BackStory with the American History Guys

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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

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

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188 Pieces

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

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1 Piece

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

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42 Pieces

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

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


Pieces

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Producer Eric Mennel tells the story of how a turn-of-the-century American writer grappled with his own ambivalence about the meanings and purposes...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Apr 15, 2014
  • Length: 08:06
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: “The Anarchist Riot in Chicago,” from Harper's Weekly, May 15, 1886, Credit: Library of Congress
The Boston Marathon bombings took place one year ago, leaving a stunned nation to wrestle with what the government response should be. But how did ...

Bought by KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, WRPI, and 90.1 WFYI Public Radio


  • Added: Apr 11, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: "Save me from my friends!" Uncle Sam shelters Cuba, illustration from Puck, 1898, Credit: Library of Congress
In 1898, President McKinley called for war with Spain to liberate Cuba from the “barbarities, bloodshed, starvation, and horrible miseries now exis...

Bought by KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio


  • Added: Apr 04, 2014
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 1
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Host Brian Balogh talks with legal historian Risa Goluboff about the legal background to the federal minimum wage, established by the Fair Labor St...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, Louisville Public Media, WRST-FM Oshkosh, and Radio Newark


  • Added: Mar 31, 2014
  • Length: 08:48
  • Purchases: 4
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Historian Gregg Kimball tells host Ed Ayers about the phenomenon of “hiring out” enslaved persons prior to the Civil War, and how this introduced s...

Bought by Radio Newark


  • Added: Mar 31, 2014
  • Length: 08:09
  • Purchases: 1
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Host Ed Ayers talks with historian Karin Shapiro about the convict leasing arrangements of the 1890s that led to labor disputes with free workers, ...

Bought by WDBM, KFAI Minneapolis, and Radio Newark


  • Added: Mar 31, 2014
  • Length: 09:31
  • Purchases: 3
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An audio postcard from the University of Virginia’s Memorial Gym resurrects a famous speech given there by FDR.

Bought by Troy Public Radio, Radio Newark, and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Mar 25, 2014
  • Length: 04:10
  • Purchases: 3
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Host Ed Ayers explains how the South used college football to reassert itself in American culture after the Civil War, and Backstory producer Eric ...

Bought by Radio Newark and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Mar 25, 2014
  • Length: 12:34
  • Purchases: 2
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BackStory producer Jess Engebretson explains how the Statue of Liberty gained new meaning in American life – as a symbol of immigration – as it dev...

Bought by WOUB, New Hampshire Public Radio, Radio Newark, and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Mar 18, 2014
  • Length: 09:05
  • Purchases: 4
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BackStory producer Andrew Parsons talks with comic book author Denny O’Neill and historian Bradford Wright, about Green Lantern and Green Arrow - t...

Bought by WOUB, New Hampshire Public Radio, WABE, New Hampshire Public Radio, Radio Newark and more


  • Added: Mar 18, 2014
  • Length: 08:59
  • Purchases: 7