BackStory with the American History Guys Podcasts

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BackStory is a new public radio show that brings historical perspective to the events happening around us every day. Each week, renowned US historians Ed Ayers, Peter Onuf, and Brian Balogh tear a topic from the headlines and explore its historical depth through interviews, features, and call-in segments. Primary Format : History Language : en Also Listed as: City : Charlottesville State/Province : VA User Tags: american culture american history commentary current events democracy education government historians public radio social sciences society User Votes: RSS Feed Website People found this Podcast Searching for: View this Podcast on a Google Map. Podcast iTunes Link Text Only listing of BackStory with the American History Guys Podcasts Methings.com listings of BackStory with the American History Guys Podcasts If you like this podcast, you might also like:

View the full archive of BackStory with the American History Guys American as Pumpkin Pie: A History of Thanksgiving When we sit down to Thanksgiving dinner, we think we know what we’re commemorating. But if an actual Pilgrim were to attend your Thanksgiving, chances are he’d be stunned, and a little disgusted, by what transpired there. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Call of the Week: Abe from Montreal On each "Call of the Week," we feature one of our favorite listener phone calls.This week, it's from Abe in Montreal. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Coming Home: A History of War Veterans Rambo, Elvis Presley, and former Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders have one important thing in common: military service. So who are America’s veterans? Soldiers travel far away to risk their lives, but how easy is returning home? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Moulder in Peace, John Brown Most people think the "John Brown's Body" song is about John Brown the abolitionist. But it's not...really... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Body Politics: A History of Health Care Recent fights about health care reform have landed several people in the hospital. So who foots the bill? Historically, what's been the government's role in keeping Americans healthy? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website School Days: A History of Public Education The statistics look grim, but is America's educational system any worse off than it's ever been? Why have schools been the sites of so many social movements? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Laboratories of Democracy: The State of the States In its early years, the US wasn't so much "United" as "States." Power has steadily shifted to the federal government, but states have continued to assert independence on important issues. If we're all Americans, why do states still matter? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Looking for Work: A History of Unemployment With unemployment at its highest level in 25 years, we're taking on the history of Americans between jobs. When did the concept of "unemployment" arise in the first place? Are people more or less attached to their jobs than they used to be? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Adorable Origins of Yellow Journalism: podcast only The Yellow Kid was wise beyond his years.  By 1900, he'd already sold cigars, staged a cock fight and been around the world. So what was the appeal of this unlikely pop icon?  And what did he have to do with yellow journalism? Associate producer Rachel Quimby explains. Looking for the main Yellow Kid page? Click [...] Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Independence Daze: A History of July Fourth In the early days of our nation, July Fourth wasn’t an official holiday at all. In fact, it wasn’t until 1938 that it became a paid day-off. So how did the Fourth become the holiest day on our secular calendar? Historian Pauline Maier offers some answers, and explains how radically the meaning of the Declaration [...] Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Grave Subjects: A History of Death and Mourning How present is death in American culture? Have improvements in public health and medicine removed death from our everyday lives? Join the History Guys in this Memorial Day episode of BackStory. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The Good Mother: A History of American Motherhood For most of American history, women were charged with raising productive citizens, but not given full citizen status, themselves. Our Mother's Day episode explores this enduring paradox. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website American as Pumpkin Pie: A History of Thanksgiving When you think of Thanksgiving, what comes to mind? Turkey on the table? Football on TV? Dad in a dress? Before the 1900s, it was common for cross-dressing masqueraders to parade through the city demanding Thanksgiving treats. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website (The Invention of) Traditional Family Values California's recent passage of a gay marriage ban suggests that many Americans subscribe to the idea of the “traditional” family — caregiver mom, breadwinner dad, and 2.5 children. But whose tradition is it, really? In this hour, the Guys hear dueling viewpoints — first from Focus on the Family, and then from a Columbia University [...] Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tolerance: A History of Drink Uncork the champagne! December 5th marked the 75th anniversary of Prohibition's repeal, but was the ban on alcohol as bad as we remember? Does Prohibition really deserve its reputation as a failed experiment? In this hour, political historian Jim Morone gives us an introduction to the politics of sin. Then a modern-day moonshiner tells how [...] Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Panic!: A History of Financial Crisis Deregulation...Crash...Recession...Bailout. Sound familiar? Probably. Sound modern? It shouldn't. So how have we responded to financial crises in the past? And why do people think we’ll ever break free from this cycle? What would you like to know about the history of market crashes? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website From Whales to Wind: A History of Energy In this episode, BackStory takes on big oil! And big trees, big water, big whales.. How have changing energy sources shaped the growth and decline of cities and towns? What are the social costs and benefits of new energy technologies? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Black & White: The Idea of Racial Purity Americans nationwide are celebrating the inauguration of their first African-American president. But Barack Obama is also the country's first mixed-race president… that we know about. In this episode, we explore the gray areas of America's past, and ask why in this country, a single drop of African blood makes you "black." 2008 National Book Award-winner [...] Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website The More Things Change: The History of Presidential Transitions Commanders come and go—but what difference does it really make? In this hour, BackStory takes a closer look at the realities of presidential transitions. Send us your ideas, questions, and stories so you can join us on the air! Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website How did West Virginia get its name? Some say it's the best Virginia, but West Virginia might once have been known as Westsylvania, or as the more grandiloquent Vandalia.  So what happened?  Find out here, with West Virginia native Catherine Moore. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website