Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from Radiotopia.

My name is Jody Avergan.

This day, September 2nd 2005, a woman by the name of Cindy Sheehan is beginning a three-week tour around the country to protest the war in Iraq.

Cindy Sheehan was one of the most notable and vocal opponents of the war, a woman who was radicalized against the conflict after her son, Casey, had been killed in that war.

Prior to this protest tour around the country which would eventually end up with a massive

rally in Washington, D.C. She and other anti-war protesters had kept a vigil in Crawford, Texas, or near Crawford, Texas, at what came to be known as Camp Casey.

So that's what we're discussing today, Cindy Sheehan, Camp Casey, the legacy of anti-war protest

in the Middle East. All stuff that feels also relevant even today, 16 years later as we wind down the conflict in Afghanistan.

So here to discuss it all are as always

Nicole Hammer of Columbia and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley.

Hello there.

Hello Jody.

Hey there.

And a quick shout out to listener Ethan Turpin who suggested that we do something on Camp Casey and I don't think we realized just how relevant it would feel really.

But maybe let's start even bigger picture, Kelly, with September 2005.

This is a moment I think we all remember but just paint for listeners kind of like there's a lot of

big political narratives and big storylines

colliding at this moment.

Nine months into Bush's second term,

a controversial presidency at that.

Hurricane Katrina has just hit and devastated all of the Gulf Coast.

And, you know, anti-war tensions are escalating and Americans are really split about how they feel about this war, how they feel about President Bush,

...