Back Story
![Monumental Disagreements: Memorials in America [rebroadcast] Logo](http://d1i6vahw24eb07.cloudfront.net/s0q.png)
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Monumental Disagreements: Memorials in America...
This is a country awash in monuments. They adorn traffic circles, street corners and, of course, the National Mall. In this special Memorial Day episode of BackStory, the American History Guys explore the idea of national remembrance. What or whom have Americans chosen to memorialize? And what do these choices say about us? Check out our website for more: http://backstoryradio.org/
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Patent Pending: A History of Intellectual Property
Can genes be patented? Are downloaders inhibiting musical creativity – or enhancing it? This week’s BackStory explores how Americans have viewed “intellectual property" over time. What exactly is intellectual property? And what are protections for these kinds of rights supposed to achieve? The American History Guys look to the past for answers. Check out more from this episode at our website: http://backstoryradio.org/?p=8484
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Born in the USA: A History of Birth [rebroadcast]
To mark the one year anniversary of the rebirth of BackStory as a weekly program, the History Guys set out to explore the earliest stages of life in America. They begin with a few of the basic assumptions we have about birth in America today, and spend the hour exploring how those assumptions came into being. How is it that hospital doctors moved in on what had been midwife’s exclusive territory? Why did Puritans think their newborns were damned from the outset? When did courts start ruling...
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Mission Accomplished: How Wars End
The declaration of "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq was famously premature. But have America's other wars had neat or definitive endings? In this episode, BackStory looks at prominent conflicts of the last three centuries, and explores what it takes to end a war -- both in legal terms, and in the popular imagination. For more information on the guests featured in this episode, as well as further reading and resources related to the topic, visit: http://backstoryradio.org/?p=8310
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Fear Tactics: A History of Domestic Terrorism...
With recent events in Boston highlighting the horrors of domestic terrorism, we're re-broadcasting this episode of BackStory, which originally aired last fall. On September 16, 1920, a bomb exploded on Wall Street as workers took their lunch break. The explosion killed 38 people and injured hundreds. The targets? What we'd call today "the one percent" -- the powerful financiers who ran J.P. Morgan & Co. The Wall Street attack remained the deadliest terrorist bombing in the U.S. until...
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American Exodus: A History of Emigration
With immigration reform in the headlines this week, BackStory takes a look at the flip side of the Ellis Island story: emigration. This week, we bring you the stories of Americans who have left the country in search of a better life elsewhere. From the loyalists who fled revolutionary America, to the free blacks who sailed to Liberia in search of liberty (and a spot at the top of the racial hierarchy), we ask which groups have chosen to leave America, and what ideas and values they've taken...
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Paying Up A History of Taxation (Rebroadcast)
On this episode, the History Guys look at the long and turbulent history of taxation in America. How have we decided what to tax? From the Stamp Act of 1765 to the current-day Tea Party Movement, how have our attitudes about taxation changed? Do we think differently about taxes in times of war and national crisis? What was the tariff, anyway, and why did it matter? For more information on the guests featured in this episode, as well as further reading and fun resources related to the topic,...
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Stuck: A History of Gridlock
On this episode of BackStory, Brian, Ed, and Peter take an in-depth look at stalemate in American history. Are there other times when the system has so routinely ground to a halt? Is compromise the main way of ending legislative standoffs, or does accommodation just tend to kick the day of reckoning further down the road? And if deadlocks are endemic to national politics, could they actually have a silver lining? For more information on the guests featured in this episode, as well as further...
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Bridge for Sale: Deception in America
In America, you can be anything you want to be. Or anyone. Literally. So on this April Fools edition of BackStory, we dig into the long story of confidence men and counterfeiters. We discover a time when fake money jump-started the economy, and take a look at the long, strange history of "the truth compelling machine." And, oh yeah... we try to sell the Brooklyn Bridge. For more information on the guests featured in this episode, as well as further reading and fun resources related to the...
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Turf War: A History of College Sports [rebroadcast]
Just in time for the latest round of March Madness and Final Fours, we're taking on the history of college sports. The sometimes-uneasy relationship between higher education and sports has provided some especially heated controversies over the past few years, but as it turns out, the relationship between higher ed and athletics has been controversial for many generations. From Amherst College in the 19th century, where the first collegiate Phys. Ed. program blossomed, to the University of...
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Committed: Marriage in America [Rebroadcast]
Later this month, the Supreme Court will hear challenges to two major laws on marriage -- California's Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Both define marriage as between a man and a woman, and both have sparked heated arguments over what marriage should mean in America today. ...and of course, those arguments have a history. So in this hour of BackStory, we look at how past generations of Americans have defined and redefined marriage. We explore the 20th century origins...
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On the Clock: A (Brief) History of Time
In 1883, the American Railway Association carved the continental U.S. into five time zones, introducing Americans to the idea of "standard time." Twenty five years later, the revolutionary idea was codified into law, with the 1918 Calder Act. In this episode, we'll look at the changing ways Americans have experienced the span of a day, from pre-industrial times up through today's era of time-shifted media. We'll explore the impact of transportation technologies -- like trains -- and the role...
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Been There, Done That Historical Reenactments...
Americans have a fascination with their past - not just discussing it, but actually reliving it. And we're not just talking about the Civil War. Every weekend, there are people in various parts of the country putting on the clothes of old time baseball players, enslaved people -- even KKK members. And so on this episode, we're asking what drives Americans to the scripts of the past. Is it purely educational? Or is there something deeper, more personal, at stake? What events do we reenact and...
