Throughline
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Throughline
Throughline is a time machine. Each episode, we travel beyond the headlines to answer the question, "How did we get here?" We use sound and stories to bring history to life and put you into the middle of it. From ancient civilizations to forgotten figures, we take you directly to the moments that sh...
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Gladiators, real housewives and the pull of reality TV
People used to say "believe your eyes." But these days that's not so easy to do. What we scroll through every day blurs the line between entertainment...
The fight that shook America
Jack Johnson was the first world Black heavyweight champion, but winning the title was only part of the battle. Every time Johnson stepped into a boxi...
The billionaires' utopia blueprint
Starbase. Prospera. California Forever. Mars. From private cities to interstellar colonies, tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel have back...
Why the wall was built
As the United States expanded into a global superpower, it simultaneously strengthened its national borders and began to limit who could come in and o...
The original clickbait king
When we call something "clickbait," we don't mean it as a compliment. But let's be real: we also click. It's hard to resist a spicy story, and 19th-ce...
How the US became America
In the late 1890s, the United States fought wars and backed independence movements around the world. By the time the fighting was over, the US emerged...
Will AI destroy us... or save us?
Like it or not, artificial intelligence is deeply rooted in our lives. Its invisible architecture stretches everywhere from dating apps to medical car...
Who gets to be an American citizen?
The 14th Amendment guaranteed equal citizenship after the Civil War, but who exactly counted as a citizen? Today on the show, the story of Wong Kim Ar...
Al Capone and the transformation of the IRS
Gangsters, banksters, and politicians. Today on the show, how the hunt for Al Capone helped turn the IRS into one of the U.S. government's most powerf...
What the banana tells us about US history
What do bananas have to do with American history? On this week’s episode, how the sweet fruit became an American staple because of one entrepreneur wh...
How Saudi Arabia shaped Silicon Valley
Elon Musk. Donald Trump. Bill Gates. Sam Altman. Larry Ellison. Alex Karp. Jared Kushner. Mr. Beast. Jeffrey Epstein… Those are just a few of the peo...
The Ojibwe Nation
In the face of United States westward expansion in the 19th century, Native people fought to preserve their land and way of life. Today on the show: t...
Why is Cuba in crisis?
Cuba is on the brink of collapse – a scenario that 13 U.S. presidents have tried to engineer with no success. Today on the show, the making of the Cub...
The confederates who left the USA
After the Civil War, while America was rebuilding itself, some Southerners made a different kind of move — they packed up and left. Today on the show:...
3 key moments that led to the U.S.-Iran war
Military confrontations, early-morning attacks, and digital warfare: the story of Iran and the U.S. from the 1979 Iranian revolution to the fraught mo...
Everyone should have a voice
The story of Frederick Douglass’s fight for universal suffrage from the Civil War to the rise of Jim Crow.
To access bonus episodes and l...
Iran and the Jewish people: An alliance before war
Israel and Iran have been in almost constant conflict for nearly 50 years. Media tends to frame the violence as endemic, and inevitable — but it’s not...
We the People, Redefined
When the 14th amendment was ratified after the Civil War, it redefined what it meant to be an American. Today on the show, we bring you the story of h...
Why Super PACs have more power than ever in elections
What’s one thing people across the U.S. can agree on? Hint – it’s about money. Voters from all political parties overwhelmingly see unlimited spending...
How the Civil War changed how we vote
When President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in the middle of the Civil War, he was not just changing the terms of peace, he wa...
Who profits from migrant detention?
The U.S. immigration detention system is spread out across federal facilities, private prisons, state prisons, and county jails. It’s grown under both...
The lasting legacy of the slave patrols
To this day, America continues to grapple with the legacy of slavery. On this week’s episode, we explore the creation of slave patrols, which were cre...
How Bad Bunny took Puerto Rican independence mainstream
How Bad Bunny became the global voice of a generation in crisis — and what it means when resistance becomes profitable.
Guests:
The right to free speech
Freedom of the press. The right to assembly. And the right to free speech. The first amendment includes some of the most fundamental and most debated...
The Man Who Took On The Klan
In 1871, Ku Klux Klan violence in South Carolina got so bad that the governor sent a telegram to President Ulysses S. Grant warning that he was facing...
Becoming Supreme | America in Pursuit
Political rebellions, family feuds, and power grabs – the founding of the Supreme Court has about as much drama as a Hollywood movie. In this week’s e...
James Baldwin's Fire
James Baldwin believed that America has been lying to itself since its founding. A sharp, funny, and insightful commentator on Black identity and Amer...
Signed, Sealed & Delivered | America in Pursuit
The key to good communication is in the delivery – literally. This week on America in Pursuit, how the creation of the U.S. postal service transformed...
Iran Protests Explained
Editor's note: The United States and Israel launched attacks on Iran early Saturday, Feb. 28. For current coverage click here. For background context,...
The Deadliest Ally | America in Pursuit
Forget guns and generals — the real victor of the Revolution had wings. This week on America in Pursuit the story of how a deadly swarm of mosquitoes...
Ken Burns and the American Revolution
Ramtin talks with filmmaker Ken Burns about the revolution that made the U.S., and the surprising lessons he thinks it holds for us today.
Your 15-Minute Guide to 250 Years | America in Pursuit
The anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is just around the corner. Wanna get up to speed on the past 250 years? Check out our new miniserie...
El Libertator (Venezuela update)
On January 3rd, the U.S. military apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the U.S. for trial to face federal drug trafficki...
Winter Book Club: Octavia Butler’s Visionary Fiction
Octavia Butler gave us a new kind of science fiction: not only as one of the first writers to use history to talk about the future, and not only as on...
Winter Book Club: Why You'll Love 'Dune'
As a kid, Ramtin fell in love with Frank Herbert's 1965 epic sci-fi novel, Dune. Today, he joins NPR's Books We’ve Loved crew, Andrew Limbong and B.A....
Winter Book Club: A Christmas Carol
Christmas wasn't always a national shopping spree — or even a day off work. But when Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol in 19th-century Londo...
Winter Book Club: The Story of Us?
What if the real story of human history is a story itself? To kick off our winter book club, we talk with bestselling author Tamim Ansary about his bo...
Pride, Prejudice, and Peer Pressure
Rund takes Ramtin on a tour of the enduring world of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice... and our two hosts make a bet.
Guests:
The Bitter History of Chocolate
What's better than holiday hot chocolate? If just thinking about it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, well – that’s by design. Chocolate's big histor...
The Mother of Thanksgiving
On today's show, a Thanksgiving story you might never have heard -- not about Pilgrims or Native people, but instead about a woman who, as civil war l...