The BackStory Collection contains 154 episodes from the popular public radio series and podcast on timely topics in American history. The series, which delves into the history, or “backstory” of current events and ideas in the U.S., is produced by Virginia Humanities, a state humanities council tasked with connecting Virginians to their state’s history and culture. BackStory began as a monthly public radio show in 2008 with hosts Ed Ayers, Peter Onuf, and Brian Balogh known collectively as “The American History Guys.” In 2017, BackStory began publishing as a podcast only. Onuf transitioned to a consulting and guest host role and historians Nathan Connolly and Joanne Freeman joined the team. In episodes, BackStory’s hosts, all renowned historians and educators, discuss connections between the present and the past in a way that, according to the show’s website, “makes learning about history like going to a lively cocktail party.” Along with the hosts, episodes regularly feature guest historians and questions from audience callers. Episodes in the collection feature conversations about how subjects with deep roots in American history and culture – censorship, conspiracy theories, maps, dating and courtship, death and mourning, the color green, taxation, guns, populism, satire, and women in politics – have impacted American lives, often in surprising ways. Subjects in this collection include American history, women, race, racism, social life, education, religion, politics, economics, health, immigration, war, and holidays. The Creative Commons license is subject only to the narrative text within the Resource. Third-party images, audio, video and other materials within the Resource for which AAPB has received permission to include in the resource are not subject to the Creative Commons license.

This online resource serves as an abridged version of the American Antiquarian Society's traveling exhibition Beyond Midnight: Paul Revere. The exhibition develops the story of the American silversmith and patriot as a versatile maker of prints and objects while also maintaining sight of his ambitions as a patriot. The story of Revere as a maker and an entrepreneur has been somewhat eclipsed by the popular image of him as a messenger, but the two narratives are in fact intertwined. All four sections of the exhibition are represented here by a selection of objects and related text aimed at providing context for the world in which Revere navigated as an artisan and entrepreneur in pre- and post-revolutionary America.

This online exhibition features lithographs, chromolithographs, trade catalogues, trade cards, and product labels from the American Antiquarian Society's collection that help shed light on major changes in the way Americans in the North produced and sold their food in the second half of the nineteenth century.

The 'Black Journal' Collection features episodes from the 'Black Journal' series, the first nationally televised public affairs program produced for, about, and (eventually) by African-Americans. The collection presents news segments and documentaries pertaining to the Black community and interviews with Black intellectuals, politicians, activists, entertainers, and athletes as part of its mission to display non-stereotyped presentations of what it meant to be Black in America. The series received Emmy, Peabody, and Russwurm awards for its coverage of timely issues. The episodes in this special collection span the period from 1968 to 1977, and feature segments on the Black Power Movement, Black nationalism, the “Black is beautiful” movement, the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, Black communities in Atlanta, Detroit, and Los Angeles, the African diaspora, the Black Panthers, the Black student movement, Pan-Africanism, and the media’s representation of Black people. Episodes of 'Black Journal' feature interviews with activist and author Angela Davis, minister and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, and basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as well as episodes and segments about the Black community in Compton, the role of the Black artist, and the importance of education in newly-independent Guyana. Subjects include race and ethnicity, education, employment, American history, incarceration, fashion, religion, racism, music, and dance.

It’s getting easy to create convincing—but false—videos through artificial intelligence. These “deepfakes” can have creative applications in art and education, but they can also cause great harm— from ruining the reputation of an ex-partner to provoking international conflicts or swinging elections. When seeing is not believing, who can we trust, and can democracy and truth survive?

Through this module, students will develop their global competency skills, enhance their awarenes sof diverse Latin American cultures and geographies, explore contempirary global issues through a multiperspective lens and effectively communicate ideas effectively with diverse audiences.

The Spot-The-Troll quiz is an educational tool to help the public learn to spot the markers of inauthenticity in social media accounts.
Remember to be careful when engaging online. The great majority of social media accounts are genuine, but if you aren’t sure, it is usually best not to engage. Trolls want influence. They can only have that if you follow them and share their messages. They will only drive us farther apart if we help them.

This webinar offers an overview of the historical development of the Internet in China, exploring such topics as censorship, business monopoly and Internet activism. It demonstrates how the Internet in China is intricately embedded in and shaped by China’s political processes, business operations, and people’s everyday lives.

Veteran journalist Chris Carola discusses the chaos surrounding the 1945 arrest of Hideki Tojo and the role that a young soldier, John Wilpers, played in the process.

The Stanford History Education Group (SHEG) is a research and development group based in Stanford’s Graduate School of Education. In 2014, we set out to develop short assessments to gauge young people’s ability to evaluate online content. Specifically, we sought to measure Civic Online Reasoning — the ability to effectively search for, evaluate, and verify social and political information online. We use this term to highlight the civic aims of this work. The ability to evaluate online content has become a prerequisite for thoughtful democratic participation.

Climate scientists and activists have used the venue of public broadcasting to discuss climate change for more than a quarter of a century. They have repeatedly communicated the science of human-driven climate change and its impacts in interviews, call-in radio shows, debates, public lectures, news programs, and documentaries.
While scientists and activists have consistently used public broadcasting to disseminate information about climate change, the conversation has changed over time. In the 1980s, focus was primarily on communicating the potential threats of global warming. Since then, programming has increasingly examined the actual impacts, and in addition, struggled to keep the American public informed and engaged. This exhibit highlights public broadcasting recordings of conversations on climate change—its causes, impacts, and proposed solutions—from 1970, the first year that Earth Day was celebrated, to the present. The Creative Commons license is subject only to the narrative text within the Resource. Third-party images, audio, video and other materials within the Resource for which AAPB has received permission to include in the resource are not subject to the Creative Commons license.

