About Sam Backer

Sam Backer is a PhD candidate in History at Johns Hopkins, where his work focuses on the intersection of art, culture, and capitalism. He is also a freelance journalist and a podcaster. He is currently a host on “Money 4 Nothing,” a podcast about music and capitalism.

NBN Episodes hosted by Sam:

David Monod, "Vaudeville and the Making of Modern Entertainment, 1890–1925" (UNC Press, 2020)

May 19, 2021

Vaudeville and the Making of Modern Entertainment, 1890–1925

David Monod
Hosted by Sam Backer

Vaudeville is one of the most famous styles of theater in American history, a font of showbiz legend and the training ground for a generation of stars…

Billy Coleman, "Harnessing Harmony: Music, Power, and Politics in the United States, 1788-1865" (UNC Press, 2020)

November 6, 2020

Harnessing Harmony

Billy Coleman
Hosted by Sam Backer

CAN you hear the people sing? Political music is often understood as the property of the commoners, used as a potent (and noisy) weapon against the in…

Kevin J. Byrne, "Minstrel Traditions: Mediated Blackface in the Jazz Age" (Routledge, 2020)

July 29, 2020

Minstrel Traditions

Kevin J. Byrne
Hosted by Sam Backer

The Blackface minstrel show is typically thought of a form tied to the 19th century. While the style was indeed developed during the Antebellum period…