Throughline

Historical narrative series exploring events that shaped the modern world AI summary

NPR Visit website › History · EN · 476 episodes · latest 2026-11-12

Rank 3775

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What it is about

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. Support public media by joining NPR+ at plus.npr.org. You’ll get perks for over 25 NPR podcasts, including sponsor-free listening for Throughline.

Publisher’s own description, taken unchanged from the podcast feed.
Copyright 2019-2026 NPR - For Personal Use Only

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Latest episodes

Origins of the Affordable Care Act

2026-11-12 · 29 min

Today on the show, we have a story about healthcare from our friends over at GBH News. Mitt and Ted, hosted by Ian Coss, tells the story of how Mitt Romney and Ted Kennedy began their political careers on very different…
How college football's deadliest year built the NCAA

2026-11-10 · 19 min

A listener emailed the Throughline team with a stunning factoid: Teddy Roosevelt helped create the NCAA to make college football safer. But is it true? What we find is weirder, grislier, and pettier than we…
Health Insurance in America

2026-11-05 · 53 min

Millions of Americans depend on their jobs for health insurance. But that's not the case in many other wealthy countries. How did the U.S. end up with a system that's so expensive, yet leaves so many people vulnerable?…
Remembering Noah Adams

2026-11-03 · 24 min

Today on the show, we honor the late Noah Adams, longtime NPR All Things Considered host. We bring you three of his stories about the complicated and messy parts of being human in an ever-changing world. Support public…
Shadows, war, and finding Moomin joy

2026-10-29 · 52 min

The Moomins have been a beloved children’s series around the world for decades. And now these bright, whimsical, and colorful Finnish characters are starting to gain steam in America. Today on Throughline, the story of…
The dramatic race to discover Insulin

2026-10-22 · 37 min

Looksmaxxing, weight loss, and muscle building have fueled a massive craze for injectable peptides. Some natural and some synthetic. These injectables have unleashed a multi-billion-dollar gray-market industry online…
Can the polygraph test really spot a lie?

2026-10-20 · 20 min

From dating shows to police interrogation rooms, the polygraph test has long been marketed as a way to detect deception. But can it really? And who decided we needed a truth machine in the first place? In this episode,…
Is the death penalty cruel and unusual?

2026-10-15 · 48 min

The Eighth Amendment. What is cruel and unusual punishment? Who gets to define and decide the amendment's boundaries? And how did the Constitution's authors imagine it might change? In this hour, the shifting definition…
Why does everything get a standing ovation now?

2026-10-13 · 16 min

Call it standing ovation inflation: these days, it feels like it's mandatory to stand and clap for live performances. Has our please clap era gone too far? That's what one Throughline listener wanted to know. So we…
Four Seasons of Ceasefire in Gaza

2026-10-08 · 43 min

NPR’s Anas Baba is one of the last remaining journalists in Gaza working full-time for an American news organization. A year into the ceasefire, more than 1400 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, nearly 5,000…

Episode details from the publisher’s feed. Playback happens at the publisher.

Publisher details

Oldest episode in feed: 01/2019 · over 7 years
Typical length: 45 min
Format: Episodic Newest first, episodes stand alone

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