Last Sunday (June 18th) Catalonia voted to give itself more independence from the central government in Madrid. On today’s Backstory, we learn about the history of Catalonian separatism and the impact the recent referendum is expected to have on Catalonia and the rest of Spain. John Peet, Europe Editor for ...

On this week’s Backstory, Mark Pendergrast (the author of Uncommon Grounds) explains how Starbucks went from a Seattle coffeehouse to a cultural symbol.

George W. Bush isn't the first President with ties to Halliburton. On today's edition of Backstory, we'll take an in-depth look at the company with Vijay Vaitheeswaran, a correspondent for The Economist, and the author of Power to the People.

Today we kick off a new feature called Backstory, a series of in-depth biographies of some of the most important people in the world. In each episode, we’ll learn about the lives behind the headlines. Today we’ll turn our attention to Omar Hasan al-Bashir, the ruler of Sudan. He’s the ...

New Yorker staff writer and journalist Ken Auletta dissects the forces influencing the media today in his latest book, Backstory: Inside the Business of News

» Read an excerpt of Backstory in the reading Room
» More info on Ken Auletta

New Yorker staff writer and journalist Ken Auletta dissects the people and institutions shaping media, for good and for ill, in a time of profound change. His new book is Backstory: Inside the Business of News.

•Music: A Civil Action Soundtrack composer Danny Elfman

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