Backstory

On Christmas Day, the sixth film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s beloved 1868 novel Little Women hits theaters nationwide. The movie reflects the ongoing popularity of historical fiction, a genre that has captivated audiences for decades and shows no signs of slowing down. BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support

It’s the holidays — that time of the year when food is everywhere. So, Brian, Joanne, and Nathan sit down to discuss some of America’s many homegrown culinary traditions and what the food we eat says about American identity. In this episode we talked to Pati Jinich of “Pati’s Mexican Kitchen.” Find her recipe for Chilorio Burritas (and more) on her website. We also talked about Maida Heatter’s “Best Damn Lemon Cake.” Learn more about Heatter and find her lemon cake recipe (as well as a few other desserts) in this 1982 story from the Washington Post. BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support

This month marks the 50th anniversary of Sesame Street, the children’s television show that has made an indelible mark on American culture, not to mention people all over the world. So on this episode of BackStory, Brian, Ed and Joanne explore the history of Sesame Street and what made a show about muppets and their neighbors so revolutionary. Image: A scene of the US children's series "Sesame Street" with puppets Ernie and Bert, photographed in March 1976. Photo by Dieter Klar/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support

Host Kevin O'Connor digs into the systems, structures and materials in our homes from unexpected angles. Why is the window the ultimate machine? What can Las Vegas teach us about lowering our water bills? How did the Great Chicago Fire change the way we frame houses today? You’ll hear from This Old House experts, as well as industry leaders, historians, and builders.  Find Clearstory in Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen, and learn more at thisoldhouse.com/clearstory

The calendar is nearing closer and closer to the end of 2019. Which has us thinking about the end of the decade and how the United States has changed since the start of the 2010s. So on this episode, Brian, Nathan and Joanne dive into an extended conversation about the memorable moments of the last 10 years and what future historians might say about the decade. Image: "Tuesday morning the police evicted the Occupy Wall Street protesters and cleaned the park." by David Shankbone, November 11, 2011. Source: Wikimedia Commons BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support

Conversations about US-China relations often revolve around tariffs, trades and recently, President Donald Trump’s tweets. So on this episode of BackStory, Nathan, Joanne and special guest host Erika Lee go beyond the standard narrative of US-China relations and learn about three Chinese and Chinese American people who worked to change American perceptions of China. Support for this podcast comes from International Education at the University of Richmond and The Rose Chen Group for Cultural Understanding. BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support

It's Veteran's Day weekend, when we in the US honor those who have served in our Armed Forces. In this episode of BackStory, Ed, Joanne and Brian look at the many reasons for joining the US armed services - from a sense of patriotism, to escaping poverty, to earning American citizenship. They’ll discuss the struggles of the Continental Army to find enough soldiers during the Revolutionary War and how thousands of Filipinos became American citizens by enlisting in the US Navy after World War II. BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support

In the 19th century, dynamite helped transform the nation. It led to the construction of important milestones like the transcontinental railroad and helped create iconic American monuments like Mt. Rushmore. But some people also saw these small explosives as potential weapons and used dynamite to promote violence. Learn more about Smithsonian's Sidedoor podcast and find episodes: https://www.si.edu/Sidedoor BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support

More than 154 million treasures fill the Smithsonian’s vaults, but where public view ends, Sidedoor begins. With the help of biologists, artists, historians, archaeologists, zookeepers, and astrophysicists, host Lizzie Peabody sneaks listeners through Smithsonian’s side door to search for stories that can’t be found anywhere else. Follow Sidedoor at @SidedoorPod or sign up for the e-newsletter at www.si.edu/Sidedoor

Image: Alleged 1911 spirit photograph of Emma Hardinge Britten taken by William H. Mumler. BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support 

White supremacy has been in the news a lot recently. It is often seen as a movement at the fringes of American society, and discussion of it rarely includes white women. But women play a critical, if overlooked, role in the white supremacy movement, and examining their involvement shows it to be far less fringe than many think. So on this episode of BackStory, Brian, Nathan and Joanne dig into the little known history of white women and white supremacy. Image: Attention has been focused on the almost mythical Ku Klux Klan organization in the United States, following the allegations that Senator Black, the new Supreme Court judge, was a member of the sect. Virtually unknown, even in the U.S., a women’s branch of the Ku Klux Klan has grown into a powerful organization in the south. The women’s Klan salute to the cross at Atlanta, Georgia, on Aug. 18, 1937. Source: AP Images BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.or

