Backstory with Larry Potash

We’ve all heard of the lost island of Atlantis, but less known is a lost “continent” know as…Lemuria. Larry Potash has a story on the lemur, an island, and a spiritual movement. Backstory with Larry Potash airs Sunday nights at 11 on WGN-TV and on smart TVs on the free WGN+ app. For more, download the Backstory podcast wherever you get your podcasts, go to WGNtv.com/backstory, or follow Larry Potash on your favorite social media. Go here to see how to download the free WGN+ app.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The barber’s backstory includes a variety of roles, and while many of those have—thankfully--been removed from the barber’s responsibilities, they still do more than just cut your hair. Larry Potash goes deep on backstory of the barber. Backstory with Larry Potash airs Sunday nights at 11 on WGN-TV and on smart TVs on the free WGN+ app. For more, download the Backstory podcast wherever you get your podcasts, go to WGNtv.com/backstory, or follow Larry Potash on your favorite social media. Go here to see how to download the free WGN+ app.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Six million Jews died in the Holocaust, but more than three million survived. Members of one Chicago area family survived because of an important connection-- a global celebrity by the name of Albert Einstein. One of his relatives investigated the story, to share with the world, as Larry Potash reports. Backstory with Larry Potash airs Sunday nights at 11 on WGN-TV and on smart TVs on the free WGN+ app. For more, download the Backstory podcast wherever you get your podcasts, go to WGNtv.com/backstory, or follow Larry Potash on your favorite social media. Go here to see how to download the free WGN+ app.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

American history is filled with incredibly brutal acts of violence; in particular, racial violence. The Tulsa race riots. The systemic murders of the Osage. Larry Potash has the story of the Rock Springs Massacre of 1885. This one, targeting not Blacks or Native Americans, but the Chinese. Backstory with Larry Potash airs Sunday nights at 11 on WGN-TV and on smart TVs on the free WGN+ app. For more, download the Backstory podcast wherever you get your podcasts, go to WGNtv.com/backstory, or follow Larry Potash on your favorite social media. Go here to see how to download the free WGN+ app.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Underground Railroad helps the oppressed escape Southern slave masters. The conductors are both black and white. Journalist Larry Potash introduces us to a Lewis Isbell, a Chicagoan and an unsung hero of the movement. Isbell’s story is being told, in part, thanks to a man whose ancestors once enslaved Isbell. Backstory with Larry Potash airs Sunday nights at 11 on WGN-TV and on smart TVs on the free WGN+ app. For more, download the Backstory podcast wherever you get your podcasts, go to WGNtv.com/backstory, or follow Larry Potash on your favorite social media. Go here to see how to download the free WGN+ app.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Christmas Eve 1971, a man with a gun at 7 sticks of dynamite commandeers a United Airlines plane in the skies above Chicago. Larry Potash unearths what happened that night, and the connection that two Chicago area families have made 5 decades later. Backstory with Larry Potash airs Sunday nights at 11 on WGN-TV and on smart TVs on the free WGN+ app. For more, download the Backstory podcast wherever you get your podcasts, go to WGNtv.com/backstory, or follow Larry Potash on your favorite social media. Go here to see how to download the free WGN+ app.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chocolate, and candy overall, used to be the domain of the wealthy, royalty, the elite. But all that changed in the early 20th century when Chicago become the candy capital of the world. In this piece for Backstory, Larry Potash looks at the past and future of candy. Backstory with Larry Potash airs Sunday nights at 11 on WGN-TV and on smart TVs on the free WGN+ app. For more, download the Backstory podcast wherever you get your podcasts, go to WGNtv.com/backstory, or follow Larry Potash on your favorite social media. Go here to see how to download the free WGN+ app.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Death is the great equalizer. But how we mourn, our ceremonies and rituals, can be very different across cultures and through generations. In the United States, our perspective on funerals and grieving is rapidly changing. Larry Potash reports on the future of death in this piece for Backstory. Backstory with Larry Potash airs Sunday nights at 11 on WGN-TV and on smart TVs on the free WGN+ app. For more, download the Backstory podcast wherever you get your podcasts, go to WGNtv.com/backstory, or follow Larry Potash on your favorite social media. Go here to see how to download the free WGN+ app.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

LeRoy Neiman was an American artist known for his vivid, expressionist paintings of athletes, musicians, and sporting events. Muhummad Ali, Mickey Mantle, Frank Sinatra were just a few of his subjects, and the masses were drawn to his art because they could relate to the subject matter. In this piece for Backstory, Larry Potash takes a fresh look at Nieman, and why his style--situated at the confluence of art and commerce—is perhaps more influential than he gets credit for. Backstory with Larry Potash airs Sunday nights at 11 on WGN-TV and on smart TVs on the free WGN+ app. For more, download the Backstory podcast wherever you get your podcasts, go to WGNtv.com/backstory, or follow Larry Potash on your favorite social media. Click here to see how to download the free WGN+ app.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Despite the obvious danger, hundreds of thousands of people serve in the Polish Underground during World War II. At a time when the world largely doesn’t know what’s going on behind the walls of Auschwitz, one man volunteers to go inside the concentration camp. In this piece for Backstory, Larry profiles the amazing tale of Witold Pilecki and others who chose to fight back against Nazi tyranny.  Backstory with Larry Potash airs Sunday nights at 11 on WGN-TV and on smart TVs on the free WGN+ app. For more, download the Backstory podcast wherever you get your podcasts, go to WGNtv.com/backstory, or follow Larry Potash on your favorite social media. Click here to see how to download the free WGN+ app.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.