If you loved
BackStory
BackStory · Podcast · 2025
You appreciate how BackStory connects the vast sweep of American history to the specific, human-centered narratives that shape our present.
Books on the same thread
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
Frederick Douglass · Book · 1849
Explores: Systemic Oppression, Quest for Literacy, Human Agency.
Just as BackStory anchors broad historical trends in personal experience, this memoir provides the essential, foundational perspective on human agency and resistance that defines the American story.
The Republic for Which It Stands
Richard White · Book · 2017
Explores: free-labor ideology, industrialization and capitalism, post-Civil War nation-building.
If you value the scholarly rigor and analytical depth of BackStory, this volume offers a similarly integrated interpretation of how post-Civil War nation-building fundamentally transformed the American republic.
Seventeen Seventy-six
David McCullough · Book · 2005
Explores: Leadership under pressure, The American Revolutionary War, Founding Fathers.
Like the hosts of BackStory, McCullough excels at transforming the distant past into a vivid, immediate narrative that highlights the high-stakes decisions behind our nation's most pivotal turning points.
Founding Brothers
Joseph J. Ellis · Book · 2000
Explores: Political Rivalry, Nation Building, Founding Fathers.
The way BackStory explores the ideological conflicts of the past mirrors this work, which illuminates the complex, intertwined personal rivalries that built the foundations of the American government.
Films on the same thread
1776
Peter H. Hunt · Film · 1972
Explores: Founding Fathers, Political deliberation, Revolutionary fervor.
This film captures the same spirit of political deliberation found in BackStory, translating the bureaucratic tensions and revolutionary fervor of the Founding Fathers into an engaging, accessible experience.
Series on the same thread
Reconstruction: America After the Civil War
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. · Series · 2019
Explores: Racial Justice, Democracy and Governance, Systemic Inequality.
This docuseries matches the mission of BackStory by examining the transformative social changes of the Reconstruction era, providing a vital lens through which to understand our modern struggle for justice.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Who are the hosts of BackStory?
BackStory is hosted by four U.S. historians: Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh, Nathan Connolly, and Joanne Freeman. These experts provide historical context for contemporary topics each week as part of the production team based at Virginia Humanities in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Is BackStory a daily or weekly podcast?
BackStory is a weekly public podcast. Each episode focuses on a specific topic that is currently being discussed in the news or public discourse, which the hosts then explore through the lens of history to provide deeper understanding.
Where is the BackStory production team located?
The BackStory podcast is based in Charlottesville, Virginia. The show is produced at Virginia Humanities, where the team of historians works to connect the history you had to learn in school with the history you actually want to learn.
What is the primary goal of the BackStory podcast?
The goal of BackStory is to explore current events and popular topics through the lens of history. By doing this, the hosts help listeners distinguish between the history they were required to learn and the history they are interested in learning.