Image: Woman in state of 'hysteria' (Wikimedia Commons). BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support

If you turn on the news, you’re likely to find a heated debate about big issues, from citizenship to voting rights. For Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Eric Foner, these issues are at the heart of what are often called the “Reconstruction Amendments”: the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the US Constitution. They were passed in 1865, 1868 and 1870, respectively. And if you ask Eric, they’ve been misinterpreted and overlooked for generations.  On this episode, Ed sits down with Eric Foner, a professor emeritus of history at Columbia University, to talk about public perceptions of Reconstruction, the landmark amendments to the Constitution and how they have the power to change the country today. Foner’s new book is The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution. Image: February 18, 1865 Harper's Weekly cartoon depicting celebration in the House of Representatives after adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment. Source: Internet Archive. BackStory is funded in part by our l

On this day in 1871, the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city after starting, from unknown causes, the previous evening. The fire, and subsequent rebuild, shaped the city that exists today. But the new city had no room for many poorer Chicagoans.  Residents of San Francisco's Chinatown faced similar economic and political pressure as their own city recovered from the 1906 earthquake and resulting fires. But the city's Chinese community fought back, building a new, thriving Chinatown from the ashes.  Image: An artist's rendering of the Great Chicago Fire, Chicago in Flames -- The Rush for Lives Over Randolph Street Bridge. Originally from Harper's Weekly, 1871. BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support

American Elections: Wicked Game is a new podcast from the host of Wondery’s American History Tellers (Lindsay Graham) that will explore all 58 presidential elections, leading up to the big day in November 2020. From the inevitable election of George Washington in 1789, to Donald Trump’s surprise electoral victory in 2016, we’ll attempt to discover if there ever was a “good ol’ days,” or if presidential politics have always been played dirty. Listen now at wondery.fm/backstory

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, there are over 28,000 threatened species in the world. But this is hardly the first time our planet has faced the prospect of mass extinction. In the beginning of the 20th century, America’s flora and fauna were seriously threatened by urban encroachment and over-hunting. And one animal at the center of this struggle was the bison.  So in celebration of World Animal Day, Brian and Nathan explore the history of bison in America. We’ll find out how the bison went from an animal in excess to near extinction and we’ll learn how Madison Grant’s work preserving the bison went hand and hand with his theories on eugenics. Plus, we’ll hear from the Buffalo Representative of the Eastern Shoshone about his efforts to restore the buffalo. Image: Buffalo at water circa 1904 by Denver Kendrick. Source: Library of Congress BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryrad

This week, President Jimmy Carter turned 95, extending his status as the oldest-living American president. What has Carter, and other presidents, done with their time once they're out of office - and how do we remember them once they're gone?  BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support

On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced she’s launching a formal impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. The announcement comes after news of a July phone call between Trump and Urkanian president Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Trump requested Zelensky launch an investigation into political rival and Democratic presidential contender, Joe Biden. So on this episode of BackStory, we’re bringing you a roundtable conversation with Joanne, Nathan and Brian about impeachment in the past, present and possibly future of American history. Image: A coalition of progressive activist groups, including MoveOn.org, hold a rally at the Capitol calling on Congress to impeach President Trump on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP Images) BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support

Check out Lost at the Smithsonian, a new podcast from Stitcher! Comedian and pop culture fanatic Aasif Mandvi gets up close and personal with the most iconic artifacts at the National Museum of American History. Join Aasif and his guests as they explore how vintage clothing, ratty furniture, and mismatched shoes transformed into Fonzie's leather jacket, Archie Bunker's chair, and Dorothy's ruby slippers and became defining symbols of American culture along the way. Lost at the Smithsonian is out NOW - listen wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to Lost at the Smithsonian in Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lost-at-the-smithsonian-with-aasif-mandvi/id1478 968631

There are hundreds of plantations in the U.S. that have been repurposed for a variety of reasons. Many are museums for tourists to visit, while others have been transformed into event spaces. But how does the complicated and nuanced history influence the ways plantations are used today? Image: Slave Cabin at Whitney Plantation. Image courtesy of Whitney Plantation. Photographer: Elsa Hahne. BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support