The Characters That Built China
26 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Today, China is a global superpower. But less than two hundred years ago, the nation was in a state ...
Before Roe: The Physicians' Crusade
19 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Abortion wasn't always controversial. In fact, in colonial America it would have been considered a f...
Bonus: The Forgotten Mothers of Civil Rights History
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
MLK Jr., Malcolm X and James Baldwin are household names, but what about their mothers? This hour, a...
The Shadows of the Constitution (2020)
12 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Constitution is like America's secular Bible, our sacred founding document. As the Supreme Court...
Cinco de Mayo and the Rise of Modern Mexico
05 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Does history have a border? That is the question at the heart of Cinco de Mayo, May 5th, a holiday t...
The New Gilded Age
28 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Philanthropic foundations are a fundamental part of our society: they support media, the arts, educa...
Force of Nature (2021)
21 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rivers on fire, acid rain falling from the sky, species going extinct, oil spills, polluted air, and...
The Everlasting Problem (2020)
14 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Health insurance for millions of Americans is dependent on their jobs. But it's not like that everyw...
Capitalism: What Makes Us Free? (2021)
07 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What's the role of government in society? What do we mean when we talk about individual responsibili...
The Land of the Fee (2021)
31 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tipping is a norm in the United States—and it's always been controversial. The practice took off a...
All Wars Are Fought Twice
24 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory," writes Pu...
Our Own People (2021)
17 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A Japanese American activist whose early political awakenings came while incarcerated in the concent...
Ukraine's Dangerous Independence
10 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Months before Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, he published an ess...
Of Rats and Men
03 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Rats. Love 'em or hate 'em, (though you probably hate 'em), they're part of our world. And during th...
There Are No Utopias
24 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It may seem bleak, but Robin D.G Kelley's view of the world says there is no promise of liberation, ...
Marcus Garvey: Pan-Africanist (2021)
17 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Black people deserve nothing less than everything: This was Marcus Garvey's simple, uncompromising m...
Pirates of the Senate
10 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The fight over the filibuster brings up some deeper questions that we as a country are facing. How d...
A Story Of Us?
03 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We've been seeing a lot of debate recently about how history should be taught. For example, some bel...
Russia's Longest Leader: Vladimir Putin (2019)
27 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalate, we decided to take a look at the man who has been r...
Throughline Sleeps
25 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Life can be tough. Every day brings new challenges. And in order to get through the waking hours we ...
The Way We Dream
20 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our dreams can haunt us: literally. Recurring dreams about failing tests or running late are a commo...
Bayard Rustin: The Man Behind the March on Washington (2021)
13 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Bayard Rustin, the man behind the March on Washington, was one of the most consequential architects ...
The Anatomy of Autocracy: Timothy Snyder (2021)
06 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When a mob of pro-Trump supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 they also i...
The Electrical Grid (2020)
30 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today, electricity in the U.S. is a utility we notice only when it's suddenly unavailable. But over ...
Bonus: On Our Watch
28 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What happens to police officers who use excessive force, tamper with evidence or sexually harass som...
American Socialist (2020)
23 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
American workers are reaching a breaking point. We're seeing a wave of resignations and labor strike...
The Monster of We
16 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Are most modern problems caused by selfishness or a lack of it? Ayn Rand, a Russian American philoso...
History Is Over
09 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As the end of the 20th century approached, Radiohead took to the recording studio to capture the sou...
A Symphony of Resistance (2021)
02 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Arab Spring erupted eleven years ago when a wave of "pro-democracy" protests spread throughout t...
Fighting Fires and Family Secrets
25 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Uncontrollable western wildfires and a hidden family history — two puzzles that can only be solved...
Nikole Hannah-Jones and the Country We Have
18 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Is history always political? Who gets to decide? What happens when you challenge common narratives? ...
Aftermath (2020)
11 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 1927, the most destructive river flood in U.S. history inundated seven states, displaced more tha...
Bonus: The Deep History of Dune
09 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rund and Ramtin speak to sci-fi writer and Princeton historian, Haris Durrani, about why the lore of...
Drone Wars
04 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Unseen, they stalk their targets from thousands of feet in the air. Operators are piloting them from...
