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 journalists Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei.Subscribe to Throughline+. You'll be supporting the history-reframing, perspective-shifting, time-warping stories you can't get enough of - and you'll unlock access bonus episodes and sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org/throughline
405 episodes transcribedAll wars are fought twice: first on the battlefield, the second time in memory," writes Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen. This week on...
Rapid industrialization reshaped American life in the mid-19th century. But as corporations grew larger and more powerful, working conditions for many...
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...
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...
Starbase. Prospera. California Forever. Mars. From private cities to interstellar colonies, tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel have back...
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...
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...
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...
Like it or not, artificial intelligence is deeply rooted in our lives. Its invisible architecture stretches everywhere from dating apps to medical car...
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...
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 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...
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...
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...
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...
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:...
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...
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 Throu...
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...
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...