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Real to Reel: History at the Movies
Six of this year’s nine nominees for Best Picture at the Oscars are films based in history. In fact, for the past forty years, the majority of Best Picture winners have had an historical bent. On this episode of BackStory, Brian, Ed and Peter ask what makes history such a popular canvas for American filmmakers. From the early days of film—when people thought movies would replace textbooks in the classroom—to the Cold War—when the government and Hollywood thought they could control behavior...
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Rinse and Repeat: Cleanliness in America
Cleanliness is next to godliness, we say, and Americans have long associated good hygiene with moral and spiritual purity. On this episode, we dig into the changing ways we've defined what it is to be clean. We'll meet an 18th-century Pennsylvania woman who didn't immerse herself in water for 28 years, and ask how Americans like her kept clean without getting wet. We'll also hear about the campaign to clean up New York City in the mid-19th century, and question the extent to which germ...
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Love Me Did: A History of Courtship [rebroadcast]
In this episode, the History Guys explore three centuries of pre-marital intimacy. Did economic considerations used to play a greater role in coupling? In what ways have dating practices challenged class & racial boundaries? Has the idea of “romance” itself morphed over time? Visit our website for additional reading, listener comments, and background on the featured guests: www.backstoryradio.org/love-me-did-a-history-of-courtship-rebroadcast Listen to individual episode segments here:...
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Rules of Engagement: Ethics in Warfare
America’s use of targeted drone strikes in Pakistan and elsewhere raise questions about what is—and is not—an appropriate means of waging war. In this episode, the American History Guys look at how previous generations have answered these sorts of questions. They explore the shockingly violent battle tactics of Europeans in comparison to original Indian ways of war. And, at a time when many fear that chemical weapons may be deployed in Syria, the History Guys consider what made the use of...
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Straight Shot: Guns In America [rebroadcast]
In the aftermath of the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, Americans of all political stripes are wrestling with one big question: who should, and shouldn’t, have access to guns? So in this hour of BackStory, that’s the question we’ll be pushing back through the centuries. On this episode, the History Guys look at the changing ways Americans have regulated gun ownership, and at what those weapons have meant to different segments of society. They consider the importance of the militia to the...
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Four More Years: Presidential Inaugurations
As the rest of Washington looks forward to the next four years, BackStory is looking back at the last 224 years of presidential transitions. On today’s show, the History Guys focus in on several of the most high-stakes presidential inaugurations, and ask what these moments tell us about the social and political forces at [...]
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All Hopped Up: Drugs in America
In December, recreational marijuana use became legal in Washington and Colorado. But back in the early 20th century, both states were among the first to ban the drug.If that seems like a radical change, well – it’s hardly the first time a drug has undergone a major image overhaul in America. This week, wetrace the [...]
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Thenceforward and Forever Free [Rebroadcast]
We look at the narratives surrounding the Emancipation Proclamation and try to unpack its legacy. How can we best understand emancipation - as a moral imperative, a military necessity, a political strategy, or all of the above?
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Best of Times: BackStory Year in Review
In May of 2012, we re-launched BackStory as a weekly program. In this special year-end episode, we listen back to some of our favorite moments from the show since then. Do you have a favorite BackStory segment that wasnt included in this show? Let us know below, and well provide links so that others can [...]
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Naughty & Nice: A History of The Holiday Season...
The History Guys trace the evolution of Christmas in America from a public festival of rowdy excess to a child-centered celebration of church and family.
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Apocalypse Now & Then: A History of End-Times
12/21/12 marks the end of the "Mayan Long Count" calendar, and has triggered a round of prophesies about the end of the world. And so we figured we'd take the opportunity to look back on all the good times we've had... worrying about end-times.
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You’ve Got Mail: A History of the Post Office...
For many Americans, the post office has become largely a conduit for bills and junk mail. But for more than 200 years, it played a central role in American life. In this episode, we explore the rise—and fall—of the USPS.
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Cheers and Jeers: Alcohol in America [rebroadcast]
The American History Guys explore the twists and turns of our country's relationship with alcohol. From the founding era through the temperance movement, Prohibition, and beyond, they look at when and why drinking has ebbed and flowed.
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Three Squares: Mealtime in America
The History Guys recover from their Thanksgiving feasts with a look back at the history of mealtime in America. From Victorian table manners to the school lunch program, how have our ideas about what, when, and how we eat our meals evolved?
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Coming Home: A History of War Veterans [rebroadcast]
How have war veterans been treated in the aftermath of America's past wars? How much depends on the politics of the war? Are vets only as popular as the wars they’ve fought in?
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Pulling the Curtain: Voting in America
On this special Election Day episode of BackStory, the History Guys put current voting trends in historical perspective, and explore the changing face of voting in America.
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American Spirit: A History of the Supernatural...
With Halloween in the air, the History Guys set out to explore Americans’ relationship with ghosts, spirits, and witches throughout our nation’s history.
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Small Island, Big Shadow: Cuba and the US
On this episode, we mark the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis with a look back on the outsized influence that this small nation has had on three centuries of American history.
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Been There, Done That: Historical Reenactments
On this episode of BackStory, we ask what drives Americans to reenact their past. Is it purely educational? Or is there something deeper, more personal, at stake?
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Borrowed Times: A History of the National Debt...
The History Guys explore why the national debt has continued to be so controversial in a country that was founded on borrowing.
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Thenceforward and Forever Free
We look at the narratives surrounding the Emancipation Proclamation and try to unpack its legacy. How can we best understand emancipation - as a moral imperative, a military necessity, a political strategy, or all of the above?
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Contagion: Responding to Infectious Disease
In this hour of BackStory we trace the trajectory of that change and examine the shifting role of the state when it comes to coping with epidemics. Where do we draw the line between promoting the public good and protecting individual rights? How did people understand the causes and experience of disease in their own time?
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