The Dance of the Dead
28 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Halloween — the night of ghost stories and trick-or-treating — has religious origins that span o...
The Stars (2020)
21 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Astrology has existed for thousands of years and has roots that span the globe. But is it a science ...
The Nostalgia Bone
14 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The global pandemic has spawned a different type of epidemic, one of an entirely different nature: a...
Tenochtitlan: A Retelling of The Conquest
07 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In a sense, 1521 is Mexico's 1619. A foundational moment that has for a long time been shaped by jus...
Bonus: Soul Train
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When Soul Train was first nationally syndicated in October 1971, there was nothing else like it on T...
The Shadows of the Constitution (2020)
30 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Constitution is like America's secular bible, our sacred founding document. In her play, What th...
Bonus: We're Not Broken
28 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week we're featuring an episode from Life Kit that focuses on myths surrounding autism, how to ...
The Supreme Court (2020)
23 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When, why, and how did the Supreme Court get the final say in the law of the land? The question of t...
Afghanistan: The Rise of the Taliban
16 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How did a small group of Islamic students go from local vigilantes to one of the most infamous and e...
Afghanistan: The Center of the World
09 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Afghanistan has, for centuries, been at the center of the world. Long before the U.S. invasion - bef...
The Aftermath of Collapse: Bronze Age Edition (2021)
02 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What happens after everything falls apart? The end of the Bronze Age was a moment when an entire net...
Octavia Butler: Visionary Fiction (2021)
26 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Octavia Butler's alternate realities and 'speculative fiction' reveal striking, and often devastatin...
El Libertador and Venezuela's Rise and Fall (2019)
19 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Venezuela is facing an economic and humanitarian crisis as extreme poverty and violence have forced ...
Lives of the Great Depression (2020)
12 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Great Depression was a revolutionary spark for all kinds of things — health insurance, social ...
Stories of How We Cope With Chaos (2021)
05 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You've been looking at screens for what feels like forever. Now it's time to sit back, close your ey...
Grenada: Nobody's Backyard
29 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A Marxist revolution, a Cold War proxy battle, and a dream of a Black utopia. In 1983, Ronald Reagan...
Olympics: Behind The Five Rings
22 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Olympics originated in Ancient Greece, and were resurrected in the 1890's after a 1,500 year ban...
Home/Front: Marla's War
20 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What do we owe innocent civilians who are killed or injured in war? This is one of the thorniest eth...
The Most Sacred Right (2020)
15 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Frederick Douglass dreamed of a country where all people could vote and he did everything in his pow...
Bonus: Do The Golden Arches Bend Toward Justice?
12 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week we're featuring an episode from Code Switch, Do The Golden Arches Bend Toward Justice?. Ca...
Capitalism: God Wants You To Be Rich
08 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the New Testament, Jesus says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for...
Capitalism: What Makes Us Free?
01 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What's the role of government in society? What do we mean when we talk about individual responsibili...
Bonus: The Vanishing of Harry Pace
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week we're featuring an episode from Radiolab's latest new series, The Vanishing of Harry Pace....
Capitalism: What Is It?
24 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What do we mean when we talk about capitalism? Our economic system might seem inevitable, but it's a...
Before Stonewall (2019)
17 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 1969, a gay bar in New York City called The Stonewall Inn was raided by police. It was a common f...
Who is NPR (For)?
10 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Who is the media meant to serve? And why does it matter today, arguably, more than ever? 50 years ag...
The Supreme Court
03 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When, why, and how did the Supreme Court get the final say in the law of the land? The question of t...
Palestine
28 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The recent violence that engulfed Gaza and Jerusalem began with an issue that's plagued the region f...
A Symphony of Resistance
20 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Arab Spring erupted ten years ago when a wave of "pro-democracy" protests spread throughout the ...
Five Fingers Crush The Land
13 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Over one million Uyghur people have been detained in camps in China, according to estimates, subject...
Operation Nemesis
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An estimated 1.5 million Armenian Christians were killed by the Ottoman government during World War ...
James Baldwin's Shadow
29 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
James Baldwin believed that America has been lying to itself since its founding. He wrote, spoke, an...
