BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites

Series produced by BackStory with the American History Guys

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

BackStory is a weekly one-hour public radio show that provides a national broadcast audience with an enjoyable and accessible way of engaging challenging themes in American history and how they connect with today.

The pieces in this series are available for individual excerpt. If you are interested in full episodes of BackStory, check out our main series page.


188 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
King of the North
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Cartograph by Ruth Taylor White, for the Hawaii Tourist Bureau, circa 1930. , Credit: Via the University of Oregon’s Knight Library.
BackStory producer Andrew Parsons brings us the story of James Strang, a Mormon leader who moved his followers to Michigan’s Beaver Island -- where...

Bought by WABE and PRX Remix


  • Added: Mar 25, 2015
  • Length: 11:02
  • Purchases: 2
Island of Immortals
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Cartograph by Ruth Taylor White, for the Hawaii Tourist Bureau, circa 1930. , Credit: Via the University of Oregon’s Knight Library.
Chinese immigrants held on San Francisco's Angel Island in the early 20th century carved poetry deep into the walls that confined them. Judy Yung w...

Bought by WOUB, KUER, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Mar 25, 2015
  • Length: 09:21
  • Purchases: 3
A-dressing a Mystery
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Cartograph by Ruth Taylor White, for the Hawaii Tourist Bureau, circa 1930. , Credit: Via the University of Oregon’s Knight Library.
Scholar and chef Ben Davison helps the Guys answer a burning question: What’s the origin of Thousand Island dressing, anyway? This piece comes from...

Bought by KCMJ Community Radio and WABE


  • Added: Mar 25, 2015
  • Length: 08:44
  • Purchases: 2
The Plot Thickens
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Piece image
Terry Alford, Edward Steers Jr., Wyatt Evans, and Sarah Jencks walk the Guys through the evolution of John Wilkes Booth’s plan not only to kill Lin...

  • Added: Apr 16, 2015
  • Length: 11:50
Thuderclap from a Clear Blue Sky
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: "The death bed of the martyr President Abraham Lincoln", Credit: Currier & Ives, Library of Congress
Historian Martha Hodes outlines the public grief – and celebration – at Lincoln’s death across the Union. This story comes from the BackStory show ...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Apr 16, 2015
  • Length: 08:08
  • Purchases: 1
Trials & Tribunes
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: "The death bed of the martyr President Abraham Lincoln", Credit: Currier & Ives, Library of Congress
Scholar Elizabeth Leonard talks with host Brian Balogh about the trials of the surviving suspects in Lincoln’s assassination, conducted in an atmos...

Bought by KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio and PRX Remix


  • Added: Apr 16, 2015
  • Length: 10:38
  • Purchases: 2
Crime & Punishment
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Surrender of Genl. Lee, at Appomattox C.H. Va. April 9th. 1865, Credit: Currier & Ives, Library of Congress
Were any rebel leaders hung for treason? Historian David Blight explains what happened to Confederate officials after the war, and why. This story ...

  • Added: Apr 24, 2015
  • Length: 09:41
Once, Twice, Three Times a Free Man
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Surrender of Genl. Lee, at Appomattox C.H. Va. April 9th. 1865, Credit: Currier & Ives, Library of Congress
Freedom was a tenuous reality for many former slaves in the early days of the federally occupied South, with bands of returning soldiers — now out ...

Bought by PRX Remix


  • Added: Apr 24, 2015
  • Length: 09:43
  • Purchases: 1
No Mountain High Enough
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Surrender of Genl. Lee, at Appomattox C.H. Va. April 9th. 1865, Credit: Currier & Ives, Library of Congress
Historian Brenda Stevenson talks with Ed about the extraordinary struggles black families endured to reunite, after slavery had wrenched them apart.

Bought by KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio and PRX Remix


  • Added: Apr 24, 2015
  • Length: 07:34
  • Purchases: 2
The Pig Apple
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Three ballerinas perform pas de trois as they cast ballots into trash can, atop the Empire State Building., Credit: World Telegram and Sun, Library of Congress
Historians Brett Mizelle and Catherine McNeur help BackStory producer Kelly Jones tell the story of the thousands of free-range pigs who managed Ne...

