logo
episode-header-image
Jan 4
19m 48s

2026 Predictions and Provocations

Jody Avirgan
About this episode
2026 is here! As is America250. On Tuesday, we're launching our 50 Weeks That Shaped America series, but today we get together to ring in the new year with a few "predictions and provocation." Note: The full version of this episode, with video, is available for paying subscribers to our newsletter. Our America250 series will always be free in the regular podcast feed, but throughout the year we will be bringing our newsletter community bonus conversations -- and access to early, ad-free versions of the show. To support our work and get access to everything, subscribe now.
Up next
Yesterday
Prohibition Arrives (1920) [Part 1]
This week on "50 Weeks That Shaped America," we're headed to January 1920 and the first night of Prohibition. Hide your booze! Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the long road to prohibition, going back decades, and the political forces that led to the ban of alcohol.Join our America ... Show More
35m 27s
Jan 11
From Bicentennial to Semiquincentennial: History Under Trump
For our "Sunday Context" series, we build on this past week's coversation about the bicentennial to point out how this year's America 250 project is coming together. We look at some of the key figures in Trump world who are organizing the festivities; and the overall vision of Am ... Show More
32m 53s
Jan 8
The Bicentennial Boondoggles (1976) [Part 2]
In part two of our look at the bicentennial, Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss how the festivities played out, and how Philadelphia ended up becoming the center of the action, depsite (or because of) their corrupt mayor Frank Rizzo.Join our America250 newsletter community! Subscribe ... Show More
32m 4s
Recommended Episodes
Oct 2
Who Was the Worst President Ever?
What makes a bad President? Who was the worst of all time? Don is joined by Professor Jeremi Suri, author of The Impossible Presidency and co-host of This Is Democracy.Next week we'll be looking at who is the best President ever!Edited by Tim Arstall. Produced by Freddy Chick. Se ... Show More
32m 28s
Sep 2025
History's Worst F*ckboys: Charles II
Our mini-series exploring the worst f*ckboys in history is back!In today's episode, Kate is joined by Dr. David Taylor of Oxford University to get to know the so-called Merry Monarch and the many women in his life.Was it better to be married or be a mistress to Charles II? How ma ... Show More
44m 49s
Oct 19
The Cold War
For decades after the Second World War, the Soviet Union and the United States of America were locked in a conflict of ideology that took the planet to the brink of catastrophe. Known as the Cold War, it was an era of paranoia, fear and mutual suspicion, where the contest for sup ... Show More
57m 50s
Oct 23
A Teach-In for History
<p>On Sunday, October 26th, 2025, Nate DiMeo of this here show, The Memory Palace, and his friends and colleagues at his fellow Radiotopia show, This Day, will be holding a good, old-fashioned teach-in in defense of history and museums currently targeted by the Trump Administrati ... Show More
15m 17s
Mar 2021
Spanish Civil War Interview Series 18: Memory and the Civil War with Tom Wardle
On this episode of our Spanish Civil War Interview Series I was joined by Tom Wardle. Tom's research focuses on memory activism and how the Spanish Civil War is remembered, and how that memory is fought over, in modern day Spain. When discussing history it can be easy to fall int ... Show More
35m 49s
Jul 2024
The Sound of Patriotism
<p>Every year on the Fourth of July, households across America embrace the aesthetics of patriotism. On this week’s On the Media, find out how the early country music industry got a major boost from the US military and became associated with the “sound of patriotism.” Plus, how a ... Show More
50m 38s
Jan 2025
The big questions of the Holocaust
How did the Nazis’ poisonous antisemitic rhetoric eventually culminate in the systematic mass-murder of millions? Speaking to Rachel Dinning back in 2023, historian Laurence Rees charts the course of the Holocaust – from its origins to its devastating conclusion. Holocaust Memor ... Show More
44m 23s
Sep 2025
601. Scandal in the White House
Who was Grover Cleveland, and why is he one of the most controversial American Presidents of all time? Why was the run up to his first term, in 1884 at the height of the Gilded Age, so pivotal to American politics? How did he rocket to the heights of political power? What dark se ... Show More
1h 11m
Oct 2019
Episode 41: Racism and Capitalism in Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor's Race For Profit
<p>In this episode we interviewed professor and author Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor about her latest book <em>Race For Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership.</em> The book has already been put on the long-list for the National Book Award. Taylor ... Show More
1h 8m