American Spirit: A History of the Supernatural
With Halloween in the air, the History Guys set out to explore Americans’ relationship with ghosts, spirits, and witches throughout our nation’s history.
“American Spirit” – Web Exclusives
19th Century Guy Ed Ayers speaks with Cara Seekings, a spirit medium living in the Spiritualist community Lily Dale, in upstate New York.
“American Spirit” — music listing
This is a listing of the music used in the BackStory episode, “American Spirit: A History of the Supernatural,” broadcast in October of 2010. You can listen to the entire episode here. _________________________________________________________________________ Requiem Mass in D Flat: Introit and Kyrie The Choir of All Saints Gaudeamus: Music for the Feasts of All Saints and [...]
Bibliography for “American Spirit: A History of the Supernatural”
Albanese, Catherine. Nature Religion in America: From the Algonkian Indians to the New Age. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990. —–. A Republic of Mind & Spirit: A Cultural History of American Metaphysical Religion. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007. Andersson, Rani-Henrik. The Lakota Ghost Dance of 1890. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2008. [...]
“American Spirit” — transcript
This is the transcript of “American Spirit: A History of the Supernatural.” You can listen to the entire episode here. _______________________________________________________________________ Peter Onuf: This is “BackStory,” with us, the American History Guys. I’m Peter Onuf, 18th century guy. Ed Ayers: I’m Ed Ayers, 19th century guy. Brian Balogh: And I’m Brian Balogh, 20th century history [...]
New Media & Objectivity
The following audio clip is excerpted from the BackStory episode “Just the Facts?: Partisanship & the Press.” You can listen to the entire episode here. Michael Kinsley, founding editor of Slate.com, talks about why he’s not worried about objectivity in the new media landscape.[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Excerpted from: Just the Facts?: [...]
Lunar Manbats
The following audio clip is excerpted from the BackStory episode “Just the Facts?: Partisanship & the Press.” You can listen to the entire episode here. Matthew Goodman tells the story of an elaborate hoax involving “lunar man-bats” in the early days of the penny press.[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Excerpted from: Just the [...]
Jefferson and the Press
The following audio clip is excerpted from the BackStory episode “Just the Facts?: Partisanship & the Press.” You can listen to the entire episode here. The History Guys discuss Thomas Jefferson’s sometimes contradictory ideas about a free press.[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Excerpted from: Just the Facts?: Partisanship & the Press
Peter Porcupine
The following audio clip is excerpted from the BackStory episode “Just the Facts?: Partisanship & the Press.” You can listen to the entire episode here. Historian Marcus Daniel explains that the bitter rhetoric of editors in the 1790s played a key role in the birth of our democracy.[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Excerpted [...]
“Scales of Justice” – transcript
This is the transcript of “Scales of Justice: A History of Supreme Court Nominations,” an episode released in June of 2010. You can listen to the entire episode here. _____________________________________________________________ P. Onuf: This is “BackStory,” with us, the American History Guys. I’m Peter Onuf, 18th century guy. E. Ayers: I’m Ed Ayers, 19th century guy. [...]
