It’s BackStory’s birthday! To celebrate our first year as a weekly show, the American History Guys are going back to where it all begins: birth. From midwives to maternity wards, ideas of sin, and of citizenship, this episode explores what it means to be “Born in the USA."

Marriage--the laws, as well as social conventions, and expectations surrounding it--have long been subject to change. In this hour of BackStory, we commit ourselves to unpacking the history of the institution and its shifting definitions in America.

On this episode, the History Guys look at who has had access to guns in the U.S., and what those guns have meant to the people who have owned them.

In December 2012, recreational marijuana use became legal in Washington and Colorado. But back in the early 20th century, both states were among the first to ban the drug. If that seems like a radical change, well – it’s hardly the first time a drug has undergone a major image overhaul in America. This week, we trace [...]

We look at the narratives surrounding the Emancipation Proclamation and try to unpack its legacy. How can we best understand emancipation - as a moral imperative, a military necessity, a political strategy, or all of the above?

On this episode, the History Guys look at who has had access to guns in the U.S., and what those guns have meant to the people who have owned them.

On this special Election Day episode of BackStory, the History Guys put current voting trends in historical perspective, and explore the changing face of voting in America.

We look at the narratives surrounding the Emancipation Proclamation and try to unpack its legacy. How can we best understand emancipation - as a moral imperative, a military necessity, a political strategy, or all of the above?

The statistics look grim, but is America's educational system any worse off than it's ever been? Why have schools been the sites of so many social movements?

American political conventions haven't always been so predictable. Before becoming scripted for television, conventions were often where pressing issues of the day got hashed out and careers were made or ruined. In this hour of BackStory we venture into the back rooms, the chaotic halls, and the streets where these dramas unfolded.