Throughline
NPR
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
- 47 minutes 20 secondsIran Protests ExplainedIran has been here before. For decades the country has gone through cycles of protest and repression at the hands of the Islamic Republic. What makes this cycle different?
In this episode of Throughline from NPR, we speak to two Iranian experts about their view of the past, present, and future of Iran’s protest movement.
Guests:
Ali Alfoneh, senior fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington DC
Holly Dagres, senior fellow at the Washington Institute and curator of the Iranist on Substack.
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NPR Privacy Policy22 January 2026, 5:05 am - 10 minutes 24 secondsThe Deadliest Ally | America in Pursuit
Forget guns and generals — the real victor of the Revolution had wings. This week on America in Pursuit the story of how a deadly swarm of mosquitoes shaped the American Revolution and changed the course of history.
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NPR Privacy Policy20 January 2026, 8:05 am - 50 minutes 19 secondsKen Burns and the American RevolutionRamtin talks with filmmaker Ken Burns about the revolution that made the U.S., and the surprising lessons he thinks it holds for us today.
Guests:
Ken Burns, documentary filmmaker.
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NPR Privacy Policy15 January 2026, 8:05 am - 15 minutes 2 secondsYour 15-Minute Guide to 250 Years | America in Pursuit
The anniversary of the Declaration of Independence is just around the corner. Wanna get up to speed on the past 250 years? Check out our new miniseries, "America in Pursuit." Every Tuesday from now until July 4th, we'll feature a special moment from the last two centuries of U.S. history, from the American Revolution to the AI Revolution. First up, what does U.S. history really mean?To access bonus episodes and listen to Throughline sponsor-free, subscribe to Throughline+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/throughline.
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NPR Privacy Policy13 January 2026, 8:05 am - 54 minutes 16 secondsEl Libertador (Venezuela update)On January 3rd, the U.S. military apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and brought him to the U.S. for trial to face federal drug trafficking and weapons charges. Today, we’re bringing you an episode from our archive: the story of two leaders in Venezuela, separated by nearly two centuries, who shaped the country into what it is today. This episode originally ran in 2019 and has been updated.
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NPR Privacy Policy8 January 2026, 8:05 am - 1 hour 3 minutesWinter Book Club: Octavia Butler’s Visionary FictionOctavia Butler gave us a new kind of science fiction: not only as one of the first writers to use history to talk about the future, and not only as one of the first Black women to do it, but by sending, along with her warnings, a message of hope, survival, persistence, and repair.
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NPR Privacy Policy1 January 2026, 8:10 am - 31 minutes 20 secondsWinter Book Club: Why You'll Love 'Dune'As a kid, Ramtin fell in love with Frank Herbert's 1965 epic sci-fi novel, Dune. Today, he joins NPR's Books We’ve Loved crew, Andrew Limbong and B.A. Parker, to make the case for why he thinks you'll love it too.
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NPR Privacy Policy30 December 2025, 8:10 am - 49 minutes 20 secondsWinter Book Club: A Christmas CarolChristmas wasn't always a national shopping spree — or even a day off work. But when Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol in 19th-century London, the holiday went viral.
Guests:Leon Litvack, professor of Victorian Studies at Queen's University in Belfast and editor of the Charles Dickens Letters project.
Lucinda Dickens Hawksley, author and historian of Victorian England.
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NPR Privacy Policy25 December 2025, 8:10 am - 44 minutes 59 secondsWinter Book Club: The Story of Us?What if the real story of human history is a story itself? To kick off our winter book club, we talk with bestselling author Tamim Ansary about his book, "The Invention of Yesterday: A 50,000-Year History Of Human Culture, Conflict And Connection," about why the future of our species might depend on our ability to arrive at a story we all share. This episode originally ran in 2022.
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NPR Privacy Policy18 December 2025, 8:05 am - 52 minutes 54 secondsPride, Prejudice, and Peer PressureRund takes Ramtin on a tour of the enduring world of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice... and our two hosts make a bet.
Guests:
John Mullan, professor of English Literature at University College London and author of What Matters in Jane Austen
Devoney Looser, professor of English at Arizona State University and author of Wild for Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive and Untamed Jane
Lizzie Dunford, director of Jane Austen's House
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NPR Privacy Policy11 December 2025, 8:05 am - 52 minutes 15 secondsThe Bitter History of ChocolateWhat's better than holiday hot chocolate? If just thinking about it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, well – that’s by design. Chocolate's big history sweeps across the globe, and today we’re going on that journey: from the pre–Columbus Americas, to an early 20th century reporter’s hunch about what cocoa production really takes, to a 21st century medical student’s story about his childhood on a farm that produces those holiday treats.
Guests:
Carla Martin, lecturer in African and African American Studies at Harvard University and President of the Board of the Institute for Cacao and Chocolate Research
Catherine Higgs, professor of history at the University of British Columbia in Canada
Shadrack Frimpong, founder of Cocoa360
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