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
Th FBI Figures Things Out
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 Beverly Gage about the breakthrough technological innovation J. Edgar Hoover brought to his work at the FBI:...

Bought by Radio Newark, KFAI Minneapolis, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 22, 2013
  • Length: 07:35
  • Purchases: 3
You Can Run, But You Can't Hide
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Private investigator Ron Brown walks hosts Brian Balogh and Ed Ayers through the process of tracking people down, how technology has dramatically r...

Bought by Radio Newark, Louisville Public Media, PRX Remix, and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Jul 22, 2013
  • Length: 06:48
  • Purchases: 4
The Woman’s War
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Historian Catherine Clinton discusses gender dynamics on the home front, and the American History Guys consider ways in which the Civil War is dist...

Bought by Radio Newark, PRX Remix, and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Jul 01, 2013
  • Length: 06:38
  • Purchases: 3
Fighting for Liberation
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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The American History Guys discuss the important moral and tactical contributions of African-American soldiers in the Union Army.

Bought by Radio Newark, PRX Remix, Louisville Public Media, and KFAI Minneapolis


  • Added: Jul 01, 2013
  • Length: 05:37
  • Purchases: 4
Fighting for Hearth and Home
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Historian Aaron Sheehan-Dean explains to host Brian Balogh how the idea of “home” motivated Confederate soldiers, and strengthened their resolve to...

Bought by Radio Newark, Radio Newark, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jul 01, 2013
  • Length: 11:50
  • Purchases: 3
Federalizing Floods
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Host Brian Balogh talks with sociologist Karen O’Neill about the federal government’s move into flood control in 1917 – as landowners along the Mis...

Bought by WOUB, Radio Newark, KHNS, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 17, 2013
  • Length: 05:29
  • Purchases: 4
Remembering the Rising Tide
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Jennifer Abraham-Cramer helps us understand the great Mississippi flood of 1927, using stories from survivors preserved by oral historians.

Bought by WOUB, KRZA, Radio Newark, and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jun 17, 2013
  • Length: 07:41
  • Purchases: 4
Rivers vs. Railroads
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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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
The Worst Steamboat Money Can Buy…
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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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
Welcome to the Big Leagues
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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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
Heed the Deed
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 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
Creaky Boards and Cobwebs
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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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
Sleepwalking to the Asylum
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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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
Are you Depressed?
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Sociologist Allan Horwitz discusses psychiatric diagnosis in the late 20th Century, and our changing perceptions of “sadness” and “depression.”

Bought by Radio Newark, PRX Remix, and WEZU


  • Added: Jun 03, 2013
  • Length: 05:44
  • Purchases: 3
Mourning Glory
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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The American History Guys talk with a listener about how the trend of memorializing lost loved ones on Facebook has historical precedence.

Bought by WRGY, Prairie Public, KSFR, and Radio Newark


  • Added: May 28, 2013
  • Length: 08:28
  • Purchases: 4
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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BackStory producers Eric Mennel and Nell Boeschenstein visit Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia to tell the story of a monument in honor of Heyward Shep...

Bought by WABE and Radio Newark


  • Added: May 28, 2013
  • Length: 10:49
  • Purchases: 2
Face the Changes
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Host Brian Balogh talks with Teresa Bergman about the evolving film presentations the National Park Service has used to welcome tourists at Mount R...

Bought by Radio Newark and KBRP Community Radio


  • Added: May 28, 2013
  • Length: 10:11
  • Purchases: 2
Who Owns Comedy?
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Host Brian Balough chats with Law professor Chris Sprigman about the intellectual property debates surrounding standup comedy – no joke!

Bought by WABE, PRX Remix, WEZU, Radio Newark, KHNS and more


  • Added: May 20, 2013
  • Length: 10:32
  • Purchases: 6
Freedom of Expression™
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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BackStory hears from Kembrew McLeod – journalist, professor, and intellectual property “prankster” – on how a system meant to encourage innovation ...

Bought by Louisville Public Media, Radio Newark, and KBRP Community Radio


  • Added: May 20, 2013
  • Length: 02:39
  • Purchases: 3
Copyright and Creativity
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Favorites
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Media and legal scholar Siva Vaidhyanathan talks with Host Brian Balough about the expansion of copyright protections.

Bought by WOUB, Radio Newark, and KHNS


  • Added: May 20, 2013
  • Length: 08:30
  • Purchases: 3