BackStory With The American History Guys » In Production

Our Civic Duties: A History of Taxes

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:41:25 +0000

Since 1765, when England imposed the Stamp Act–its first direct tax on colonists–generations of Americans have rallied around their hatred of “unfair” taxes. “Taxation without representation is tyranny” was the rallying cry of the Revolution, and quick on the heels of independence, Americans seized arms once more to protest the taxation of whiskey to pay off our brand new national debt. These days, Tea Party supporters are out on the streets decrying the abuses of our current system. And yet, as Oliver Wendell Holmes reminded us, “Taxes are the price of civilization.”

This episode of BackStory will take a look at the historical tension between the necessity of paying for government, and the feeling of being robbed by it. Are Americans especially adverse to taxes? Why has government often turned to “sin” as a source of revenue? Does war always lead to higher taxes?

What questions are we leaving out? Are you an April grumbler, or do you happily share your spare change with old Uncle Sam? Share your thoughts and questions with us below!

Pitch a Show (Fall '09)

cm6ay — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:58:16 +0000

BackStory invites you to propose a topic for our fall season below and let us know why you think it would make for a compelling hour of radio. Which concerns facing Americans today could use historical unpacking by the History Guys? (Or, thinking ahead, what do you predict will be on everyone’s minds when autumn rolls around?) What are the most important questions surrounding your proposed topic?

If you’ve never listened to BackStory, spend some time in our archive of past shows to get a sense of what we’re all about. Or, you can read what others have pitched in the past here and here. To find out how we use your input, check out this post. Basically, we’re looking for topics we can trace over the entire course of American history, rather than single episodes or chapters from history. So….

The Civil Rights Era = Bad Topic
The History of Activism = Good Topic
The Gold Rush = Bad Topic
Boom & Bust in American History = Good Topic

To suggest a topic, either “Join the Discussion” below OR send an email to backstory@virginia.edu.

The Extraordinary Ordinary: Populism in America

cm6ay — Fri, 15 May 2009 22:32:52 +0000

Joe the Plumber and his geographic equivalent, “Main Street,” were both major figures in Election ‘08. “We the People” have finally spoken and… wait a second, who’s “we” and what did “we” say, anyway? On this show, we’ll explore the many faces of populism — that notion of the power of ordinariness that Americans have both idealized and feared. We’ll ask how a term describing a 19th century agrarian reform movement came to stand in for the interests of average Americans, and explore the connections between populism and American religion. Was our Revolution the work of The People or a few powerful people? How, historically, have we translated “the voice of the people” into a language that makes sense to all of us? Of course we want to hear from you, the People of BackStory — send us your ideas, questions, and stories, and you might be invited to join us on the air!

Pitch a Show! (Summer '09 Ideas)

cm6ay — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 17:53:59 +0000

The American History Guys are hard at work on a new season of shows for Spring ‘09, including histories of motherhood, death and dying, and the farmer. But the summer of ‘09 is still uncharted territory and we need your input! Propose a topic below and tell us why you think it would make for a compelling BackStory episode.

If you’ve never listened to BackStory, spend some time in our archive of past shows to get a sense of what we’re all about. Or, you can read what others have pitched in the past here and here. Basically, we’re looking for topics we can trace over the entire course of American history, rather than single episodes or chapters from history. So….

The Civil Rights Era = Bad Topic
The History of Activism = Good Topic
The Gold Rush = Bad Topic
Boom & Bust in American History = Good Topic

To suggest a topic, either “Join the Discussion” below OR send an email to backstory@virginia.edu.

Pick a Topic!

VFH — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:52:54 +0000

Many thanks to all you responsible citizens of BackStory who voted for your favorite show idea! Behind the scenes, teams of archaic statisticians and historical engineers have been carefully tabulating the results. So what ARE the results, you ask? Three awesome new shows! (Well, make that two awesome new shows and one radical show-to-be…) Be sure and check out The More Things Change: Presidential Transitions and From Whales To Wind: A History of Energy in our archive. And help us out by weighing in on The Extraordinary Ordinary: Populism in America, a future show that grew out of your Anti-Intellectualism idea below.

Voting has closed for now, but you can still make suggestions for future shows at our Pitch A Show page. Fire away!

***

You spoke and we listened! Based on feedback from you the BackStory listening audience, we’ve compiled the following list of possible show topics for the next season of BackStory. Vote once (and only once) for your favorite topic. Whichever topic comes out on top will be worked into the next season. Vote Now!

[page_polls]

From Whales to Wind: Fueling America
Fourthtower wrote “I’d love to see something in the history of energy. Edison and Rockefeller versus Tesla, coal and steam power, the building of the great dams for water, etc…that might educate on how we got where we are now, what other paths we could have taken and why we didn’t.”

Man’s Best Friend: Americans and Their Animals
Lauren wrote “The relationship of Americans and animals (people claim today that the emotional investment in pets, acted out in economics, is unlike anything previously).”

Ping Pong Relations: China & the U.S.
Rebecca wrote “How about something on relationship between China and US and shifting views of China. . . RR, exclusion, open door, missionaries, Pearl Buck, WWII and the good Asians, cold war, Nixon, adoption of Chinese children by US families, human rights questions, global warming, Olympics, etc.”

Read My Lips: Presidential Expectations vs. Presidential Realities
Matt wrote: “How about this for a topical show: How do presidencies past relate to the promises made on the campaign trail?”

Location, Location, Location!: Boom & Bust of American Cities
Meredith wrote: “I would be interested in a program on the topic “birth of a city, or location, location, location” — although the topic of Gold Rush is bad for your purposes, the Gold Rush fostered the birth of cities like San Francisco. Natural resources in different parts of the country as well as financial and human resources along with circumstances spawned tremendously fast growth in certain areas. Why? Financial institutions and ports also could be examined as to how certain communities thrive and some don’t.”

Ordinary Guys: (Anti-)Intellectualism in American History
Jon wrote: “When did it become so uncool to be smart in America? When did being supremely educated become a red flag of “elitism” rather than, oh, I don’t know, something that might make you aptly qualified to lead? Has this always been the case?”