Frances Perkins Goes To Washington
May 19, 2026
This week, we explore the life of the first woman Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins, and how in the midst of the Great Depression she helped reshape the nation by fighting for minimum wage, Social…
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. 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 sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org/throughline
PodSkip has analyzed 7 episodes of Throughline, averaging 3.1 ads per episode (2% of runtime).
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War by remote control, how drones changed modern warfare
May 14, 2026
Drones are swarming battlefields in Ukraine, Iran, and beyond. Drone warfare is cheap, efficient, autonomous — and changing warfare forever. Today on the show, the past, present and future of battle…
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Four voices from the Great Depression
May 12, 2026
A glimpse into life during the Great Depression from the people that lived it. To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at…
How our memory of war can shape the future
May 07, 2026
All wars are fought twice: first on the battlefield, the second time in memory," writes Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen. This week on Throughline, we revisit our 2022 conversation…
The origins of the Socialist Party of America
May 05, 2026
Rapid industrialization reshaped American life in the mid-19th century. But as corporations grew larger and more powerful, working conditions for many everyday Americans worsened while wages stalled…
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Gladiators, real housewives and the pull of reality TV
Apr 30, 2026
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 and fact. And nowhere is that phenomenon more…
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The fight that shook America
Apr 28, 2026
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 boxing ring, he struck a blow to white supremacy. In…
The billionaires' utopia blueprint
Apr 23, 2026
Starbase. Prospera. California Forever. Mars. From private cities to interstellar colonies, tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel have backed experiments designed to operate beyond the…
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Why the wall was built
Apr 21, 2026
As the United States expanded into a global superpower, it simultaneously strengthened its national borders and began to limit who could come in and out of the country. In this week’s episode, the…
The original clickbait king
Apr 16, 2026
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-century newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst…
How the US became America
Apr 14, 2026
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 as a new global power —and with it, a new…
Will AI destroy us... or save us?
Apr 09, 2026
Like it or not, artificial intelligence is deeply rooted in our lives. Its invisible architecture stretches everywhere from dating apps to medical care. In this new world, what remains uniquely…
Who gets to be an American citizen?
Apr 07, 2026
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 Ark, a man born in San Francisco to Chinese…
Al Capone and the transformation of the IRS
Apr 02, 2026
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 powerful tools — and most effective weapons. This…
What the banana tells us about US history
Mar 31, 2026
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 who took business off US shores, expanding the…
How Saudi Arabia shaped Silicon Valley
Mar 25, 2026
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 people who have been friendly with, and often done…
The Ojibwe Nation
Mar 24, 2026
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: the story of how one Ojibwe leader tried to keep…
Why is Cuba in crisis?
Mar 19, 2026
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 Cuban crisis and what might come next. Guests: Eloy…
The confederates who left the USA
Mar 17, 2026
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: the Confederados , the American settlers who…
3 key moments that led to the U.S.-Iran war
Mar 12, 2026
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 we're in today. This episode originally ran…
Everyone should have a voice
Mar 10, 2026
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 sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+…
Iran and the Jewish people: An alliance before war
Mar 05, 2026
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 the creation of Israel in 1948 and…
We the People, Redefined
Mar 03, 2026
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 14th amendment was created, and the…
Why Super PACs have more power than ever in elections
Feb 26, 2026
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 elections as a threat to our democracy. So if…
How the Civil War changed how we vote
Feb 24, 2026
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 his own political future and forcing…
Who profits from migrant detention?
Feb 19, 2026
The U.S. immigration detention system is spread out across federal facilities, private prisons, state prisons, and county jails. It’s grown under both Democratic and Republican presidents. And it’s…
The lasting legacy of the slave patrols
Feb 17, 2026
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 control the movement of enslaved Black…
How Bad Bunny took Puerto Rican independence mainstream
Feb 12, 2026
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 , writer, translator and wannabe backup…
The right to free speech
Feb 10, 2026
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. In this episode, we explore how the…
The Man Who Took On The Klan
Feb 05, 2026
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 of war. Grant sent him Amos Akerman: a…