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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BackStory Producer Jess Engebretson brings us the story of the Effie Afton disaster – an 1856 steamboat crash that led to a legal showdown between ...

Bought by WOUB, KBRP Community Radio, KFAI Minneapolis, Radio Newark, Louisville Public Media and more


  • Added: Jun 17, 2013
  • Length: 06:34
  • Purchases: 6
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Host Ed Ayers talks with historian Walter Johnson about the rise of steamboats in the 19th Century, and how the cotton economy fueled an ever more ...

Bought by Radio Newark, KHNS, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 17, 2013
  • Length: 08:58
  • Purchases: 3
Caption: The city of New Orleans (detail), c1885, Credit: Library of Congress
The Mississippi River is central to the American landscape and imagination. And for centuries, it has served as a battlefield in which our most com...

Bought by WUFT, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, XRAY.fm, KBRP Community Radio, KUOW and more


  • Added: Jun 14, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 10
Caption: City of New Orleans Circa 1885, Credit: Courtesy of the Library of Congress
30-second promo for "That Lawless Stream: A History of the Mississippi River" with 5 second hole for station-specific time/date tag.

Bought by WUFT


  • Added: Jun 12, 2013
  • Length: :30
  • Purchases: 1
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Host Brian Balogh unpacks the saga of the Contract Buyers League, a local activist group in Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood that organized in the 1...

Bought by PRX Remix and KREV-LP


  • Added: Jun 10, 2013
  • Length: 13:27
  • Purchases: 2
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Host Brian Balogh talks with historian Loren Moulds about Herbert Hoover’s career-long crusade to promote home ownership.

Bought by Radio Newark, KHNS, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 10, 2013
  • Length: 05:08
  • Purchases: 3
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Film critic David Edelstein takes us on a tour of haunted houses in the movies.

Bought by Radio Newark, Louisville Public Media, KHNS, PRX Remix, and KREV-LP


  • Added: Jun 10, 2013
  • Length: 06:06
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Tom Ireland House in 1937, Webberville, TX , Credit: Library of Congress
Home ownership is central to the American Dream, so why have so many Americans struggled to achieve it? This week’s BackStory probes the roots - an...

Bought by WUFT, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, KREV-LP, WOUB, and WTJU


  • Added: Jun 07, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 5
Caption: Tom Ireland House, Webberville, Travis County, TX 1937 , Credit:  (via Library of Congress)
30-second promo for "Home, Bittersweet Home: A History of Homeownership" 5-second music bed at end for station-specific time/date tag.

Bought by WUFT


  • Added: Jun 05, 2013
  • Length: :30
  • Purchases: 1
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BackStory producer Eric Mennel and literature professor Benjamin Reiss brings us the story of Jane Rider, a sleepwalking servant girl whose case in...

Bought by WABE, New Hampshire Public Radio, Radio Newark, PRX Remix, and KBRP Community Radio


  • Added: Jun 04, 2013
  • Length: 11:38
  • Purchases: 5