[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":163},["ShallowReactive",2],{"episode-youve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office":3},{"id":4,"slug":5,"title":6,"subtitle":7,"pubdate":8,"tags":13,"thumb":18,"excerpt":24,"content":25,"transcript":26,"transcript_file":27,"audio":28,"resources":32,"segments":33},273,"youve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office","You’ve Got Mail","A History of the Post Office",{"utc":9,"short":10,"medium":11,"long":12},1354894779,"12.07.12","Dec 7, 2012","December 7, 2012",[14,15,16,17],"U.S. Postal Service","communication","mail","networks",{"src":19,"caption":20,"derivatives":21},"https:\u002F\u002Fs3.amazonaws.com\u002Fcdn.backstoryradio.org\u002Fimages\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast\u002Fbicycle-postman3-237x300.jpg","Motorcycle Postman, 1912 (Library of Congress).",{"square_small":22,"square_medium":23},"https:\u002F\u002Fs3.amazonaws.com\u002Fcdn.backstoryradio.org\u002Fimages\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast\u002Fsquare_small\u002Fbicycle-postman3-237x300.jpg","https:\u002F\u002Fs3.amazonaws.com\u002Fcdn.backstoryradio.org\u002Fimages\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast\u002Fsquare_medium\u002Fbicycle-postman3-237x300.jpg","For many Americans, the post office has become largely a conduit for bills and junk mail. But for more than 200 years, it played a central role in American life. In this episode, we explore the rise—and fall—of the USPS.","\u003Cp>Between all the Christmas cards, Amazon orders, and letters to Santa, December is a big month for the U.S. Post Office. Because for the rest of the year, the USPS has become largely a conduit for bills and junk mail. But for more than 200 years, the Post Office played a central role in American life. Not only did it enable Americans to keep in touch with each other as they moved west in the middle of the 19\u003Csup>th\u003C\u002Fsup> century, it also played a key role in the nation’s political development in the decades following the Revolution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this episode, we explore the rise—and fall—of the Post Office. From the origins of “direct mail” to the Pony Express; from frontier post offices to experiments with a missile delivery system, the Backstory hosts consider an American innovation that has unified the nation through rain, snow, sleet and hail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch4>\u003C\u002Fh4>",null,"https:\u002F\u002Fs3.amazonaws.com\u002Fcdn.backstoryradio.org\u002Ffiles\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast\u002Ftranscript\u002FYouve-Got-Mail_-A-History-of-the-Post-Office-1.pdf",{"url":29,"duration":30,"formatted_duration":31},"https:\u002F\u002Fs3.amazonaws.com\u002Fcdn.backstoryradio.org\u002Faudio\u002Fepisodes\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast.mp3","1849","00:30:49",[],[34,52,67,86,100,117,131,148],{"index":35,"title":36,"description":37,"audio":38,"tags":42,"transcript":26,"episode":47},0,"A Walk in the Woods","\u003Cp>Peter tells the story of Alexis de Tocqueville wandering the Michigan wilderness and stumbling upon a magical institution unlike anything in France: The Post Office.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"url":39,"duration":40,"formatted_duration":41},"https:\u002F\u002Fs3.amazonaws.com\u002Fcdn.backstoryradio.org\u002Faudio\u002Fsegments\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast-01.mp3","190","00:03:10",[43,14,15,44,16,17,45,46],"Alexis de Tocqueville","literacy","newspapers","rural American",{"id":4,"slug":5,"title":6,"subtitle":7,"pubdate":48,"tags":49,"thumb":50},{"utc":9,"short":10,"medium":11,"long":12},[14,15,16,17],{"src":19,"caption":20,"derivatives":51},{"square_small":22,"square_medium":23},{"index":53,"title":54,"description":55,"audio":56,"tags":60,"transcript":26,"episode":62},1,"Nickled and Dimed","\u003Cp>Ed talks with David Henkin about the earliest letter writers, and how they cheated the postage rates of the 1830s.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"url":57,"duration":58,"formatted_duration":59},"https:\u002F\u002Fs3.amazonaws.com\u002Fcdn.backstoryradio.org\u002Faudio\u002Fsegments\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast-02.mp3","260","00:04:20",[14,15,61,16],"correspondence",{"id":4,"slug":5,"title":6,"subtitle":7,"pubdate":63,"tags":64,"thumb":65},{"utc":9,"short":10,"medium":11,"long":12},[14,15,16,17],{"src":19,"caption":20,"derivatives":66},{"square_small":22,"square_medium":23},{"index":68,"title":69,"description":70,"audio":71,"tags":75,"transcript":26,"episode":81},2,"How Much Is Too Much?","\u003Cp>Richard John and Jennifer Mercieca recount the events surrounding the first mass mailing campaign, and how it went up in flames… LITERALLY!