BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes

Series produced by BackStory with the American History Guys

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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.

Bringing BackStory To Your Station

Please confirm carriage of BackStory with the American History Guys by contacting Steve Martin at 703-715-0827 or steve@sfmconsulting.com.

New episodes launch every Friday on this page.

Click here for new promos for upcoming BackStory episodes every Monday.

More About Our Show

Curious about BackStory with the American History Guys? Please visit our station landing page for upcoming episodes, promotional photos, and other information, or visit our home page on PRX.


45 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Born in the USA: A History of Birth
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: Migrant cotton picker and her baby, Buckeye, AZ, 1940 , Credit: National Archives
The American History Guys are back! In this premiere episode of BackStory's new weekly schedule, we explore the history of childbirth in America. T...

Bought by WFIU, KREV-LP, KEOS, 90.5 WSNC, KAWC and more


  • Added: May 08, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 6
Home Bittersweet Home: A History of Homeownership
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: Levittown houses. Mrs. Jack Misner, residence at 47 Sparrow Lane, Credit: Library of Congress
In 1931, Herbert Hoover called the idea of owning one’s own “a sentiment deep in the heart of our race and of American life.” In this episode of Ba...

Bought by WEZU, KREV-LP, 90.5 WSNC, and WRPI


  • Added: May 18, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 4
Monumental Disagreements: Memorials in America
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: Mothers' Memorial, Credit: Library of Congress
In this Memorial Day episode of BackStory, we take on national remembrance. By looking at some of our country’s most iconic monuments, we ask what—...

Bought by WUIS, WRFA-LP, WCPN, KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, WLRN and more


  • Added: May 25, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 12
In the Beginning: Science and Religion in America
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: John T. Scopes, Credit: Smithsonian Institution
The "Scopes Monkey Trial" has come to symbolize the fundamental conflict between science and religion... but are the two necessarily opposed?

Bought by WFIU, WRPI, and KREV-LP


  • Added: Jun 01, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 3
Weathering the Storm: A History of Extreme Weather
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: Collier's Magazine Cover, 1954, Credit: Smithsonian Institution
This week on BackStory, we tackle extreme weather: how we've tried to predict it, control it, make sense of it. Along the way, we discover that ou...

Bought by KAZU, 90.5 WSNC, KREV-LP, and WRPI


  • Added: Jun 08, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 4
The War of 1812: Which One Was That?
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: The victory of the USS Constitution over the HMS Guerriere in the War of 1812 by Anton Otto, Credit: The Navy-Naval Historical Center
Two hundred years ago this week, the United States declared war on Great Britain, beginning the conflict known as the War of 1812. Today, that wa...

Bought by WRPI and KREV-LP


  • Added: Jun 15, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 2
Independence Daze: A History of July Fourth
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Piece image
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...

Bought by Prairie Public, WUIS, and KREV-LP


  • Added: Jun 29, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 3
Committed: Marriage In America
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: She Was Led to the Altar, African-American Wedding, 1908, Credit: Library of Congress
Marriage - the laws, as well as social conventions and expectations surrounding it - have long been subject to change. In this hour of BackStory, w...

Bought by WFIU, KREV-LP, and WRPI


  • Added: Jul 13, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 3
You've Got Mail: A History of the Post Office
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: Motorcycle Postman, 1912, Credit: Library of Congress
The History Guys explore the rise - and fall - of our postal system. They consider the how the Post Office stitched together a disparate country in...

Bought by KBRP Community Radio, KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, WTJU, KREV-LP, and KVSC


  • Added: Dec 07, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 5
City Upon a Hill: American Exceptionalism
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: "The great Bartholdi statue, Liberty enlightening the world", Currier & Ives, 1885, Credit: Library of Congress
This week on BackStory, the History Guys tackle the myth of the city upon a hill: American exceptionalism. They trace its origins in Alexis de Tocq...

Bought by KREV-LP, Prairie Public, WCAI / WNAN, and WMMT


  • Added: Jul 27, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 4
Beach Bodies: A History of the American Physique
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: Eugene Sandow, Credit: Library of Congress
From our noses to our weight, the shape that perfect body has taken has changed dramatically over the past 200 years. On this episode of BackStory,...

Bought by WRPI, WCAI / WNAN, and KREV-LP


  • Added: Aug 03, 2012
  • Length: 54:02
  • Purchases: 3
Here to There: A History of Mapping
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: Rambles Through Our Country -- An Instructive Geographical Game for the Young, 1890., Credit: LOC
We're devoting this episode of BackStory to maps - asking how the ways in which Americans have mapped geography illustrate the ways in which Americ...

Bought by WMMT and KREV-LP


  • Added: Aug 10, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 2
Climate Control: A History of Heating and Cooling
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: Potomac Electric Power Co. Air Conditioning and Lighting. Keystone Restaurant II. ca. 1920-1950, Credit: Library of Congress
In this episode, the History Guys consider the advent of air conditioning, and explore its far-reaching implications on everything from architectur...

Bought by KREV-LP and WTJU


  • Added: Aug 17, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 2
Conventional Wisdom: A History of American Political Conventions
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Piece image
American political conventions haven't always been so predictable. Before becoming scripted for television, conventions were often where pressing i...

Bought by KZYX, KREV-LP, WRPI, and WTJU


  • Added: Aug 24, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 4
School Days: A History of Public Education
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: Texas class, Credit: LOC
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...

Bought by KREV-LP, WTJU, and KUNC


  • Added: Sep 07, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 3
Contagion: Responding to Infectious Disease
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: Vaccination Poster, Credit: Library of Congress
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....

Bought by KREV-LP


  • Added: Sep 25, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 1
Thenceforward and Forever Free: The Emancipation Proclamation
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: "Abraham Lincoln and His Emancipation Proclamation," The Strobridge Lith. Co., 1888 , Credit: Library of Congress
In this episode of BackStory, we take a look at the narratives surrounding the Emancipation Proclamation and try to unpack its legacy. How can we ...

Bought by KUFM - Montana Public Radio, WCAI / WNAN, WFPL News, WOUB, WTJU and more


  • Added: Jan 04, 2013
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 7
Borrowed Times: A History of the National Debt
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: WWI bonds poster, Credit: Library of Congress
The History Guys explore why the national debt has continued to be so controversial in a country that was founded on borrowing.

Bought by KSKQ, WMMT, WFIU, WEZU, and WTJU


  • Added: Oct 05, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 5
Pulling the Curtain: Voting in America
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Caption: A poster used to train voters on new balloting technology (1972)
Elections are at the foundation of our democracy, but voter turnout in the last presidential election was only about 57%. It's easy to be nostalgic...

Bought by WTJU and KREV-LP


  • Added: Nov 02, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 2
American Spirit: A History of the Supernatural [rebroadcast]
From: BackStory with the American History Guys
Series: BackStory with the American History Guys: Full Episodes
Piece image
On this Halloween special, the History Guys explore Americans' relationship with ghosts, spirits, and witches throughout our nation's history. Why ...

Bought by WTJU


  • Added: Oct 26, 2012
  • Length: 54:00
  • Purchases: 1

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