BackStory is a weekly public podcast hosted by U.S. historians Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh, Nathan Connolly and Joanne Freeman. We're based in Charlottesville, Va. at Virginia Humanities. There’s the history you had to learn, and the history you want to learn - that’s where BackStory comes in. Each week BackStory takes a topic that people are talking about and explores it through the lens of American history. Through stories, interviews, and conversations with our listeners, BackStory makes history engaging and fun.
On this final episode of BackStory, Nathan, Brian, Joanne and Ed explore different kinds of finales throughout American history. They also consider wh...
Coach Tony Bennett knows a thing or two about big finales. He’s the head coach of the men’s basketball team at the University of Virginia. This is a c...
As BackStory nears the end of its production, we’ve asked our listeners to call in with moments from the show’s history and compile their very own “Be...
Coming Feb 2021… In most history classes, students learn that the Emancipation Proclamation and Union victories “freed the slaves.” But ending slavery...
Charles Dickens died 150 years ago this month. A famous chronicler and critic of English industrial capitalism, Dickens was also immensely popular in ...
The Last Archive is a show from Pushkin Industries about the history of truth, and the historical context for our current fake news, post-truth moment...
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted communities of color. According to the CDC, 33% of people who’ve been hospitalized due to the v...
For the last decade or so, true crime has been everywhere -- Netflix shows like Making a Murderer and podcast series like Serial. All of them are a te...
“America” and “empire.” Do those words go together? If so, what kind of imperialism does the U.S. practice, and how has American empire changed over t...
As BackStory moves towards the end of its production, we’ve asked our hosts to select memorable moments from the show that we’re publishing as episode...