Best of Times

BackStory Year in Review [2012]

12.28.12

In May of 2012, we re-launched BackStory as a weekly program. In this special year-end episode, we listen back to some of our favorite moments from the show since then.

Do you have a favorite BackStory segment that wasn’t included in this show? Let us know below, and we’ll provide links so that others can hear what they missed.

See you next year!

Segments

1812: The Movie (from “The War of 1812")

Peter pitches next summer’s blockbuster: the who, what, when, where, and how of the war that was forgotten.

This segment was drawn from the episode: The War of 1812: Which One Was That?

War of 1812

Rain Man (from “Weathering the Storm")

BackStory Producer Eric Mennel recounts the story of ‘Hatfield the Rainmaker,’ an amateur scientist in the late nineteenth century who believed he could make rain fall from the sky.

This segment was drawn from the episode: Weathering the Storm.

Climate change; scientific research; weather

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

Seeing Red (from “City Upon a Hill")

Peter, Ed, and Brian riff on what exceptionalism has meant through the centuries, and share a little-known story about that time Stalin coined the term “American Exceptionalism.”

This segment was drawn from the episode: City Upon a Hill: American Exceptionalism.

American Exceptionalism; Joseph Stalin; Marxism

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

What’s in a Name? (from “Here to There")

Peter interviews scholar Felipe Fernandez-Armesto about why America is called America and not, for example, Columbia. The answer? A mapmaker with his eye on fame.

This segment was drawn from the episode: Here to There: A History of Mapping.

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

The Sleeve Makes the Man (from “Beach Bodies")

Ed interviews Megan Kate Nelson about the proliferation of so-called “empty sleeve” narratives in poems, stories, songs, and artworks that glorified amputee veterans returning home after the Civil War.

This segment was drawn from the episode: Beach Bodies: A History of the American Physique.

Civil War veterans; beauty ideals; popular culture

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

Listener Call (from “Fear Tactics")

Jamil in Atlanta asks the hosts about the way we define terrorism.

This segment was drawn from the episode: Fear Tactics: A History of Domestic Terrorism.

terrorism

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

Listener Call (from “Home Bittersweet Home")

A listener asks the hosts about the history of homeownership — how did it become such a central part of the American Dream?

This segment was drawn from the episode: Home Bittersweet Home.

home ownership

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

Gym Teacher (from “Turf War")

Annie Ungrady provides an audio postcard from the hosts hometown –Charlottesville, Virginia — on the time when Franklin Roosevelt stopped by the University of Virginia’s gym..

This segment was drawn from the episode: Turf War: A History of College Sports.

FDR; University of Virginia; higher education; sports

00:00:00 / 00:00:00