BackStory

Energy Gluttons

The following audio clip is excerpted from the BackStory episode “From Whales to Wind: A History of Energy.”  You can listen to the entire episode here. Historian David Nye discusses the origins of Americans’ ample appetites for energy. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Excerpted from: From Whales to Wind: A History of Energy

The Age of Horses

The following audio clip is excerpted from the BackStory episode “From Whales to Wind: A History of Energy.”  You can listen to the entire episode here. Historian Ann Norton Greene explains why the “Age of Steam” was also the Age of Horses. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Excerpted from: From Whales to Wind: [...]

From Whales to Wind: A History of Energy

In this episode, BackStory takes on big oil! And big trees, big water, big whales.. How have changing energy sources shaped the growth and decline of cities and towns? What are the social costs and benefits of new energy technologies?

Environmental Crisis!

It seems that Americans are finally waking up to the reality of climate change, but scientists tell us it may be too little, too late. This may be the most far-reaching environmental threat Americans have ever faced, but it’s certainly not the first. In this hour, we consider the history of American anxieties about the [...]