John Dillinger Is Killed, The FBI Is Born (1934)

It's July 22nd. This day in 1934, gangster John Dillinger is killed by federal agents while walking out of a movie theater in Chicago. Jody, Niki, and Kellie discuss the media environment that helped turn Dillinger into a star, and how J Edgar Hoover used the showdown with him and other gangsters to build the FBI as we know it. Help out with America 250 Watch! Subscribe to our newsletter for our ongoing coverage and commentary on how America 250 is playing out. https://thisdaypod.substack.com/ Find out more at thisdaypod.com This Day In Esoteric Political History 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; Brittani Brown, Producer; Khawla Nakua, Transcripts; music by Teen Daze and Blue Dot Sessions; Audrey Mardavich is our Executive Producer at Radiotopia