BackStory

Grave Matters: A History of Death and Mourning

On Memorial Day we ask — how have we lived with the dead throughout American history? Have improvements in public health and medicine made death less a part of our everyday lives?

Coming Home: A History of War Veterans

Rambo, Elvis Presley, and former Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders have one important thing in common: military service. So who are America’s veterans? Soldiers travel far away to risk their lives, but how easy is returning home?