This Day

This Thanksgiving Week, some episodes favorite about community, what binds us -- and food! It’s April 2nd. This day in 1910, a Louisiana senator proposes allocating a quarter of a million dollars to import hippos from Africa and grow them in American swamps, then harvest them for food. Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined

This Thanksgiving Week, some episodes favorite about community, what binds us -- and food! It’s May 2nd. In 1847, a US military ship, the USS Jamestown, was loaded up with food and other relief to sail to Ireland and help with the famine in that country. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how disparate communities in the U

The new Netflix series "Death By Lightning" focuses on the unexpected rise of James Garfield in the 1880 election, and his assassination by Charles Guiteau. It also features Nick Offerman as Chester Arthur, a product of machine politics who ends up as Garfield's VP and then as president. So, today, some Sunday context

It's the last week in November -- on November 25th, 1783, British troops finally left New York City, which had suffered a brutal two years since the formal end of the Revolutionary War. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss what life was like in the period when British troops were occupying the city, what Evacuation Day was a

It's November 18th. This day in 1805, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark have returned back east to report on their trip to President Jefferson. It hasn't been very successful. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how their names faded into relative obscurity in the years after they returned, and how the myth of Le

Welcome to our Sunday Context series, where we try and bring you new conversations and episodes from the archives to give a little context for the news of the day. Today, a look at the very first one-cent coins, as the US minted the very last new penny. ..... It’s April 20th. This day in 1787, Congress authorized the p