Throughline podcast

Throughline

·

  NPR  

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

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

 

#333

Ralph Nader, Consumer Crusader (Throwback)

Whether it's pesticides in your cereal or the door plug flying off your airplane, consumers today have plenty of reasons to feel like corporations might not have their best interests at heart. At a moment when the number of product recalls is high and trust in the government is low, we're going to revisit a time when a generation of people felt empowered to demand accountability from both companies and elected leaders — and got results. Today on the show, the story of the U.S. consumer movement and its controversial leader: the once famous, now infamous Ralph Nader.To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at [plus.npr.org/throughline] (http://plus.npr.org/throughline) .Learn more about sponsor message choices: [podcastchoices.com/adchoices] (https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices) [NPR Privacy Policy] (https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy) ... Read more

16 Jan 2025

46 MINS

46:39

16 Jan 2025


#332

History of the Self: Dreams

Our dreams can haunt us. But what are we to make of them? From omens and art to modern science, we tell the story of dreams and the surprising role they may play in our lives. (Originally ran as The Way We Dream)To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at [plus.npr.org/throughline] (http://plus.npr.org/throughline) .Learn more about sponsor message choices: [podcastchoices.com/adchoices] (https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices) [NPR Privacy Policy] (https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy) ... Read more

09 Jan 2025

49 MINS

49:40

09 Jan 2025


#331

History of the Self: Aging

Defeating old age? In 1899, Elie Metchnikoff woke up in Paris to learn he had done just that. At least, that's what the newspaper headlines said. Before long he was inundated with mail from people begging him to help them live forever. The only problem? He didn't know how to do it. At the time, Metchnikoff was one of the world's most famous scientists. And he believed aging was a disease he could cure. He dedicated his life to that quest, spending his days interviewing centenarians, pulling gray hair out of colleagues and old dogs, and boiling strawberries — all in the pursuit of eternal youth. If you've ever had yogurt for breakfast, you likely have Metchnikoff to thank. (This episode first ran as [The Man Who Cured Aging] (https://www.npr.org/2024/01/25/1198908457/the-man-who-cured-aging) )Learn more about sponsor message choices: [podcastchoices.com/adchoices] (https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices) [NPR Privacy Policy] (https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy) ... Read more

02 Jan 2025

49 MINS

49:39

02 Jan 2025


#330

History of the Self: Love

How did love – this thing that's supposed to be beautiful, magical, transformative – turn into a neverending slog? We went searching for answers, and we found them in surprising places. On today's show: a time-hopping, philosophical journey into the origins of modern love. (This episode first ran as Love, Throughline)To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/throughline.Learn more about sponsor message choices: [podcastchoices.com/adchoices] (https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices) [NPR Privacy Policy] (https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy) ... Read more

26 Dec 2024

53 MINS

53:07

26 Dec 2024


#329

Embedded: The Black Gate

In the Xinjiang region of western China, the government has rounded up and detained hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups. Many haven't been heard from in years, and more still are desperately searching for their families. Western governments have called this crackdown a cultural genocide and a possible crime against humanity.In this episode, the first of a three-part series from Embedded, NPR correspondent Emily Feng tells the story of one of those people. For years, a Uyghur man named Abdullatif Kucar had no idea what has happened to his wife and young children after they were detained by Chinese authorities. Emilly follows Kucar as he desperately searches for his family.But this story is bigger than one family. In this series, Emily also travels across Asia and dives into decades of history to uncover the massive Chinese surveillance of Uyghurs, getting exclusive interviews with the people suffering from that surveillance and the people upholding it – who sometimes are one and the same.This episode was originally published in 2022. To hear the whole series, head to https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510311/embedded.Learn more about sponsor message choices: [podcastchoices.com/adchoices] (https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices) [NPR Privacy Policy] (https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy) ... Read more

24 Dec 2024

27 MINS

27:38

24 Dec 2024


#328

History of the Self: Smell and Memory

"History" can seem big and imposing. But it's always intensely personal – it's all of our individual experiences that add up to historical events. Over the next few episodes, we're exploring the personal and how it's changed history: from the story of romantic love, to the man who tried to cure aging, to the contents of our dreams...First up, memory and our sense of smell. What if we told you that the key to time travel has been right in front of our eyes this whole time? Well, it has: it's in our noses. Today on the show, the science — and politics — of smell, and how it links our past and our present. (Originally ran as The Scent of History)To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/throughline.Learn more about sponsor message choices: [podcastchoices.com/adchoices] (https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices) [NPR Privacy Policy] (https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy) ... Read more

