The Story Behind the Story

You know the story.
Here's the story
behind it.

Short sentences, plain words, and the part of the story you never heard.

Hear the stories How it works
Radio shows and a poem About 3 to 4 min each Fact-checked and sourced
The host at the microphone in the studio, headphones on, under an ON AIR sign
How a story works

Every story is built around one fact held back.

01

The hook

A person in trouble, an oddity, a failure. One sentence that has to buy the next thirty seconds.

02

The journey

Dates, places and details, told in plain words. You think you know where it's going.

03

The reveal

Then the name, in the final line, and the whole story reads differently.

The stories

Watch every story.

All videos on YouTube
The Story Behind the Story

Radio
is dead?

The Boy Who Bet on Radio: Paul Harvey

3:42

In 1949, the smartest people in American broadcasting agreed on one thing.

Watch on YouTube
The Story Behind the Story

They spat
on him

The Tourist They Spat On: Elon Musk & SpaceX

3:41

In the winter of 2001, a thirty-year-old American flew to Moscow to go shopping for a missile.

Watch on YouTube
The Story Behind the Story

Apple's
enemy

The Enemy Who Saved Apple: Bill Gates & Steve Jobs

3:46

In the summer of 1997, five thousand true believers packed a hall in Boston to see their heroes.

Watch on YouTube
The Story Behind the Story

The like
button

The Man Who Invented the Like Button: Justin Rosenstein

3:41

The most-clicked button in human history was born at an office slumber party.

Watch on YouTube
The Story Behind the Story

The $50 million
laugh

The $50 Million Laugh: Netflix vs. Blockbuster

3:45

In the spring of 2000, two young businessmen flew to Dallas to sell their struggling little company.

Watch on YouTube
The Story Behind the Story

The man
who said no

The Man Who Said No: Stanislav Petrov

3:22

A screen says five missiles are on the way. A Soviet officer decides to do nothing.

Watch on YouTube
The Story Behind the Story

The third
vote

The Third Vote: Vasily Arkhipov

3:43

A submarine under attack. Three men must agree before a war can begin. Two say yes.

Watch on the channel
The Story Behind the Story

That's
cute

That's Cute: Steven Sasson

3:15

A young engineer shows his bosses the future of photography. They tell him not to tell anyone.

Watch on the channel
The Story Behind the Story

Six
minutes

Six Minutes: Fred Rogers

3:13

A Senate hearing, a budget about to be cut in half, and a witness with six minutes.

Watch on the channel
The Story Behind the Story

The glue that
wouldn't stick

The Glue That Wouldn't Stick: Spencer Silver & Art Fry

3:08

A chemist builds the weakest glue in the world, and nobody knows what to do with it.

Watch on the channel
The Story Behind the Story

Not one
ruble

Not One Ruble: Alexey Pajitnov

3:12

He built the most-played game in history in his spare time, and never collected a royalty.

Watch on the channel
The Story Behind the Story

The teddy
bear

The Teddy Bear: Katalin Karikó

3:12

Twelve hundred dollars hidden in a toddler's teddy bear, and a demotion ten years later.

Watch on the channel
The Story Behind the Story

Sam
McGee

The Cremation of Sam McGee: Robert W. Service Reading

4:23

Strange things done in the midnight sun. Robert W. Service's famous Yukon poem, read aloud.

Watch on YouTube
About the show

Written for the ear.

Story Behind the Story tells true stories from history, the way radio used to: short sentences, plain words, and a single fact held back until the end.

Every script is original. Every date, place and name is checked against its sources before it's recorded.

Jim Furst was born in Chicago in 1954 and raised in Alaska. At 17, in 1971, during the Vietnam War, he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a combat medic and was honorably discharged. He then lived all over Oregon for more than 40 years, including more than ten years as the morning-show host on a radio station on the Oregon Coast. He learned his IT skills at Furst Computer Services, LLC, founded in 1980.

Produced by Furst Media Live LLC.

Follow the show

New stories, as they're released.

YouTube [PLATFORM LINK] [PLATFORM LINK]
Contact

Sponsorships, press, or a correction?

Write to jim@furstmedia.live.