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
Episodes
Mentioned books
49 snips
Mar 26, 2026 • 50min
How Saudi Arabia shaped Silicon Valley
A look at how Saudi wealth and political maneuvers funneled billions into Silicon Valley. They trace power plays from the Ritz-Carlton detentions to Vision 2030 and the Public Investment Fund. Conversations cover high-profile tech leaders, alleged espionage inside social platforms, the Khashoggi killing, and how AI and surveillance reshape global influence.
32 snips
Mar 24, 2026 • 17min
The Ojibwe Nation
Anya Steinberg, a producer who shaped the storytelling, and Sequoia Carrillo, an NPR reporter with on-the-ground historical reporting, guide listeners through the Ojibwe migration to the Great Lakes. They explore the rise of Hole in the Day, pressures to centralize leadership, treaty tactics, reservation promises, and the fallout after his assassination. Short, compelling scenes trace cultural change and political strategy.
26 snips
Mar 19, 2026 • 48min
Why is Cuba in crisis?
Maria De Los Angeles Torres, a UIC scholar of U.S.-Cuba relations; Lillian Guerra, a UF historian of the revolution; and Eloy Viera, a Cuban lawyer-journalist who reported from Cienfuegos. They trace shortages, blackouts, remittances and tourism, the legacy of the revolution and Soviet ties, the impact of U.S. policy shifts, and recent protests and crackdowns.
41 snips
Mar 17, 2026 • 17min
The confederates who left the USA
A deep dive into why some defeated Southerners emigrated to Brazil after the Civil War. Listeners hear about imperial incentives, travel promoters, and settlers' expectations. The story follows ordinary farmers adapting to tropical conditions, racial differences in Brazil, and how communities preserved Southern culture while gradually assimilating. The episode ends with reflections on memory and modern celebrations of Confederate heritage.
74 snips
Mar 12, 2026 • 48min
3 key moments that led to the U.S.-Iran war
Michael Eisenstadt, director of the Washington Institute's military and security studies program, explains decades of U.S.-Iran confrontations. He traces naval clashes and tanker attacks, recounts the downing of Iran Air Flight 655, and outlines Iran's rise of proxy warfare and asymmetric tactics. The conversation also touches on the emergence of cyber operations like Stuxnet and how digital conflict changed the stakes.
29 snips
Mar 10, 2026 • 22min
Everyone should have a voice
David Blight, Yale historian and biographer of Frederick Douglass, joins to unpack Douglass’s fight for universal suffrage. He explores Douglass’s natural-rights framing of voting. They trace Radical Republican support, Reconstruction’s promise, violent backlash from the Klan, the 15th Amendment, and the long reversal under Jim Crow.
85 snips
Mar 5, 2026 • 52min
Iran and the Jewish people: An alliance before war
Shahrzad Elghanayan, granddaughter of Habib Elghanayan, recounts her grandfather’s rise from Tehran’s Jewish ghetto to industrial titan. Roya Hakakian, Iranian-American writer, traces centuries of Iranian Jewish life and shifting loyalties. They explore Iran‑Israel cooperation before 1979, Habib’s Plasco empire and execution, and how revolution reshaped Jewish life and regional alliances.
29 snips
Mar 3, 2026 • 19min
We the People, Redefined
A narrative about how the 14th Amendment was crafted after the Civil War and why birthright citizenship mattered. It traces political fights over Reconstruction, federal power, and the rollback of protections. The story highlights Black Codes, postwar violence, and the role of newly enfranchised Black voters in reshaping the nation.
17 snips
Feb 26, 2026 • 50min
Why Super PACs have more power than ever in elections
Henrik Schatzinger, political science professor studying how outside money reshapes local races. Michael Kang, law professor who analyzes Supreme Court campaign finance rulings. They trace Citizens United and SpeechNow, show how super PACs and dark-money tactics exploded after 2010, and explain why unlimited outside spending is now especially potent in local and state contests.
41 snips
Feb 24, 2026 • 16min
How the Civil War changed how we vote
Richard Carwardine, Oxford historian of Lincoln and the Civil War, explains how the 1864 presidential contest reshaped American voting. Short scenes cover Lincoln's risky Emancipation Proclamation, battlefield politics, soldiers and Black troops pushing the vote, wartime absentee and proxy voting innovations, and fierce fraud and turnout battles that decided the result.
