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Throughline

Throughline is a time machine. Each episode, we travel beyond the headlines to answer the question,

Episodes

Total: 322

American Socialist (2020)

2021/12/23

American workers are reaching a breaking point. We're seeing a wave of resignations and labor strike

The Monster of We

2021/12/16

Are most modern problems caused by selfishness or a lack of it? Ayn Rand, a Russian American philoso

History Is Over

2021/12/9

As the end of the 20th century approached, Radiohead took to the recording studio to capture the sou

The Arab Spring erupted eleven years ago when a wave of "pro-democracy" protests spread throughout t

Uncontrollable western wildfires and a hidden family history — two puzzles that can only be solved w

Is history always political? Who gets to decide? What happens when you challenge common narratives?

Aftermath (2020)

2021/11/11

In 1927, the most destructive river flood in U.S. history inundated seven states, displaced more tha

Rund and Ramtin speak to sci-fi writer and Princeton historian, Haris Durrani, about why the lore of

Drone Wars

2021/11/4

Unseen, they stalk their targets from thousands of feet in the air. Operators are piloting them from

The Dance of the Dead

2021/10/28

Halloween — the night of ghost stories and trick-or-treating — has religious origins that span over

The Stars (2020)

2021/10/21

Astrology has existed for thousands of years and has roots that span the globe. But is it a science

The Nostalgia Bone

2021/10/14

The global pandemic has spawned a different type of epidemic, one of an entirely different nature: a

In a sense, 1521 is Mexico's 1619. A foundational moment that has for a long time been shaped by jus

Bonus: Soul Train

2021/10/5

When Soul Train was first nationally syndicated in October 1971, there was nothing else like it on T

The Constitution is like America's secular bible, our sacred founding document. In her play, What th

Bonus: We're Not Broken

2021/9/28

This week we're featuring an episode from Life Kit that focuses on myths surrounding autism, how to

The Supreme Court (2020)

2021/9/23

When, why, and how did the Supreme Court get the final say in the law of the land? The question of t

How did a small group of Islamic students go from local vigilantes to one of the most infamous and e

Afghanistan has, for centuries, been at the center of the world. Long before the U.S. invasion - bef

What happens after everything falls apart? The end of the Bronze Age was a moment when an entire net