\u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"url":72,"duration":73,"formatted_duration":74},"https:\u002F\u002Fs3.amazonaws.com\u002Fcdn.backstoryradio.org\u002Faudio\u002Fsegments\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast-03.mp3","204","00:03:24",[76,14,77,78,15,16,79,80],"Charleston","abolitionism","activism","sectionalism","slaveholders",{"id":4,"slug":5,"title":6,"subtitle":7,"pubdate":82,"tags":83,"thumb":84},{"utc":9,"short":10,"medium":11,"long":12},[14,15,16,17],{"src":19,"caption":20,"derivatives":85},{"square_small":22,"square_medium":23},{"index":87,"title":88,"description":89,"audio":90,"tags":94,"transcript":26,"episode":95},3,"After the Deluge","\u003Cp>The Backstory hosts put the mass mailing into context and ask why the Post Office suddenly became a hotbed of controversy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"url":91,"duration":92,"formatted_duration":93},"https:\u002F\u002Fs3.amazonaws.com\u002Fcdn.backstoryradio.org\u002Faudio\u002Fsegments\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast-04.mp3","116","00:01:56",[14,77,78,15,16,79],{"id":4,"slug":5,"title":6,"subtitle":7,"pubdate":96,"tags":97,"thumb":98},{"utc":9,"short":10,"medium":11,"long":12},[14,15,16,17],{"src":19,"caption":20,"derivatives":99},{"square_small":22,"square_medium":23},{"index":101,"title":102,"description":103,"audio":104,"tags":108,"transcript":26,"episode":112},4,"Try Anything Once","\u003Cp>The National Postal Museum’s Nancy Pope shares some of the technological innovations in postal history, some more practical than others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"url":105,"duration":106,"formatted_duration":107},"https:\u002F\u002Fs3.amazonaws.com\u002Fcdn.backstoryradio.org\u002Faudio\u002Fsegments\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast-05.mp3","340","00:05:40",[14,109,16,110,111],"communication technologies","technological innovation","technology",{"id":4,"slug":5,"title":6,"subtitle":7,"pubdate":113,"tags":114,"thumb":115},{"utc":9,"short":10,"medium":11,"long":12},[14,15,16,17],{"src":19,"caption":20,"derivatives":116},{"square_small":22,"square_medium":23},{"index":118,"title":119,"description":120,"audio":121,"tags":125,"transcript":26,"episode":126},5,"Listener Calls","\u003Cp>The Backstory hosts take calls from listeners.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"url":122,"duration":123,"formatted_duration":124},"https:\u002F\u002Fs3.amazonaws.com\u002Fcdn.backstoryradio.org\u002Faudio\u002Fsegments\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast-06.mp3","323","00:05:23",[14,15,16],{"id":4,"slug":5,"title":6,"subtitle":7,"pubdate":127,"tags":128,"thumb":129},{"utc":9,"short":10,"medium":11,"long":12},[14,15,16,17],{"src":19,"caption":20,"derivatives":130},{"square_small":22,"square_medium":23},{"index":132,"title":133,"description":134,"audio":135,"tags":139,"transcript":26,"episode":143},6,"Cowboys and Mailmen","\u003Cp>BackStory producer Eric Mennel acts like a big jerk and debunks everybody’s favorite postal memory: the Pony Express.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"url":136,"duration":137,"formatted_duration":138},"https:\u002F\u002Fs3.amazonaws.com\u002Fcdn.backstoryradio.org\u002Faudio\u002Fsegments\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast-07.mp3","336","00:05:36",[140,14,15,141,16,142],"American West","horses","mythology",{"id":4,"slug":5,"title":6,"subtitle":7,"pubdate":144,"tags":145,"thumb":146},{"utc":9,"short":10,"medium":11,"long":12},[14,15,16,17],{"src":19,"caption":20,"derivatives":147},{"square_small":22,"square_medium":23},{"index":149,"title":150,"description":151,"audio":152,"tags":156,"transcript":26,"episode":158},7,"Web Only Audio Extra: Children’s Show Post Office Montage","\u003Cp>Montage from Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood and Blue’s Clues.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"url":153,"duration":154,"formatted_duration":155},"https:\u002F\u002Fs3.amazonaws.com\u002Fcdn.backstoryradio.org\u002Faudio\u002Fsegments\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast\u002Fyouve-got-mail-a-history-of-the-post-office-rebroadcast-08.mp3","15","00:00:15",[14,157,15,16],"children’s entertainment",{"id":4,"slug":5,"title":6,"subtitle":7,"pubdate":159,"tags":160,"thumb":161},{"utc":9,"short":10,"medium":11,"long":12},[14,15,16,17],{"src":19,"caption":20,"derivatives":162},{"square_small":22,"square_medium":23},1790963885177]