photo by Adrianne Mathiowetz
We’re living in unprecedented times — maybe. In this podcast Jody Avirgan, Nicole Hemmer, Kellie Carter Jackson and occasional special guests rescue moments from the entirety of U.S. history to map our journey through the present. Each episode takes on one moment from that day and explores what makes it interesting, and what lessons can be learned –– all in about fifteen minutes.
New episodes release Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. Part of the Radiotopia network from PRX.
Listen to the latest episodes below. Find transcripts of the show here.
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Jody Avirgan, Host
Jody Avirgan is a podcast host and producer. You’re reading this on his website. You can find his bio here.
Follow him on twitter @jodyavirgan. Subscribe to his newsletter.
Nicole Hemmer, Host
Nicole Hemmer is an associate research scholar with the Obama Presidency Oral History project and author of Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics. She co-hosts the Past Present podcast and is the producer and host of A12: The Story of Charlottesville, a six-part podcast series on the white-power terrorism in Charlottesville in 2017.
Follow her on twitter @pastpunditry
Kellie Carter Jackson, Host
Kellie Carter Jackson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at Wellesley College. She is the author of Force & Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence, which won the James H. Broussard Best First Book Prize. She was a finalist for the Stone Book Prize and the Frederick Douglass Prize. She is also co-editor of Reconsidering Roots: Race, Politics, & Memory, essays exploring the impact of Alex Haley’s Roots.
Follow her @kcarterjackson or kelliecarterjackson.com
Jacob Feldman, Researcher
Jacob Feldman is a sports business reporter at Sportico and a co-founder of The Sunday Long Read, a newsletter celebrating journalism. His writing has previously appeared in Sports Illustrated, Popular Science, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe. A history major in college, his love of the subject stems from the everlasting embarrassment of losing his school’s 5th grade geography bee in a tiebreaker question about the Bering Strait.
You can ask him about it on Twitter @jacobfeldman4
Brittani Brown, Producer
Brittani Taylor Brown is a writer, director and editor - founder and CEO of BarbaraJean Productions, LLC. Brittani has written, directed, edited, & produced several short films. The Melanin King Project (2014), Door 309 (2019). Her latest work, The Fruit it Bears (2021), she co-wrote and co-directed alongside her brother, Rodney Brown. Brittani is also an audio producer. She has worked on Beyond the Last Dance (Audible), This Day in Esoteric History (Radiotopia), Open World ( Philo's Future Media), and Shi*t You Need to Know with Rodrixo, the first official podcast of BarbaraJean Productions, LLC.
Radiotopia, Network
This Day In Esoteric Political History is a proud member of the Radiotopia podcast network from PRX.
Special thanks to executive producer Julie Shapiro.
Interested in sponsoring the show? Get in touch here.
Transcripts by Khawla Nakua. Artwork by Kate LaRue. Music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions. You can download it here.
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