Shows / Throughline
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 shaped our world. Throughline is hosted by Peabody Award-winning journalist Rund Abdelfatah.
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Episodes
Throughline3 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 moment…
ThroughlineEveryone 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 listen to Throughline…
ThroughlineIran 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. Between…
ThroughlineWe 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 how the…
ThroughlineWhy 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 in…
ThroughlineHow 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 was risking…
ThroughlineWho 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…
ThroughlineThe 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 created to…
ThroughlineHow 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: Carina Del Valle Schorske…
ThroughlineThe 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 rights…
ThroughlineThe 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 a state…
ThroughlineBecoming 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 episode…
ThroughlineJames 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 American…
ThroughlineSigned, 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 our…
ThroughlineIran 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…
ThroughlineThe 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 shaped…
ThroughlineKen 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. Guests: Ken Burns…
ThroughlineYour 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 miniseries…
ThroughlineEl Libertador (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 trafficking and…
ThroughlineWinter 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 one of the…
ThroughlineWinter 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. Parker…
ThroughlineWinter 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 London, the…
ThroughlineWinter 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 book, "The…
ThroughlinePride, 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: John Mullan, professor of…
ThroughlineThe 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 history sweeps…
ThroughlineThe 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 loomed…
ThroughlineWhat Happened to Vladimir Alexandrov?
Rund Abdelfatah and Cristina Kim try to unravel the mystery of a Soviet scientist who was helping to spread the word about nuclear winter theory—until he…
ThroughlineDemocracy Dies in a Day
How quickly can a government fall? Chile was once one of Latin America's oldest democracies, but that all changed in a matter of hours after a military coup on…
ThroughlineThe Creeping Coup
On the surface, the story of Sudan’s war is about two generals vying for power. But it’s also about a vast web of international interests involving the U.S…
ThroughlineWinter is Coming
Late last month, President Trump announced that the United States would be restarting nuclear weapons tests after a break of over 30 years. We’ve since learned…
ThroughlineProsecuting Genocide
The word "genocide" can seem like it’s everywhere right now: So it can be easy to forget that, fundamentally, it's a legal term that dates to World War II —…
ThroughlineThroughline Dances
Stuck in traffic? Glued to your desk chair? Folding yet another pile of your kids’ laundry? We GOT you!! Take a break, turn up the volume, and shake it out…
ThroughlineThe Internet Under the Sea
What powers the global internet? The answer might surprise you: not satellites, but hundreds of thin cables that run along the ocean floor. They’re an…
ThroughlineThe Rise of the Right Wing in Israel
Israel and Hamas have agreed to a plan to end fighting in Gaza, just over two years after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023 and Israel’s…
ThroughlineA History of Hamas
With peace talks once again underway between Israel and Hamas, and hopes again growing for a permanent ceasefire, we’re bringing you our episode on the origins…
ThroughlineFrom the Frontlines
Journalism is under unprecedented threat worldwide. At least 220 journalists have been killed in Gaza alone since the October 7th, 2023 Hamas-led attack on…
ThroughlineThroughline Sleeps
Life can be tough. Every day brings new challenges. And in order to get through the waking hours we need rest. Good quality sleep. In this bonus episode, a…
ThroughlineThe Anti-Vaccine Movement
The alleged link between vaccines and autism is back in the news this week, being regularly speculated on by both President Trump and Health and Human Services…
ThroughlineThe Business of 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…
ThroughlineLine. Fence. Wall.
The U.S. - Mexico border, according to a video on the official White House website, is very quiet: nothing but tires crunching on gravel and the wind whistling…
ThroughlineICE
What is ICE? What was it created to do? And what’s changed in 2025? Today on the show, the history of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and how it tracks the…
ThroughlineA History of Settlements
The Israeli government recently approved a new settlement project in the occupied West Bank that would effectively cut it in half. The plan is illegal under…
ThroughlineA Primer On The Federal Reserve's Independence
President Donald Trump has been loudly critical of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for years now. Since January, the President has accused him of playing…
ThroughlineThe Queen of Tupperware
Who ushered housewives into the workforce and plastic storage containers into America’s kitchens? Today on the show, the rise and fall of Brownie Wise, the…
ThroughlineWe the People: Succession of Power
The 25th amendment. A few years before JFK was shot, an idealistic young lawyer set out on a mission to convince people something essential was missing from…
ThroughlineWe the People: Cruel and Unusual Punishment
The Eighth Amendment. What is cruel and unusual punishment? Who gets to define and decide its boundaries? And how did the Constitution's authors imagine it…
ThroughlineWe the People: The Right to Remain Silent
The Fifth Amendment. You have the right to remain silent when you're being questioned in police custody, thanks to the Fifth's protection against…
ThroughlineEmbedded: The Network
In the mid-1980s, an OBGYN in Brazil noticed that far fewer pregnant women at his hospital were dying from abortion complications. It wasn't a coincidence…
- Throughline
We The People: Canary in the Coal Mine
The Third Amendment. Maybe you've heard it as part of a punchline. It's the one about quartering troops — two words you probably haven't heard side by side…
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Congress has voted to eliminate government funding for public media
Act now to ensure public media remains free and accessible to all. Your donation will help this essential American service survive and thrive. Visit…
ThroughlineEdward Said and the Question of Palestine
Edward Said brought the question of Palestine into the American mainstream. He taught at Columbia University for nearly 40 years, and today, more than two…
ThroughlineWhat Makes Us Free?
What's the role of government in society? What do we mean when we talk about individual responsibility? What makes us free? 'Neoliberalism' might feel like a…
ThroughlineDoes America Need a Hero?
Captain America: an all-American superhero. Clad in red, white, and blue, he carries only a shield. And he fights only when he must. When it's right. But what…
ThroughlineIran and the U.S., Part Three: Soleimani's Iran
The Iran-Iraq war, 9/11, and the story of Iranian Revolutionary Guard general Qassem Soleimani, from his rise to power, to his assassination, by the U.S., to…
ThroughlineIran and the U.S., Part Two: Rules of Engagement
Military confrontations, early-morning attacks, and digital warfare: the story of Iran and the U.S. from the 1979 Iranian revolution to the fraught moment…
ThroughlineWhat the Supreme Court Does in the Shadows
The Supreme Court is issuing its final decisions of the term this month. But it's been extraordinarily active since January, in part because the Trump…
ThroughlineIran and the U.S., Part One
The U.S. and Iran have had a tense relationship for decades — but when did that begin? This week, we feature our very first episode about an event from August…
ThroughlineAbortion Before Roe
Abortion wasn't always controversial. In fact, in colonial America it would have been considered a fairly common practice: a private decision made by women…
ThroughlineThe First Department of Education
Whose job is it to educate Americans? Congress created the first Department of Education just after the Civil War as a way to help reunify a broken country. A…
ThroughlineThe Woman Behind The New Deal
From Social Security and the minimum wage to exit signs and fire escapes, Frances Perkins transformed how people in the U.S. lived and worked. Today on the…