]

It's Week 1 of "50 Weeks That Shaped America," and we're headed to 1976 to look at how America's last big birthday came together. In part one, Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the country was in a deep malaise headed into the bicentennial, and the shambolic planning of the festivities reflected the larger distrust and dysfunction of government.Join our America250 newsletter community! Subscribe for free to get the latest news and analysis of how America250 is playing out. Paying subscribers get access to early, ad-free versions of the show. Plus bonus features throughout the year. To support our work and get access to everything, subscribe now.This Day 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.comGet in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypodOur team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/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

2026 Predictions and Provocations

2026 is here! As is America250. On Tuesday, we're launching our 50 Weeks That Shaped America series, but today we get together to ring in the new year with a few "predictions and provocation."Note: The full version of this episode, with video, is available for paying subscribers to our newsletter. Our America250 series will always be free in the regular podcast feed, but throughout the year we will be bringing our newsletter community bonus conversations -- and access to early, ad-free versions of the show. To support our work and get access to everything, subscribe now. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

"Give Me Liberty Or..." [2025 Favorite]

We're bringing you some of our favorite episodes of 2025 while we get a holiday break -- and prepare for our big America250 series. See you in 2026!It's March 23rd. This day in 1775, Patrick Henry of Virginia gave a speech in which he (maybe) uttered one of the more famous phrases in American political history.Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how Henry came to give such a fiery speech, the reaction from those in the room -- and why it's hard to know exactly what he said, if it matters at all.Sign up for our newsletter! Find out more at thisdaypod.comAnd don’t forget about Oprahdemics, hosted by Kellie, coming soon from Radiotopia.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.comGet in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Our website is thisdaypod.com Follow us on social @thisdaypodOur team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Julie Shapiro and Audrey Mardavich, Executive Producers at Radiotopia Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Wikipedia Saves The Internet [2025 Favorite]

We're bringing you some of our favorite episodes of 2025 while we get a holiday break -- and prepare for our big America250 series. See you in 2026!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 "Long Shadow: Breaking The Internet." The first episode of Long Shadow is out now!Find out more at thisdaypod.comThis 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.comGet in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypodOur 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