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
A Win for Women
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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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
Dinosaurs and Us
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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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
Darter vs. Dam
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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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
Blurring the Blurry Lines
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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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
The Birth of the Minimum Wage
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Piece image
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
Slaves for Hire
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Piece image
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
Prisoners at War
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Piece image
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
Gym Teacher
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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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
The Game that Changed the South...Sort Of
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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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
A Green Welcome
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Piece image
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
Green Superheroes
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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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
Friday Night Lights
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Contributor Meg Cramer tells the story of the first electrically lit town in America -- Wabash, Indiana.

Bought by Radio Newark, KFAI Minneapolis, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Mar 10, 2014
  • Length: 06:21
  • Purchases: 3
Buzzer Beater
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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BackStory producer Eric Mennel tells the story of a 24-second experiment that saved one of America’s most beloved sports.

Bought by Radio Newark and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Mar 10, 2014
  • Length: 06:59
  • Purchases: 2
The HISTIES
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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The American History Guys discuss what makes a good historical movie, make nominations for the best one – that deserving a “HISTIE” – from the crop...

Bought by Radio Newark and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Mar 04, 2014
  • Length: 09:38
  • Purchases: 2
The Abolitionist Audience
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Piece image
Host Ed Ayers talks with historian Mary Niall Mitchell about the ways slave narratives like Solomon Northup’s "12 Years a Slave" were used to aid t...

Bought by Radio Newark


  • Added: Mar 04, 2014
  • Length: 07:27
  • Purchases: 1
Beyond the Buyers Club
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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The American History Guys talk to AIDS activist Mark King about the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s, and its representation in the movie Dallas Buyers...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, Radio Newark, and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Mar 04, 2014
  • Length: 06:54
  • Purchases: 3
What History Tells Us About Bitcoin
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Historian Stephen Mihm tells host Brian Balogh why Bitcoin is going against the lessons of history – the established dominance of a government-back...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, Radio Newark, KFAI Minneapolis, WRST-FM Oshkosh, and WEZU


  • Added: Feb 24, 2014
  • Length: 10:05
  • Purchases: 5
Not Worth a Continental
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Host Peter Onuf talks with historian Benjamin Irvin about the design of the Continental Dollar, and how it sought to inspire confidence in the new ...

Bought by Radio Newark and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Feb 24, 2014
  • Length: 08:23
  • Purchases: 2
By Government Decree
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Piece image
Historian Michael O’Malley tells host Brian Balogh about the strange connections drawn by critics of Reconstruction, between fiat currency on the o...

Bought by Radio Newark and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Feb 24, 2014
  • Length: 11:29
  • Purchases: 2
The Things They Carried
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
Piece image
BackStory contributor Catherine Moore tells the story of how soldiers returning from World War I brought the Spanish flu back with them.

Bought by KICI Iowa City, WABE, New Hampshire Public Radio, Radio Newark, and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Feb 17, 2014
  • Length: 08:22
  • Purchases: 5