Skip to content
PodcastsHistoryThis Day (An America 250 History Show)

This Day (An America 250 History Show)

Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia
This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Latest episode

973 episodes

  • This Day (An America 250 History Show)

    Our Dog Whistle Politics w/ Alex Lovit [Some Sunday Context]

    09/27/2026 | 33 mins.
    Every Sunday during our month-long collaboration with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, Jody Avirgan chats with Alex Lovit, host of the Kettering podcast "The Context."
    Today, they follow up on the conversation about the Southern realignment in the 1960s, as White voters shifted to the Republican party -- and the party embraced a strategy to woo them. Jody and Alex discuss the mix of cultural and racial issues that lead to voting patterns, and how the story of realignment isn't as simple as a North-South thing.
    Be sure to check out “The Context” at kettering.org/thecontext
    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.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; 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
  • This Day (An America 250 History Show)

    Southern Realignment: Hunting Where the Ducks Are w/ Eric K. Ward (Part Two)

    09/24/2026 | 35 mins.
    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 work at kettering.org and listen to their podcast "The Context" at kettering.org/thecontext
    The story of Southern realignment continues with the Southern Strategy itself -- how Nixon looked at the 1964 and 1968 electoral maps and saw an opening, how coded language replaced overt racism, and how a regional story became a national one. Plus, how it all connects to the counter-majoritarian movements of today, and the current debate over who gets to be included in American democracy.
    Be sure to check out Eric's documentary "White with Fear" on PBS.
    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.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; 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
  • This Day (An America 250 History Show)

    Southern Realignment: The Impossible Coalition w/ Eric K. Ward (Part One)

    09/22/2026 | 44 mins.
    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 work at kettering.org and listen to their podcast "The Context" at kettering.org/thecontext
    For the thirty-fifth installment of "50 Weeks That Shaped America" we go to 1964, and a moment when the two major parties in this country, in a sense, switched. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by Eric K. Ward, Executive Vice President of Race Forward, to trace the story from Jim Crow through the New Deal and into the Civil Rights Act -- and to understand why the Democratic coalition that produced it was always too contradictory to survive. How did Black voters move from Lincoln's party to LBJ's? And what did white Southerners do when their party started to leave them behind?
    Be sure to check out Eric's documentary "White with Fear" on PBS.
    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.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; 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
  • This Day (An America 250 History Show)

    Seneca to Prohibition to the 19th w/ Alex Lovit [Some Sunday Context]

    09/20/2026 | 39 mins.
    Every Sunday during our month-long collaboration with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, Jody Avirgan chats with Alex Lovit, host of the Kettering podcast "The Context."
    Today, they follow up on the conversation about Seneca Falls by looking at how the movement for women's rights fractured after the Civil War -- and what it says about the long, winding road to progress.
    Be sure to check out “The Context” at kettering.org/thecontext
    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.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; 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
  • This Day (An America 250 History Show)

    Seneca Falls: The Legend w/ Deva Woodly (Part Two)

    09/17/2026 | 36 mins.
    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 work at kettering.org and listen to their podcast "The Context" at kettering.org/thecontext
    Our conversation about Seneca Falls continues with a look at what happened after the convention -- and how the story of the women's rights movement got written, rewritten, and contested in the decades that followed. Deva Woodly is back to connect all of it to how movements tell their own stories today.
    Be sure to check out Deva's book “Reckoning: Black Lives Matter and the Democratic Necessity of Social Movements”
    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.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; 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
More History podcasts
About 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 uncover its lasting impact. On Sunday episodes, Jody, Niki and Kellie react to current news with their usual mix of humor, analysis, and historical perspective.New episodes released Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Lots more on our Instagram page, YouTube, and newsletter. Find it all at thisdaypod.com.This Day is a proud member of the Radiotopia podcast network from PRX.
Podcast website

Listen to This Day (An America 250 History Show), Lore and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app

Get the free radio.net app

  • Stations and podcasts to bookmark
  • Stream via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
  • Supports Carplay & Android Auto
  • Many other app features