19 Dec 2024

51 MINS

51:13

19 Dec 2024


#327

Going to the Source of L.A.'s Water

Throughline associate producer Anya Steinberg talks to supervising senior editor Julie Caine about her reporting trip to Owens Valley in northeastern California for the episode, ["Water in the West,"] (https://n.pr/3CjfOK3) about the creation of—and controversy over—the Los Angeles aqueduct.This normally would be a bonus episode just for Throughline+ listeners. With this being the season of giving, we're sharing this one with everyone! To access all of Throughline's bonus episodes, listen to every episode sponsor-free, and support public radio, sign up for Throughline+ at plus.npr.org/throughlineLearn more about sponsor message choices: [podcastchoices.com/adchoices] (https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices) [NPR Privacy Policy] (https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy) ... Read more

16 Dec 2024

26 MINS

26:39

16 Dec 2024


#326

When Christmas Went Viral

Christmas wasn't always a national shopping spree — or even a day off work. But in 19th-century London, it went viral. When Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol, the book's tale of miserly Scrooge and the ghosts that transformed him transformed the holiday too, especially in the U.S.Learn more about sponsor message choices: [podcastchoices.com/adchoices] (https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices) [NPR Privacy Policy] (https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy) ... Read more

12 Dec 2024

49 MINS

49:55

12 Dec 2024


#325

Seeking Asylum in the U.S.

The U.S. has long professed to be a country where people can seek refuge. That's the promise etched into the base of the Statue of Liberty. But it's never been that clear-cut.Today on the show, the story of how the U.S. asylum system was forged in response to moments of crisis, and where it left gaps: from Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust, to Cuban and Haitian asylum seekers during the Cold War, to the precarious system of today.To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at [plus.npr.org/throughline] (http://plus.npr.org/throughline) .Learn more about sponsor message choices: [podcastchoices.com/adchoices] (https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices) [NPR Privacy Policy] (https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy) ... Read more

05 Dec 2024

52 MINS

52:40

05 Dec 2024


#324

The Lord Of Misrule (Throwback)

By the time his book went to press in London, on November 18, 1633, Thomas Morton had been exiled from the Puritan colonies in Massachusetts. His crimes: drinking, carousing, and — crucially — building social and economic ties with Native people. His book outlined a vision for what America could become. A very different vision than that of the Puritans.But the book wouldn't be published that day. It wouldn't be published for years. Because agents for the Puritan colonists stormed the press and destroyed every copy.Today on the show, the story of what's widely considered America's first banned book, the radical vision it conjured, and the man who outlined that vision: Thomas Morton, the Lord of Misrule.To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at [plus.npr.org/throughline] (http://plus.npr.org/throughline) .Learn more about sponsor message choices: [podcastchoices.com/adchoices] (https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices) [NPR Privacy Policy] (https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy) ... Read more

28 Nov 2024

49 MINS

49:24

28 Nov 2024


#323

The Mother of Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving story most of us hear is about friendship and unity. And that's what Sarah Josepha Hale had on her mind when she sat down to write a letter to President Lincoln in 1863, deep into the Civil War. Hale had already spent years campaigning for a national day of thanksgiving, using her platform as editor of one the country's most widely-read magazines and writing elected officials to argue that Americans urgently needed a national story. But she'd gotten nowhere – until now.Five days after reading her letter, Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday. At the time, no one was talking about Pilgrims and Native Americans. But that too would change.Today on the show: a Thanksgiving story you may not have heard, how it happened, and what it leaves out.Learn more about sponsor message choices: [podcastchoices.com/adchoices] (https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices) [NPR Privacy Policy] (https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy) ... Read more

21 Nov 2024

50 MINS

50:26

21 Nov 2024


#322

Behind the Scenes of Throughline

Today on the show, we're taking you behind the scenes. We'll tell you how Throughline was born, some of what goes into making our episodes, and a little bit about how we make our special sauce — the Throughline rizz, as the kids say.If you want more of these behind-the-scenes conversations become a Throughline+ subscriber. You can find out more at plus.npr.org/throughline.Learn more about sponsor message choices: [podcastchoices.com/adchoices] (https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices) [NPR Privacy Policy] (https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy) ... Read more

14 Nov 2024

51 MINS

51:26

14 Nov 2024


#321

The Electoral College (Throwback)

What is it, why do we have it, and why hasn't it changed? Born from a rushed, fraught, imperfect process, the origins and evolution of the Electoral College might surprise you and make you think differently about not only this upcoming presidential election, but our democracy as a whole.Learn more about sponsor message choices: [podcastchoices.com/adchoices] (https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices) [NPR Privacy Policy] (https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy) ... Read more

07 Nov 2024

47 MINS

47:05

07 Nov 2024