Samuel Backer

I am a historian of American culture and capitalism, with a focus on the long 20th century. I also work extensively on digital and computational approaches to history—big data, podcasts, “computational close reading,” and more. I received my PhD from Johns Hopkins University.

My current research focuses on the origins of the American entertainment industry in the era prior to mechanically reproducible performances—the records, films, and radio we typically think of as integral to the development of mass culture. By tracking how the nation’s entertainment industry thrived in a period prior to these technologically-mediated forms, it is possible to shed new light onto why American culture developed like it did, while also providing a useful point of comparison for contemporary developments.

To explore these more recent forms of musical history, I cohost “Money 4 Nothing,” a podcast that analyzes the intersections between music and capitalism.

Broadly, I am interested in cultural history, the history of capitalism, music/theater history, and histories of race.

I run the DiSH (Digital and Spatial Humanities) lab. I am eagerly working to bring together students and scholars interested in the digital/computational humanities at the University of Maine.

Public Scholarship

“It’s Buzzing Under the Surface” – Interviewed by Jan Blaszczak, Dwutygodnic, Spring 2024.

“What the Neil Young-Joe Rogan dust-up tells us about the music industry,” Washington Post, February 2022.

“Streamlining the Streaming Regime” — The Baffler, January 2021.

“Irving Berlin in Chinatown” — Gotham: A Blog for Scholars of New York City History, September 2020.

“Producers and the Beat of New Orleans Bounce,” — Red Bull Music Academy, 2018.

“Grime and the City” — Jacobin Magazine, 2018.

“Shake It Fo Yah Hood: Bounce, New Orleans Hip Hop” (Radio Documentary) — Afropop Worldwide /PRI, 2017.