BackStory

234: You Have The Right to Remain Silent: A History of the Miranda Warning

When a man named Ernesto Miranda confessed to a rape and kidnapping on March 13, 1963, his trial went all the way to the Supreme Court becoming one of the most well-known cases of the 20th century: "Miranda v Arizona." Nathan and Joanne look at the interrogation that led to the Supreme Court decision and ask how the Miranda warning transformed from technical bit of police procedure to pop-culture lexicon. 
 
<a href="https://www.backstoryradio.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2018/04/Right_To_Remain_Silent.pdf">Download a full transcript of this episode</a>. 
 
Image: Ernesto Miranda, 1963. Source: Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records, History and Archives Division, 
Phoenix, #00-0517. 
 
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BackStory is a weekly public podcast hosted by U.S. historians Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh, Nathan Connolly and Joanne Freeman. We're based in Charlottesville, Va. at Virginia Humanities.

There’s the history you had to learn, and the history you want to learn - that’s where BackStory comes in. Each week BackStory takes a topic that people are talking about and explores it through the lens of American history. Through stories, interviews, and conversations with our listeners, BackStory makes history engaging and fun.