What’s Ray Saying? is a podcast that takes a deeper view into Black life in America by examining the intersection of history, narrative, and experience.    This episode, “Blacks and Indians,” explores the complex relationship between Black Americans and Native Americans and attempts to separate  fact from fiction.    Ray Christian has an MA in Public History and an EdS/ EdD in Education. His stories have been heard on the Moth Radio Hour, Snap Judgment, Spooked and the Risk podcast. Learn more about Ray Christian at his website: http://drraychristian.com/   Find out more about What’s Ray Saying?: http://whatsraysaying.com/

BackStory

316: Blacks and Indians: From What's Ray Saying?

For several weeks, nothing has dominated national and international headlines more than the coronavirus. As of this week, authorities have identified approximately 113,000 cases worldwide, more than 4,000 deaths have been reported and the WHO is now calling the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic.  The coronavirus might be new. But this is by no means the first time that America and the world have been in the grips of a deadly virus. Over a century ago, Spanish influenza caused a global pandemic, spread in large part by soldiers returning home from the First World War. The virus killed between 50 and 100 million people. But the story of the virus, and the lives it affected, has often been forgotten.   Back in 2018, BackStory looked at the history of Spanish influenza in an episode titled “Forgotten Flu: America and the 1918 Pandemic (https://www.backstoryradio.org/shows/flu) .” So in the wake of ongoing concerns about coronavirus, Ed revisits a couple segments from that show, to learn about how people from the past dealt with a terrifying and unpredictable virus.  Music: Hip Hop Piano Lounge (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jQjkz0k5boZ9v5S2geJnTHMGTI9cGgIGSIU03yJ5N3w/edit#) by Bobby Cole/Audioblocks Sad and Reflective Hip Hop (https://www.audioblocks.com/stock-audio/sad-and-reflective-hip-hop-rl0mbijtlvhk0wyalt7.html) by Bobby Cole/Audioblocks Light and Laid Back Rap Beat (https://www.audioblocks.com/stock-audio/light-and-laid-back-rap-beat-hxjacjpiwbk0wyaiyd.html) by Bobby Cole/Audioblocks Fighting the Flu  Brian and historian Nancy Bristow (https://www.pugetsound.edu/faculty-pages/nbristow) explore the medical community’s response to the 1918 pandemic, and their inability to understand the virus.  Music:  Ones Left Behind (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/Melanchonique/Ones_Left_Behind_) by Ketsa Once and Future Flu Brian speaks with virologist John Oxford about how the 1918 influenza pandemic spread worldwide and why scientists think we should prepare for another pandemic.  Music: Live With No Fear (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/End_is_Beginning/Live_With_No_Fear) by Ketsa

Past Pandemics: What Can We Learn That May Help Us Today?

Over the years, tens of thousands of books have been published about the Civil War. America’s most divisive conflict might be its most-written about. With stacks and stacks and stacks of books about the Civil War, it’s hard to know what else there is to say. But historians are coming up with new ways to look at conflict all the time.

315: New Stories for an Old Conflict: Rethinking Civil War Narratives

We turn to history to make sense of the present…but how do you make sense of history? For many of us, it’s through stories -- individual tales of individual people. So on this episode of BackStory, Joanne, Ed and Brian present and discuss a particular person from their time period, someone who they think sheds much-needed light on our current moment.

314: People Making History: The Power and Perils of Telling History Through Individual Stories

As BackStory moves towards the end of its production, we’ve asked our hosts to select memorable moments from the show that we’re publishing as episodes once per month.  A founding host of the show, Ed Ayers has had hundreds of conversations on a huge variety of topics. But some of his favorite BackStory moments touched on anniversaries and events related to his own field in American history: slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.  So in this best of BackStory, we will take a deep dive into what the Confederacy means today, and learn about the newly opened Civil War Museum. Then, we’ll hear tape from a BackStory live show at the 150th anniversary of the liberation of Richmond, Virginia.

313: Best of BackStory: The Time Ed Ayers Marched Into Richmond

Thirty years ago this week, Nelson Mandela, the renowned civil rights and anti-apartheid leader, was released from prison. His release marked the beginning of the end of South Africa’s brutal apartheid regime and a new future for black South Africans. So on this episode of BackStory, Joanne, Ed and Brian take a look at the complicated and often contentious relationship American officials and anti-racism activists have had with South Africa. Image: President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including Representative Kweisi Mfume, at an event at the Library of Congress. October 1994. Source: Library of Congress

