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

Caption: “Save me from my friends!” Uncle Sam shelters Cuba, illustration from Puck, 1898.
With President Obama making the case for military action against Syria, BackStory takes on the history of humanitarian intervention. What are the o...

Bought by WUFT, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, NPR Illinois, WRPI, WMMT and more


  • Added: Sep 13, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
Piece image
Historian Caroline Winterer tells host Peter Onuf about a debate over practicality and purpose in higher education after the Civil War, and how the...

Bought by WRST-FM Oshkosh and Radio Newark


  • Added: Sep 09, 2013
  • Length: 08:07
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
Host Ed Ayers talks with historian Caitlin Rosenthal about an early wave of for-profit universities in the mid-19th Century, and a road not taken i...

Bought by Radio Newark


  • Added: Sep 09, 2013
  • Length: 06:16
  • Purchases: 1
Caption: Detail from “Academic Gowns, American Usage,” chromolithographic print by Julius Bien & Co., 1903
President Obama recently proposed sweeping changes to the way government helps to finance students’ higher education, and an unprecedented system o...

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


  • Added: Sep 06, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 6
Caption: “Academic Gowns, American Usage,”, Credit: chromolithographic print by Julius Bien & Co., 1903.
30-second promo for BackStory episode, "Degrees of Freedom: Higher Education in America," with 5-second music bed at end for station-specific time/...

Bought by Troy Public Radio


  • Added: Sep 04, 2013
  • Length: :00
  • Purchases: 1
Piece image
The American History Guys Peter Onuf, Ed Ayers, and Brian Balogh talk with historian Richard Price about why chemical weapons became taboo.

Bought by Radio Newark


  • Added: Sep 03, 2013
  • Length: 08:25
  • Purchases: 1
Piece image
BackStory producer, Eric Mennel, profile Francis Lieber, the Prussian immigrant who authored General Orders No. 100.

Bought by WABE, Radio Newark, and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Sep 03, 2013
  • Length: 07:57
  • Purchases: 3
Piece image
Historian William P. Jones talks with host Brian Balogh about the origins of the march idea, first floated during a campaign against employment dis...

Bought by Radio Newark and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Sep 03, 2013
  • Length: 09:17
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
Historian David Blight talks with host Ed Ayers about the continuing impact of the Civil War in shaping the context within which the march took pla...

Bought by Radio Newark and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Sep 03, 2013
  • Length: 12:22
  • Purchases: 2
Caption: The Gatling Gun patent drawing (1865). The gun was patented on May 9, 1865, and was officially adopted by the U.S. Army on August 21, 1866. , Credit: National Archives
Reports that chemical weapons have been used in Syria raise important questions about what is—and is not—an appropriate means of waging war. This w...

Bought by XRAY.fm, KBRP Community Radio, KFOK-LPFM, WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio and more


  • Added: Aug 30, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 6