Podcast Episodes

The Dumbest, Most Perfect, Political Question Ever (2012) [Archive Favorite]

It’s July 31st, 2012. This day, on the campaign trail, a reporter shouts a question at Mitt Romney: “What about your gaffes?!”

Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the question came to be asked and why …

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

Jefferson Gets An Anti-Slavery Appeal (1791) [Archive Favorite]

It’s August 19th. This day in 1791, Benjamin Banneker sent an advance copy of his almanac to Thomas Jefferson. Along with the almanac, he included a letter pleading with Jefferson to recognize slaver…

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

Moral Panics, D&D, Steam Tunnels and More (1979) [Archive Favorite]

It’s August 17th. This day in 1979, a young college student by the name of James Dallas Egber III disappeared into a steam tunnel below his university, intending to commit suicide. But the story of h…

Published on 2 months ago

Trump On Charlottesville: "Very Fine People" (2017) [Archive Favorite]

It's August 15th. This day in 2017, President Donald Trump gave a press conference in which he offered remarks about the violence that took place in Charlottesville, VA a couple days before.

Jody, NIk…

Published on 2 months ago

The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail (1846) [Archive Favorite]

It's August 13th. This day in 1846, Henry David Thoreau is thrown in jail -- for one night -- for refusing to pay his back taxes.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss why Thoreau objected to the poll tax, a…

Published on 2 months ago

Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and The Brutal Calculus of WWII (1945) w/ Garrett Graff

It's August 7th. This day in 1945, the US has bombed the Japanese city of Hiroshima, and two days later would drop a nuclear weapon on Nagasaki.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by author and journal…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

WWII Internment: Latin Americans in Texas (1944)

It's August 5th. This day in 1944, a crucial moment in World War II history, a series of internment camps are being set up in Texas. Unlike the more widely known camps on the US West Coast, these cam…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

Texas Dems Flee To Stop Redistricting (Some Context) w/ Harry Enten

One of the biggest stories today, in 2025, is that Texas Democracts have left the state and are in Illinois, looking to hold up drastic redistricting legislation proposed by the GOP. In 2020, we reco…

Published on 2 months, 1 week ago

Weird, Controversial, and Fake Historical Markers (Part 2)

Last episode, we talked about the history of historical markers, and what they indicate about the present. Today, a tour through some of our favorite examples of strange and controversial markers fro…

Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago

The History Of History Markers (Part 1) (1913)

It's July 29th. This day in 1913, Pennsylvania passed a law that would establish a system for adding historical markers and plaques around their state. Over the coming decades, other states would fol…

Published on 2 months, 2 weeks ago