It's July 10th. This day in 1868, the federal government officially dismantled the Department of Education -- it would be more than a 100 years before it was re-established.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why there was a federal push to promote education in the wake of the Civil War, and why the fight against it feels so resonant to the anti-DOE efforts today.

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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

It's July 7th. This day in 1850, a man by the name of James Strang has proclaimed himself the true inheritor of the Mormon church -- and set up a colony on Beaver Island in Michigan.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss a time of religious awakening in America, how Strang convinced his followers that he was their leader, and how he ruled over his flock of 2500 acolytes. Also: buried treasure.

Help out with America 250 Watch! Subscribe to our newsletter for our ongoing coverage and commentary on how America 250 is playing out.

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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

We continue our conversation about the America250 celebrations planned for 2026 -- which are kicking off in earnest this July 4th. We know a lot about who is tasked with putting this celebration together, and what that may indicate.

The big news is that we are announcing the launch of America 250 Watch! Our newsletter will be the hub, along with the podcast of course, for our ongoing coverage and commentary on how America 250 is playing out. To get it all, and support our efforts, subscribe to the newsletter now at whatever level you can. 

https://thisdaypod.substack.com/

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

Hello and happy 4th of July! (One day early) America's 250th birthday is next year, but the celebration is, in many ways, kicking off this week. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why the 250th will be such a key moment for understanding US history, how the Trump administration is already framing the story -- and how we plan to cover it into 2026.

The big news is that we are announcing the launch of America 250 Watch! Our newsletter will be the hub, along with the podcast of course, for our ongoing coverage and commentary on how America 250 is playing out. To get it all, and support our efforts, subscribe to the newsletter now at whatever level you can. 

https://thisdaypod.substack.com/

We'll be back with part two of this conversation, including our reaction to President Trump's speech at the Iowa State Fair, on Sunday.

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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

It's July 1st. This day in 1962, six European countries are banding together to impose severe tariffs on imported American chicken.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss why things got so heated in the poultry industry, and how the retaliatory tariff war it set off had major implications for, of all things, the American truck industry.

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This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX.

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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

This episode is part of our "Some Sunday Context" series where we are bringing you episodes from the archives and new conversations that try to give you a little historical perspective on current events. Today, an episode we recorded in 2021 about an anti-slavery protest in 1854, and how it brought up fundamental questions about our founding documents, freedom, and more.

We'll be back with new episodes on Tuesday -- and don't forget to sign up for our newsletter for big new project coming soon! 

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

It's June 26th. This day in 1968, President Johnson signed what would be his last major act of domestic legislation -- an omnibus crime bill that drastically empowered and armed local police forces.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how the conversation about public safety and policing shifted from the mid-to-late sixties, and how this bill set a template for how police forces would be funded in the decades to come.

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

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.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

It's June 19th. Today is Juneteenth, a federal holiday in the United States marking the end of slavery. We're bringing you an episode from 2020 on the history of the date and the holiday -- but before that some thoughts from Jody about how this very recent holiday reflects the way history is getting written before our eyes.

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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

It's June 17th. This day in 1975, Steven Spielberg's JAWS is in theaters -- it is the first proper summer blockbuster, and also has a massive political and cultural effect.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how the movie ruined the reputation of sharks, and also served as a parable for late-1970s American malaise.

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