Throughline
By 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
Episodes (4)
Throughline
Bayard Rustin and the March on Washington
The March on Washington in 1963 is often remembered as a singular moment of unity and hope, defined by Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech. But behind the scenes, it was the meticulous, visionary work of Bayard Rustin that made the event possible.
Throughline
The uncensored war
The Vietnam War wasn't just a military conflict—it became a defining moment in American journalism and democracy. For the first time, war was broadcast into living rooms with unfiltered images of suffering, destruction, and moral ambiguity. The war’s turning p
Throughline
The shifting line between free speech and a criminal threat
In 1966, 18-year-old Robert Watts made a heated, hyperbolic comment about shooting President Lyndon B. Johnson if drafted into Vietnam—laughed off by his peers but treated as a criminal threat by an Army investigator. His case, Watts v. United States, became a
Throughline
Captain America and the nation's conscience
Captain America, created in 1941 as a symbol of American power and moral clarity during World War II, faced an existential crisis after the war when the U.S. no longer had a clear enemy. For years, the character vanished from comics until Stan Lee revived him
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