Segment from Home Bittersweet Home

Welcome to the Big Leagues

Brian unpacks the saga of the Contract Buyers League, a local activist group in Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood that organized in the 1960s to protest unreasonable contract payments for their houses.

00:00:00 / 00:00:00

Heed the Deed

Brian talks with historian Loren Moulds about Herbert Hoover’s career-long crusade to promote home ownership.

00:02:43

Deserted House on the Prairie

The hosts chat with historian Richard White about how the Transcontinental Railroad and the Homestead Act shaped development in the Plains and in the West.

00:04:42

Welcome to the Big Leagues

Brian unpacks the saga of the Contract Buyers League, a local activist group in Chicago’s Lawndale neighborhood that organized in the 1960s to protest unreasonable contract payments for their houses.

00:10:48

Righting a Property Wrong

The hosts discuss the government’s role in shaping property ownership, and consider a modern corollary of the Contract Buyers League story: predatory lending.

00:06:07

Listener Calls

Peter, Ed, and Brian take calls from listeners. From the home as a “sacred space” to the rise of the McMansion, the Backstory hosts have answers.

00:12:18

Creaky Boards and Cobwebs

Film critic David Edelstein takes us on a tour of haunted houses in the movies.

00:05:36