312: From Music to Madiba: A History of U.S. Relations with South Africa

American Hysteria is a podcast exploring the fantastical thinking and irrational fears of Americans through the lens of moral panics, urban legends, and conspiracy theories, how they shape our psychology and culture, and why we end up believing them. Poet-turned-podcaster Chelsey Weber-Smith explores the sometimes hilarious, sometimes horrifying stories of historical and modern American freak-outs, and the real social issues they act to cover up. An in-depth alternative history as well as a sociological experiment, the show analyzes how issues of race, gender, sexuality, and class have informed our beliefs from the Puritans to the present.   Written, produced, and hosted by Chelsey Weber-Smith Produced and edited by Clear Commo Studios   www.americanhysteria.com (http://www.americanhysteria.com/) Instagram: @americanhysteriapodcast // twitter: @amerhysteria https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/american-hysteria/id1441348407

311: "The Gay Agenda" from American Hysteria

As most of America is bundled up in the dead of winter - we’re wearing our flip-flops, slathering on sunscreen, and basking in the history of the Sunshine State. On this episode of BackStory, Joanne, Nathan and Brian learn about the social media phenomenon called “Florida Man,” explore the often overlooked story of the Seminoles, discover how the state became a mecca for retirees, and find out about the remarkable efforts of one woman to preserve Florida’s natural environment. Image: Welcome to Florida Sign by DonkeyHotey via Flickr available under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

310: Seminoles, Retirees and Florida Man: A Brief History of the Sunshine State

For close to ten years, Peter Onuf hosted BackStory along with Ed Ayers and Brian Balogh. Now, with the show coming to a close, Peter is back to help kick off a new series we’re doing on the show. These are episodes in which all five of our hosts will look back on their time with the show and highlight some of their favorite moments.  With so much time at the show, Peter had a lot of material to work with. But he has narrowed it down to three conversations that still stick out in his memory today. Each one captures something that he considers to be unique about BackStory.

309: Best of BackStory: The Time Peter Onuf Declared Independence

Had he lived, Martin Luther King, Jr. would have celebrated his 91st birthday this week. King is regarded as an American hero and championed in children’s books and inspirational posters, but have Americans lost sight of the real MLK? Image: Martin Luther King press conference by Marion S.  Trikosko, March 26, 1964. Source: Library of Congress

235: The Real Martin Luther King: Reflecting on MLK 50 Years After His Death

Last weekend, an American airstrike killed Iranian General Qasam Soleimani, at the direction of President Trump. Iran vowed to retaliate and launched more than a dozen missiles at two American military bases in Iraq. In response, President Trump addressed the nation on Wednesday, saying the US will impose new economic sanctions on Iran. Only time will tell what Solemani’s death means for U.S./Iran relations, and the future of the Middle East. But how did we get here?  On this episode of BackStory, Brian speaks with Hussein Banai (https://hls.indiana.edu/faculty/banai-hussein.html) , author of “Becoming Enemies: U.S.-Iran Relations and the Iran-Iraq War, 1979-1988,” about what the history of US/Iran relations can teach us about the current moment -- and where we might be headed. Image: A staff member removes the Iranian flag from the stage after a group picture with foreign ministers and representatives of Unites States, Iran, China, Russia, Britain, Germany, France and the European Union during the Iran nuclear talks at the Vienna International Center in Vienna, Austria Tuesday July 14, 2015. Source: AP Images

308: The U.S. and Iran: A Brief History of an Often Tense Relationship

It’s common for folks to look back on a time gone by and romanticize it as “better days.” But is nostalgia a harmless yearning for the past, or a distraction from what’s happening in the present?  Image: Memory Lane sign by Martin Bennett / Stockimo Source: Alamy Stock Photo

307: Those Were The Days: Nostalgia in American History

The holidays are upon us and we're more than a little obsessed with stuffing - just not the kind you eat. On this episode of BackStory, Brian, Ed and Nathan find out about the father of American natural history dioramas, talk to a man with a condor in his freezer, discover how a mischievous raven connects Edgar Allan Poe to Charles Dickens and unravel the extraordinary story of the man who proposed stuffing the Founding Fathers. Image: "In the workroom," photograph shows occupational portrait of taxidermist Martha A. Maxwell with animal specimens, palette, and rifle. Oct. 27, 1876 Source: Library of Congress BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support

257: Stuffed - Taxidermy in the History of America

On this episode of BackStory, Brian brings you a sampling of some of our favorite segments from the past year.  BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support

306: The Best of BackStory 2019

‘Tis the season for giving. Whether it’s the latest gadget or the coziest sweater, many Americans are spending the month of December searching for that perfect gift. But throughout American history, gift giving has taken on many different forms. And the act of giving and receiving has allowed bonds to form across social, political, and cultural divides.  On this episode of BackStory, Brian, Joanne and Nathan bring you two very different stories of giving and receiving. One starts in Ireland, and the other looks at a time when lending a helping hand resulted in more harm than good. BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support

305: From BackStory to You: A History of Giving and Receiving

BackStory is a weekly public podcast hosted by U.S. historians Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh, Nathan Connolly and Joanne Freeman. We're based in Charlottesville, Va. at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Each week we take a topic that people are talking about and explore it through the lens of American history. Through stories, interviews, and conversation with our listeners, we make history engaging and fun.

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