The world is awash in BS. Pandering politicians, winking advertisers, startup soothsayers, television “experts”, and even some scientists use the news media to promulgate half-truths, misrepresentations and sometimes outright lies. Cleaning up our polluted information environments requires a digital citizenry that can spot and effectively refute BS. This talk will provide a set of strategies for combatting a particular kind of BS—BS cloaked in data, figures, statistics and algorithms—that combine the critical thinking skills of a humanities education with the emerging field of data science.

Syllabus - Online Communities as Agents of ChangeInterested in teaching a course that introduces student to how online spaces present and enact change in our societies? Well, this is the course for you. This serves as a template that may be edited at the instructors descression. 

Although many people now have access to more accumulated information than has ever been the case in human existence, we also now face a moment when the proliferation of misinformation, or false or inaccurate information, poses major challenges. In response to these challenges and to build collaboration across disciplines and expertise and a more effective community of learning and practice, the Rita Allen Foundation partnered with RTI International and the Aspen Institute along with Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Democracy Fund, and Burroughs Wellcome Fund to hold the Misinformation Solutions Forum in October 2018 at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC. This forum brought together academic researchers, technology professionals, data scientists, journalists, educators, community leaders, funders and a set of graduate student fellows to explore promising ideas for curbing the spread of misinformation. We issued an open call for ideas to be featured in the forum that sought interventions focused on reducing behaviors that lead to the spread of misinformation or encouraging behaviors that can lead to the minimization of its influence. Interventions with technological, educational, and/or community-based components were encouraged, as were projects involving science communication, public health and diverse populations. A panel of expert judges assessed submissions through a blind review process; judges included representatives from the Rita Allen Foundation, as well as external institutions such as the Democracy Fund, the National Institutes of Health, the Poynter Institute, First Draft, and academic institutions. Authors developed the essays presented here based on both original submissions and the iterative collaboration process that ensued.

This documentary studies the motivations of journalists dedicated enough to risk their lives for a story. Amy Eldon searches for meaning in the death of her older brother, Reuters photographer Dan Eldon, one of five journalists attacked by a mob during the Somali famine in 1993. In the film, she interviews other journalists and the sole surviving witness to Dan’s death and considers the importance of journalism.

From black-and-white footage of protests against segregated schools in New York City, to full-color newscasts about the rollout of No Child Left Behind in Guam, public television has had a long history of covering education stories. This online exhibit highlights documentaries, news magazines, talk shows, and special reports in the AAPB collection dedicated to learning in America. The Creative Commons license is subject only to the narrative text within the Resource. Third-party images, audio, video and other materials within the Resource for which AAPB has received permission to include in the resource are not subject to the Creative Commons license.

Social media has become ubiquitous. As of January 2014, about three quarters of online American adults were using some form of social media, according to Pew Research. Among young adults and teens, the numbers are even higher. Without a doubt, the vast majority of your students – at least those in middle school or higher – have social media accounts.
Many educators are also on social media both for personal and professional use and, for the most part, that’s great. From a professional standpoint it can enhance your network of contacts, engage you in important discussions, extend your own learning and even provide a platform for class projects. As for personal use, well, educators have lives, families, friends and interests just like everyone else so, naturally, many are drawn to social networking as a way to connect to the people they care about.

Students learn about how electricity works and apply it to their artwork. Students will also learn about TriCounty EMC, who provides electricity to many of the students at the school. Students will be able to learn about the many jobs and support the Co-op provides to the surrounding communities.

The En Français Collection consists of 223 episodes (1980-1993) of the only original Louisiana Public Broadcasting series broadcast entirely in French. It also includes 25 clips of unedited footage shot for the series. The series was produced in partnership with the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) during a time of renewed pride in Louisiana’s French cultural heritage. It presented interviews, stories, and performances in French that were of interest to the state’s French speakers and helped to fulfill LPB’s mission of preserving the French language in Louisiana. The themes of the series include: the preservation of the Cajun French dialect; Acadian history and cultural traditions; life in the Acadiana region of Louisiana; the enduring connection between Louisiana and the Francophone world; interviews and performances by the pioneers and stars of Cajun music; and performances by Le Théâtre ‘Cadien, a local theater group from Lafayette that performed original plays in the Cajun French dialect. The Creative Commons license is subject only to the narrative text within the Resource. Third-party images, audio, video and other materials within the Resource for which AAPB has received permission to include in the resource are not subject to the Creative Commons license.

Since first coming to national prominence with his Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting on the My Lai massacre and its subsequent cover-up during the Vietnam War, Seymour “Sy” Hersh has remained one of our nation’s most important investigative journalists. In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, he has been honored with the George Polk Award five times, the National Magazine Award twice, and received more than a dozen other prizes for investigative reporting.
Over the past fifty years, Sy Hersh has uncovered political scandals and abuses of power from Watergate to Abu Ghraib and shed light on issues that have dramatically reshaped the political landscape. Earlier this year, Hersh published his tenth book, Reporter: A Memoir, in which he reflects on his long career as a journalist, shares behind-the-scenes accounts of the people and events who were central to his most important stories, and reminds us again of the vital importance of a free press.