society
Hosted by BackStory / Panoply · society · EN
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 the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Each week we take a topic that people are talking about and explore it through the lens of American history. Through stories, interviews, and conversation with our listeners, we make history engaging and fun.
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Contact path
Verified email
Booking probability
33%
Guest openness
Selective
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Signup to Generate a PitchBackStory 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 the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Each week we take a topic that people are talking about and explore it through the lens of American history.
BackStory is hosted by BackStory / Panoply. The show has published 176 episodes to date.
Recent episodes include "Nixon Beyond Watergate: A History of the Presidency Before the Scandal" (30 June 2025, 65 minutes), "Love Off Limits: A History of the Relationships Once Considered Taboo in America" (30 June 2025, 50 minutes), and "Test Audio Episode" (18 June 2025, 60 minutes).
BackStory publishes roughly weekly, with episodes averaging 52 minutes across 176 episodes.
Booking probability for BackStory is 33%, and the host is rated Selective on guests. BackStory requires a Pod Score of 80 or higher. BackStory's contact route on record: verified email.
BackStory / Panoply hosts BackStory, a society podcast with 176 episodes published.
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Episode #265
Today the Presidency of Richard Nixon is mostly remembered for how it ended - with the Watergate scandal, impeachment and resignation. But what about early Nixon, the man sworn into office in January 1969? As Nathan, Ed...
Episode #268
In this episode, Joanne, Brian, and Nathan discuss stories of love that challenged social norms and transcended class, race, and gender. They explore how people subverted laws banning interracial marriage, and why a...
BackStory
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BackStory
Amazing video episode Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Episode #269
What drives people to reject technology? Though American society has been driven by technological leaps forward, not everyone has come along for the ride. We explore the strain of technophobia in American society from...
Episode #267
Nathan talks with historian Rhae Lynn Barnes about Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s 1984 yearbook page and its link to a long and disturbing history of blackface minstrelsy. They discuss how white civic organizations...
Episode #266
Nathan showcases some of BackStory’s best content about African American history in honor of Black History Month. In this episode, hear about one historian’s heartbreaking research into the human effects of lynching to...
Episode #264
We all have times when we want to be alone, but what is the history of solitude in America? How are experiments on dolphins connected with consciousness raising and isolation tanks? And what does Thoreau’s solitary...
Episode #263
BackStory is ten years old, and to celebrate our birthday we’ve created an important new prize - the BackStory Prize for Public History. Join Ed, Brian, Joanne, Nathan and special guest judges Margot Lee Shetterly...
Episode #262
What could be more American than . . . butter carving? Maybe miniature roadside towns or perhaps a dead whale on a train. On this episode of BackStory, Ed, Brian and Nathan explore the best of Americana, finding the...
Episode #225
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...
Episode #261
The Department of Defense developed the very first video game and the Oregon Trail taught a generation to live as a pioneer. Red Dead Redemption 2 might be a major commercial success, but how historically accurate is it...
Episode #260
What history books should you gift - or get- this holiday season? BackStory’s hosts and special guests share their recommendations of the history page turners you should pack for the holidays. Learn more about your ad...
Episode #259
Brian, Nathan and Joanne explore the history of the LGBTQ community in the US, from tales of gender fluidity in the Old West to early gay liberation, and from the political career of Harvey Milk to the barrier breaking...
Episode #230
The CDC recommended flu shots for all this year after more than 80,000 Americans succumbed to influenza in 2017 - a four-decade high. But 100 years ago, a strain of H1N1 that was first found in soldiers in the spring of...
Episode #257
This Thanksgiving week BackStory is all about stuffing and being stuffed. We’ll find out about the father of American natural history dioramas, talk to a man with a condor in his freezer, discover how a mischievous...
Episode #256
Google the phrase “divided America” and you’ll find numerous, stories, opinion pieces and even psychological theories on why we’re so disconnected. From race and class to gender and politics, it seems that Americans...
Episode #255
Abraham Lincoln wasn’t the first lawyer to occupy the Oval Office (and he wouldn’t be the last). Lincoln came to national prominence after a long career settling disputes between farmers and representing litigious...
Episode #184
Thousands of Central American migrants, dubbed the “migrant caravan,” have traveled north on foot towards the U.S. border since mid-October. Originating in Honduras, the group includes men, women and children attempting...
Episode #254
On November 11, 1918, Germany formally surrendered to the Allied Powers, about 19 months after the United States entered the conflict. On this episode, Brian and Nathan reflect on how, 100 years later, “the war to end...
Recent guests on BackStory. Study who booked and why before you pitch.
author of "Hidden Figures"
medical oncologist and Professor of Cancer Medicine, Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont
Mexican American chef, Eggland’s Best
voice behind American History Tellers, American Scandal, American History Tellers
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