BackStory with the American History Guys

GroupAccount image

BackStory  is a weekly podcast that uses current events in America to take a deep dive into our past. Hosted by noted U.S. historians, Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh, Peter Onuf, Nathan Connolly and Joanne Freeman, each episode provides listeners with different perspectives on a particular theme or subject – giving you all sides to the story and then some.

Please confirm carriage of evergreen BackStory with the American History Guys episodes by contacting Diana Williams @(434)-924-6894 or dwilliams@virginia.edu.

Moving from current headlines to drill down into U.S. history, each surprising BackStory episode features lively interviews with a diverse roster of scholars, experts, and ordinary citizens from around the country; listener calls; host discussions; and produced pieces. Topics are as diverse as college sports, reenactments, sugar, memorials, domestic terrorism, birthing, homeownership, the post office, philanthropy, protests, privacy, marriage, revivalism, and childhood—all in the context of American history.

BackStory is produced by  Virginia Humanities. Major funding is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities with additional corporate, foundation, institutional, and individual support.

Please visit our station landing page for upcoming episodes, promotional photos, and other information.

 


Series

Series image
0 Pieces

This series is for stations that want to subscribe to Backstory for WEEKLY deliveries using PRX's SubAuto system.

Series image
188 Pieces

A collection of the best stories and features from BackStory, meant for excerpt by programs or stations.

Series image
1 Piece

A collection of one-hour BackStory specials for use in station holiday programming.

Series image
42 Pieces

Promos for stations airing upcoming episodes of BackStory with the American History Guys.

Series image
0 Pieces

A special three-part series of hour-long episodes exploring the causes and consequences of the American Civil War.


Pieces

Piece image
Host Ed Ayers talks with English professor Kyla Wazana Tompkins about the austere diet created by Sylvester Graham, designed to ward off a new kind...

  • Added: May 20, 2014
  • Length: 10:09
Piece image
Host Brian Balogh talks with food journalist Marian Burros about the US Senate’s attempt to encourage healthy eating in the 1970s, and the pushback...

Bought by WOUB and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: May 20, 2014
  • Length: 07:41
  • Purchases: 2

  • Added: May 13, 2014
  • Length: 06:04
  • Purchases: 12
Piece image
The American History Guys discuss the Liberian experiment – a project to build a perfect community for free blacks, outside the United States. The ...

Bought by KFAI Minneapolis and PRX Remix


  • Added: May 06, 2014
  • Length: 07:24
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
BackStory producer Chioke I’Anson tells the story of Eugene Bullard, the first African-American fighter pilot in World War I – only he flew for Fra...

Bought by WABE, KFAI Minneapolis, and PRX Remix


  • Added: May 06, 2014
  • Length: 06:23
  • Purchases: 3
Piece image
Sergei Khrushchev and writer Peter Carlson tell us about a moment of levity during Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s visit to the United States i...

Bought by KFAI Minneapolis and PRX Remix


  • Added: Apr 29, 2014
  • Length: 06:19
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
The American History Guys discuss Alexis de Tocqueville’s 1830s prediction that the US and Russia would become dominant world powers, and probe why...

  • Added: Apr 29, 2014
  • Length: 07:57
Piece image
Host Brian Balogh talks with historian Julia Mickenberg about the establishment of women’s suffrage in Revolutionary Russia, and how American suffr...

Bought by WGBH Radio Boston, KUAF Public Radio, Bandon Community Radio, KSFR, KICI Iowa City and more


  • Added: Apr 29, 2014
  • Length: 09:07
  • Purchases: 6
Piece image
Host Brian Balogh sits down with science writer Brian Switek to discuss American “dinomania,” and the way ideas about dinosaur extinction have para...

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh


  • Added: Apr 21, 2014
  • Length: 08:40
  • Purchases: 1
Piece image
Lawyer Zygmunt Plater tells host Brian Balogh about arguing the “snail darter” case before the Supreme Court, the Endangered Species Act, and the i...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Apr 21, 2014
  • Length: 10:38
  • Purchases: 1