Throughline

NPR
Throughline
Latest episode

413 episodes

  • Throughline

    The confederates who left the USA

    2026/03/17 | 17 mins.
    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 fled to Brazil chasing wealth, land, and a chance to keep slavery alive.

    To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/throughline.

    To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:

    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
  • Throughline

    3 key moments that led to the U.S.-Iran war

    2026/03/12 | 48 mins.
    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 in 2019 as Rules of Engagement. You can find more of Throughline's coverage into the origins of the conflict in the Middle East here.

    Guests:
    Karim Sadjadpour, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

    Michael Eisenstadt, director of the Washington Institute's military and security studies program

    Kim Zetter, writer for WIRED magazine and author of Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon

    To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/throughline.

    To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:

    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
  • Throughline

    Everyone should have a voice

    2026/03/10 | 22 mins.
    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+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/throughline.

    To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:

    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
  • Throughline

    Iran and the Jewish people: An alliance before war

    2026/03/05 | 51 mins.
    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 Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, the countries cooperated, if cautiously. And the bridge between them was one of the largest and oldest Jewish populations in the Middle East: a thriving community of Iranian Jews. 

    Today on the show, the story of Iran and Israel, told through the life of Jewish Iranian Habib Elghanian.

    Guests:
    Roya Hakakian, author of Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran

    Shahrzad Elghanayan, author of Titan of Tehran: From Jewish Ghetto to Corporate Colossus to Firing Squad - My Grandfather's Life

    Meir Javedanfar, Israeli-Iranian political scientist and teacher at Reichman University
    To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/throughline.

    To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:

    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy
  • Throughline

    We the People, Redefined

    2026/03/03 | 18 mins.
    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 intention behind equal protection for all.

    To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/throughline.

    To manage podcast ad preferences, review the links below:

    See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

    Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    NPR Privacy Policy

More Documentary podcasts

About Throughline

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
Podcast website

Listen to Throughline, World of Secrets and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app

Get the free radio.net app

  • Stations and podcasts to bookmark
  • Stream via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
  • Supports Carplay & Android Auto
  • Many other app features

Throughline: Podcasts in Family