Reckoning With Racial Violence (Some Sunay Context)

Reckoning With Racial Violence (Some Sunay Context)

Author: Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia May 31, 2026 Duration: 24:07
This past week, we talked about the Tulsa Massacre of 1921. For today's "Sunday Context" episode we jump a couple generations ahead to the summer of 1967, when president Johnson convened the “Kerner Commission” to look into the roots of violence and unrest in America, largely in Black and brown communities around the country. The report came out next year and offered a frank and damning assessment of the complicity of white Americans. But it's recommendations were largely ignored and suppresed. Featuring Jelani Cobb, author of an updated version, “The Essential Kerner Commission Report,” out now. 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.

Hosted by Jody Avirgan alongside historians Nicole Hemmer and Kellie Carter Jackson, This Day is a historical podcast from Radiotopia that steps back from the relentless news cycle to find context in the past. The series "50 Weeks That Shaped America" serves as its core, offering a rich, narrative-driven examination of pivotal moments that have fundamentally influenced the nation's political landscape and cultural identity. This isn't a dry recitation of dates but a deep, engaging exploration of the stories and decisions that collectively brought us to the present. Each episode functions as a carefully researched journey, unpacking the complexities and unintended consequences of historical events you might think you know, revealing the surprising threads that connect them to contemporary life. By focusing on these formative weeks, the podcast provides a unique and clarifying lens, arguing that to understand today's headlines, you often need to listen to the echoes of yesterday. The conversations between Avirgan, Hemmer, and Jackson are insightful and accessible, blending scholarly depth with compelling storytelling. Tuning into this podcast feels like gaining a new set of tools for thinking about America, its ongoing struggles, and its evolving character, all through the meticulous and thoughtful work of its hosts.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

This Day (An America 250 History Show)
Podcast Episodes
Gold Changes Everything (1849) [Part 2] [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:38
We continue our look at the effects of the gold rush with an examination of how various communities were affected, and found agency, in a rapidly transforming California -- women, Chinese immigrants, Native Americans, cr…
Gold Rush! (1848) [Part 1] [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:08
This week on "50 Weeks That Shaped America," we're headed to the winter of 1948 in San Francisco, where word starts to get around that "there's gold in them there hills." Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how gold was first…
A Guy Throws His Shoe At George W Bush [Some Sunday Context] [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:55
For our "Sunday Context" series, we offer a follow up to our conversation about "Axis of Evil" and the start of the War in Iraq by looking at an incident from after the war was over -- when an Iraqi journalist threw his…
How We Got The "War On Terror" (2002) [Part 2] [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:54
Our look at the response to 9-11 continues with a discussion of the neo-conversative movement that influenced the Bush White House, and how the idea of an "axis of evil" quickly morphed into a long war in Iraq. Join our…
The "Axis Of Evil" (2002) [Part 1] [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:13
This week on "50 Weeks That Shaped America," we're headed to January 2002 and the first State of the Union speech after the 9-11 attacks. In it, George W Bush referred to Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as an "axis of evil,"…
A New Orleans Slave Rebellion [Some Sunday Context] [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:42
For our "Sunday Context" series, we build on this past week's coversation about the Battle of New Orleans with a look at the largest slave rebellion in US history, led by Charles Deslondes, which took place just outside…
Andrew Jackson Takes Control (1815) [Part 2] [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:57
If part two of our "50 Weeks" look at the Battle Of New Orleans. Jody, Niki, and Kellie look at the pirates, generals, and others who fought that day in January of 1815 -- and how the events burnished the reputation of f…
The Bootletter Biplane Bombings [Some Sunday Context] [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 16:43
For our "Sunday Context" series, we build on this past week's coversation about Prohibition with perhaps the most colorful story of bootlegging and liquor gangsters we've ever heard. In 1926, members of the Shelton gang…
The Drinking Continues (1920) [Part 2] [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:03
Part two of our look at the rise of prohibition looks at the many ways in which Americans tried to evade the law, and how a burgeoning police state went after them. Plus: How did Prohibition shape America, in the end? Jo…