Not Past It

On Earth Day, April 22nd 1971 -- 51 years ago this week -- a commercial debuted starring a crying American Indian. The image stuck in the country’s consciousness. But there were surprising forces behind the ad. In this episode, we dig into the powerful players who helped shape how we think about environmental action. J

On April 11, 1942, the Manzanar Free Press was born. It was a first of its kind newspaper—written by Japanese-Americans incarcerated by their own government at the Manzanar detention center. There, a group of young journalists would try to document their grim new reality amidst censorship and escalating tensions within

In 1955, Dr. Mary Calderone assembled a group of 43 medical minds in a private location in upstate New York. This event would be one of the first abortion conferences in America - sponsored by Planned Parenthood. The discussions, and a book that came out of it, was one of the first steps on the path to Roe v. Wade. Not

Zap! Boom! Pow! This April fool’s week, comic book writer Evan Narcisse joins us for a history domino adventure. We trace how one hilarious 17th century scientific discovery shoots its way through gun history, card games and lands on the birth of an iconic and villainous comic book funnyman. And watch out! Along the wa

In April 1993, thirty years ago this month, two guys from Queens who called themselves The Jerky Boys released a self-titled comedy album. It went on to sell over a million copies, making it one of the most successful comedy records of all time. But almost as soon as they made it big, they crashed. So how did these pra

Looking to blame someone for America’s metric system woes? Well! Look no further than Joseph Dombey, whose sole mission was to bring the meter and the kilogram to Thomas Jefferson 228 years ago. Unfortunately, on March 21, 1794, this unlucky Frenchman was caught by pirates. The first of many ill-fated events that led t