It’s February 27th. This day in 1860, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech at the Cooper Union in New York City. Before the speech, he was relatively unknown and not considered a viable candidate for president in that fall’s election. This speech changed everything.

Jody, NIki, and Kellie discuss how the speech both boosted Lincoln as a candidate, but also laid out his intellectual vision — one that was as much about continually evolving ideas on slavery as anything.

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And don’t forget about Oprahdemics, hosted by Kellie, coming soon from Radiotopia.

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Our team: Jacob Feldman, Researcher/Producer; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Julie Shapiro and Audrey Mardavich, Executive Producers at Radiotopia