BackStory with the American History Guys

FAIN: TR-50273-11

Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (Charlottesville, VA 22903-4625)
Andrew H. Wyndham (Project Director: August 2010 to present)

Production of 60 new and 30 updated one-hour radio programs with interviews and special features providing historical perspective on a variety of contemporary issues and topics.

BackStory with the American History Guys is a series of one-hour radio programs and shorter podcasts, now respectively distributed on a monthly and bi-weekly basis. Shows include interviews with scholars and experts, listener calls, lively discussion, and produced features. On each episode, renowned historians Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh, and Peter Onuf rip a topic from the headlines and use it to drill down into America?s past. Plumbing historical depths, these scholars use everyday language, often debating each other as they introduce diverging historical interpretations. In support of BackStory, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities is requesting NEH funding to produce 60 new and 30 updated hours of authoritative and accessible history programming?allowing BackStory to transition to weekly distribution, ramping up production in July of 2011. Initial weekly distribution will begin in September, leading to a national rollout in January 2012, following extensive promotion.