Backstory is a long-form history-based podcast which focuses on a particular topic relevant to current events and expands upon that topic in their weekly hour. The show is by no means new to the scene, having debuted in 2008 when podcasting was still in its infancy. The show is largely scripted but features interview sessions, testimonials, archival audio, and much more, depending on the topic being covered. The July 19th episode covering the more nuance details of the Apollo 11 flight in 1969 featured lengthy interviews with members of mission control and their families, including NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz, one of the more notable figures involved with the lunar landing.
Several hosts are involved with the production, including veterans Ed Ayer and Brian Balogh, with Joanne Freeman and Nathan Connolly having joined later on. One or more of them will be present for various episodes, riffing off each other, or tackling a particular angle of the topic at hand. Due to both the pedigree of the show and length of the episodes, the podcast has amassed a variety of sponsors, with ads interlaced 2-3 times during the course of the episode. Notable sponsors include none other than the History Channel, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, along with personal donors such as John Grisham and Edward L. Ayers.
There are quite literally hundreds of episodes to choose from to start, ranging from coverage on the infancy and subsequent growth of Silicon Valley, a lengthy interview with Karl Rove, a short biography of Alexander Hamilton, or the history of American Censorship. The topics range far and wide and can appeal to anyone from history buffs to the average listener looking for a deeper dive into an unfamiliar topic. Some of the episodes can get quite heady but others are more general analyses of an interesting topic.
The podcast is available on most outlets, such as iTunes, Stitcher, Pocket Casts, and is consistently featured in the top recommended podcasts for News or History. Despite its high ratings however, it does not boast particularly high subscription rates, though its longevity speaks for itself. The hosts cover topics very thoroughly and do a decent job at maintaining political neutrality despite the subject matter. Some of the more interesting episodes to start off with, regardless of interests are the aforementioned Hamilton: A History episode, Nixon Beyond Watergate, Lincoln the Lawyer, and In the Shadow the Mushroom Cloud.