This Day (An America 250 History Show)

Our conversation about John Brown continues with a look at how he raised the funds and put together the group that would mount a raid on Harpers Ferry -- and a look at why the raid went so wrong, so fast. Plus, how Brown's legend grew from the moment he was captured, and how his place within a larger abolitionist movement changes our understanding of him.
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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.

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For the thirty-eighth installment of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go to October of 1859, and abolitionist John Brown's raid on the munitions depot in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. First, we trace Brown's upbringing and anti-slavery activism -- and try to place him in the larger context of the abolitionist movement throughout the country.
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

Today we present a show we think you'll love: "The Speaker" from KQED Radio.
Before her historic Speakership, even before she got to the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi worked for years outside the spotlight as an official in the California Democratic party while she raised her family in San Francisco. That was until 1987, when tragic circumstances led her to do something she hadn’t considered before: run for Congress. Her first hurdle? A city in crisis and a motivated opponent from a community impacted by a deadly epidemic.
Be sure to check out The Speaker wherever you get your podcasts.

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Our conversation about FDR and polio continues with a look at how his public image obscured the fact that he was in a wheelchair -- while the story of his battle with polio also him serve as a champion of the downtrodden. Plus: Will we ever see an "openly" disabled president in our lifetime?
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

For the thirty-seventh installment of “50 Weeks That Shaped America” we go to the 1920s and the moment Franklin Delano Roosevelt contracted polio. We look at how the disease terrified the American public, how FDR contracted it, and how it shaped his public and private life throughout his three terms as president.
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