Beach Bodies: A History of the American Physique
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Length: 54:02
With the 2012 Summer Olympics underway in London, Americans this week are being bombarded by mages of physical perfection. If it triggers any body envy on the part of viewers, well - it might pose some some small comfort to know that the ideal of the perfect body has not always been what it is today.
On this episode of BackStory, we explore the ways body image ideals have changed over the centuries, and look at a few of the ways Americans have attempted to perfect their physiques. The History Guys take on the 19th century science of "nasology" - which held that the shape of a person's nose was the key to understanding their character - and they ask why this theory emerged when it did. They also examine the reasons why skinniness became desireable for middle-class men long before it was valued by women. An they consider the Cold War roots of that bane of schoolchildren everywhere: the Presidential Physical Fitness Test.
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Related Pieces
Piece Description
With the 2012 Summer Olympics underway in London, Americans this week are being bombarded by mages of physical perfection. If it triggers any body envy on the part of viewers, well - it might pose some some small comfort to know that the ideal of the perfect body has not always been what it is today.
On this episode of BackStory, we explore the ways body image ideals have changed over the centuries, and look at a few of the ways Americans have attempted to perfect their physiques. The History Guys take on the 19th century science of "nasology" - which held that the shape of a person's nose was the key to understanding their character - and they ask why this theory emerged when it did. They also examine the reasons why skinniness became desireable for middle-class men long before it was valued by women. An they consider the Cold War roots of that bane of schoolchildren everywhere: the Presidential Physical Fitness Test.
Timing and Cues
SENDER: VFH RADIO – CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA
RE: "BACKSTORY" RUNDOWN – BODIES”
SHOW: BACKSTORY WITH THE AMERICAN HISTORY GUYS
HOSTS: BRIAN BALOGH, PETER ONUF, ED AYERS
TIME: 59:00
PRSS SHOW TITLE: BACKSTORYBODIES
BROADCAST WINDOW: 8/03/12-10/03/12
***********************************************************************
SHOW RUNDOWN
06:00 – 19:00 SEG A
IC: Major support for Backstory is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
OC: We’ll be back in a minute.
6:00 - 19:00 Nose Knows Best
Brian talks to Eddy Portnoy about the 19th century pseudo-science of nosology, which claimed to explain personality traits based on the shape of a person’s nose, and the History Guys riff about why we began wanting to change our appearance in the 19th century.
19:00 – 20:00 STATION BREAK 1 (MUSIC BED)
20:00 – 39:00 SEG B
IC: This is BackStory with the American History Guys…
OC: We’ll be back in a minute.
20:00 – 29:36 More to Love
Peter chats with Katherina Vester about the rise of dieting in the 19th century and about how it was preferable for men to be slim and women to have a few extra pounds of padding on their bones.
29:37 – 39:00 Run DNC, Run RNC
Rachel Moran and Brian discuss how the federal government began to claim a stake in the public’s physical fitness, and Moran explains the origins of that annual bane of schoolchildren everywhere: the Presidential Physical Fitness Test.
39:00 – 40:00 STATION BREAK 2 (MUSIC BED)
40:00 – 59:00 SEG C
IC: Welcome back to BackStory…
OC: …at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities
40:00 – 51:08 Listener Calls
The History Guys take calls from listeners.
51:09 – 52:07 The Sleeve Makes the Man
Ed interviews Megan Kate Nelson about the proliferation of so-called “empty sleeve” narratives in poems, stories, songs, and artworks that glorified amputee veterans returning home after the Civil War.
56:57 – 59:00 PRODUCTION/FUNDING CREDITS
***********************************************************************
Contact: Producer, Tony Field (434) 924-8922, tfield@virginia.edu
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