Bought by WABE, KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, KPIP-LP, and PRX Remix


  • Added: May 04, 2015
  • Length: 09:05
  • Purchases: 4
Curbside Searches
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Three ballerinas perform pas de trois as they cast ballots into trash can, atop the Empire State Building., Credit: World Telegram and Sun, Library of Congress
Legal scholar David Sklansky discusses California v. Greenwood, a landmark Supreme Court case that decided whether Americans throw out their expect...

Bought by KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio and PRX Remix


  • Added: May 04, 2015
  • Length: 07:29
  • Purchases: 2
Off to the Races
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Italian-British driver Dario Resta finished a close second at the 1915 Indianapolis 500. , Credit: Library of Congress
Historian John Mason takes host Brian Balogh to Virginia’s Eastside Speedway for a crash course in the surprisingly egalitarian history of drag rac...

Bought by KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash. and KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio


  • Added: May 26, 2015
  • Length: 08:50
  • Purchases: 2
On the Bly
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Italian-British driver Dario Resta finished a close second at the 1915 Indianapolis 500. , Credit: Library of Congress
With the help of historians Joyce Chaplin and Matthew Goodman, BackStory producer Nina Earnest has the story of journalist Nellie Bly’s 1889 race ’...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash., New Hampshire Public Radio, and KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio


  • Added: May 26, 2015
  • Length: 11:31
  • Purchases: 4
A Quick Reno-vation
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Italian-British driver Dario Resta finished a close second at the 1915 Indianapolis 500. , Credit: Library of Congress
The Guys talk with historian Mella Harmon and guest Barbara Davis about Reno, Nev.'s boom years as America’s quickie divorce capital. This story co...

Bought by KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash., KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio, and PRX Remix


  • Added: May 26, 2015
  • Length: 07:14
  • Purchases: 3
Fastball
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Italian-British driver Dario Resta finished a close second at the 1915 Indianapolis 500. , Credit: Library of Congress
Is America’s national pastime too slow? Major League historian John Thorn and famously off-speed pitcher Bill “Spaceman” Lee toss around this old d...

Bought by KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash. and KSVR Studios: Skagit Valley Radio


  • Added: May 26, 2015
  • Length: 09:00
  • Purchases: 2
Inside the Box
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Piece image
Journalist Marc Levinson shares the story of Malcolm McLean, who invented the shipping container and changed the way goods move around the world.

Bought by WOUB and KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash.


  • Added: Jun 08, 2015
  • Length: 09:58
  • Purchases: 2
All Right, Mr. Deville, I'm Ready For My Contract
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Female personification of the Bill of Rights, 1941, Credit: Library of Congress
Historian Sophia Lee has the story of how Hollywood powerhouse Cecil B. DeMille fought labor unions in the 1940s, and championed the “right to work...

Bought by KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash. and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 01, 2015
  • Length: 08:16
  • Purchases: 2
Pursuing Freedom
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Female personification of the Bill of Rights, 1941, Credit: Library of Congress
English professor Jeannine DeLombard talks with host Ed Ayers about the paradox some slaves faced when they sued their owners for the right to be f...

Bought by KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash. and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 01, 2015
  • Length: 06:41
  • Purchases: 2
Smoking or Non?
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Female personification of the Bill of Rights, 1941, Credit: Library of Congress
Host Brian Balogh chats with legal historian Sophia Lee, about how both Big Tobacco and the anti-smoking lobby have breathed the language of civil ...

Bought by KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash. and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 01, 2015
  • Length: 07:37
  • Purchases: 2
With Liberty and Justice For All?
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Caption: Female personification of the Bill of Rights, 1941, Credit: Library of Congress
At the height of World War II, Jehovah’s Witnesses fought for the right not to pledge allegiance to the flag. Historian Sarah Barringer Gordon has ...

Bought by RadioFreePalmer, WOUB, New Hampshire Public Radio, KMRE-LP Bellingham, Wash., KCMJ Community Radio and more


  • Added: Jul 01, 2015
  • Length: 08:44
  • Purchases: 7