It’s February 1st. This day in 1877, the first Groundhog Day ceremony is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania — in which a small rodent’s shadow determines long-term meteorological forces.
Jody, Niki and Kellie discuss how this ceremony came to be, and some of the very weird elements, from elixirs of everlasting life to secret societies pulling the strings.
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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
Clinton Finds Life On Mars (1996)
The Roots of "Roots" (1976) [[Archive Episode]]
Clean Up After Your Dog! (1978)
The Subway Vigilante (1984) w/ Leon Neyfakh
The Irish-American Gun-Runners (1973) w/ Nate Lavey [[Archive Episode]]
Thunderation! The Speaker Demands Bean Soup (1904)
The Plot To Blow Up Hell Gate Bridge (1942) w/ Rebecca Seidel
The Beer Summit (2009) [[Archive Episode]]
The Szilard Anti-Nuke Petition (1945)
The Ft Ontario Holocaust Refugees (1944) w/ Sarah Botstein
The Lost Robert E. Lee Oath Theory (1975) w/ John Reeves [[Archive Episode]]
Hubert Humphrey Takes Center Stage (1948) w/ Samuel G Freedman
Skylab Crashes Back To Earth (1979)
Nativists vs Catholics in Philadelphia (1844) [[Archive Episode]]
L'Enfant Maps Out DC (1791) w/ Scott W Berg
Napalming Harvard's Soccer Field (1942)
The Great American Roadtrip (1956) w/ Eddie Alterman [[Archive Episode]]
The Abortion Pill Protest (1992) w/ TJ Raphael
Readmitting Rebel States (1868)
Flag Burning Is Free Speech (1989) w/ Michael Liroff
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