Force of Nature
22 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rivers on fire, acid rain falling from the sky, species going extinct, oil spills, polluted air, and...
The Real Black Panthers
15 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Black Panther Party's battles for social justice and economic equality are the centerpiece of th...
Policing in America
08 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Black Americans being victimized and killed by the police is an epidemic. As the trial of Derek Chau...
Our Own People
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"Build bridges, not walls." Solidarity was at the heart of Yuri Kochiyama's work. A Japanese-America...
The Land of the Fee
25 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tipping is a norm in the U.S. But it hasn't always been this way. A legacy of slavery and racism, ti...
Chaos
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when teenagers are shipwrecked on a deserted island? Can you find the fingerprint of Go...
N95
11 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The N95 respirator has become one of the most coveted items in the world during the pandemic, especi...
Levittown: Where the Good Life Begins
04 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode from WNYC's La Brega, Alana Casanova-Burgess traces back the story of the boom and b...
Bayard Rustin: The Man Behind the March on Washington
25 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Bayard Rustin, the man behind the March on Washington, was one of the most consequential architects ...
Octavia Butler: Visionary Fiction
18 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Octavia Butler's alternate realities and 'speculative fiction' reveal striking, and often devastatin...
Marcus Garvey: Pan-Africanist
11 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Decades before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey attracted millions with a sim...
The Lasting Power Of Whitney Houston's National Anthem
07 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Why does Whitney Houston's 1991 Super Bowl national anthem still resonate 30 years later? Listen to ...
What Happened After Civilization Collapsed
04 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What happens after everything falls apart? The end of the Bronze Age was a moment when an entire net...
The Anatomy Of Autocracy: Masha Gessen
28 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Russian-born journalist Masha Gessen talks to us about how the rule of the people becomes the rule o...
The Anatomy of Autocracy: Timothy Snyder
21 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When a mob of pro-Trump supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, they also incite...
Impeachment
14 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When Andrew Johnson became president in 1865, the United States was in the midst of one of its most ...
Outside/In: Everybody Knows Somebody
07 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the mid-1980's a woman who didn't consider herself a feminist was asked to solve perhaps the bigg...
Outside/In: War of the Worlds
31 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Sunni-Shia divide is a conflict that most people have heard about - two sects with Sunni Islam b...
Outside/In: The Dark Side Of The Moon
24 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
50 years ago the world watched as man first landed on the moon, an incredible accomplishment by the ...
Outside/In: Rules of Engagement
17 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The US and Iran have been in some state of conflict for the last 40 years, since the Iranian revolut...
Supreme
10 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When, why, and how did the Supreme Court get the final say in the law of the land? The question of t...
The Modern White Power Movement
03 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It has been nearly twenty years since 9/11 and during that time much of the media coverage and gover...
The Spotted Owl
26 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The story of how the Endangered Species Act went from unanimous passage under a Republican president...
The Invention of Race
19 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The idea that race is a social construct comes from the pioneering work of anthropologist Franz Boas...
BONUS: Louder Than A Riot
16 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This week we're bringing you something extra, an episode from the NPR Music series, Louder Than A Ri...
The Shadows of the Constitution
12 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Constitution is like America's secular bible, our sacred founding document. In her play, What th...
Bush v. Gore and Why It Matters in 2020
05 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the 2000 presidential election, results weren't known in one night, a week, or even a month. This...
The Most Sacred Right
29 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Frederick Douglass dreamed of a country where all people could vote and he did everything in his pow...
How We Vote
22 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Drunken brawls, coercion, and lace curtains. Believe it or not, how regular people vote was not some...
The Electoral College
15 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What is it, why do we have it, and why hasn't it changed? Born from a rushed, fraught, imperfect pr...
(mis)Representative Democracy, A New Series From Throughline
08 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
America has never been a country of one person, one vote. And that's by design. Our system was built...
The United States vs. Billie Holiday
08 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Billie Holiday helped shape American popular music with her voice and unique style. But, one song in...
The Everlasting Problem
01 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Health insurance for millions of Americans is dependent on their jobs. But it's not like that everyw...
The Evangelical Vote
24 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the president is hoping to fill the seat with a more ideologi...