Throughline

NPR 484 - The lightbulb conspiracy is both real and everywhere

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.

00:00

Epizode

30 srp 2026

28 srp 2026

23 srp 2026

21 srp 2026

19 srp 2026

16 srp 2026

14 srp 2026

09 srp 2026

07 srp 2026

02 srp 2026

30 lip 2026

25 lip 2026

23 lip 2026

18 lip 2026

16 lip 2026

11 lip 2026

09 lip 2026

04 lip 2026

02 lip 2026

28 svibanj 2026

26 svibanj 2026

21 svibanj 2026

19 svibanj 2026

14 svibanj 2026

12 svibanj 2026

07 svibanj 2026

05 svibanj 2026

30 tra 2026

28 tra 2026

23 tra 2026

21 tra 2026

16 tra 2026

14 tra 2026

09 tra 2026

29 lip 2025

28 lip 2025

07 tra 2026

02 tra 2026

31 ožu 2026

03 tra 2025

23 stu 2023

15 lip 2023

15 ruj 2022

10 velj 2022

13 sij 2022

28 lis 2021

29 lip 2021

28 svibanj 2021

13 svibanj 2021

25 ožu 2021

Throughline

Epizode

The lightbulb conspiracy is both real and everywhere

The license to be funny in America

The architect of modern China

The Chinafication of Walmart

Listen to "We Keep Us Safe" on NPR's Embedded podcast

Route 66 and the quest to connect America

How wheelchairs, a river, and a spaceship challenged the status quo

The ongoing battle over asylum in America

American history through song

The story of July 4th is messier than you remember

The genius and murkiness of the Constitution

From Hormuz to Suez: the chokepoints of global power

Prosperity gospel and the American dream

How the Supreme Court claimed supreme power

Captain America and the nation's conscience

The shifting line between free speech and a criminal threat

The uncensored war

The World Cup was supposed to bring world peace

Bayard Rustin and the March on Washington

History's playbook for taming the beast of inflation

Yuri Kochiyamas’s lifetime of activism

Prediction markets are making a 150-year comeback

Frances Perkins Goes To Washington

War by remote control, how drones changed modern warfare

Four voices from the Great Depression

How our memory of war can shape the future

The origins of the Socialist Party of America

Gladiators, real housewives and the pull of reality TV

The fight that shook America

The billionaires' utopia blueprint

Why the wall was built

The original clickbait king

How the US became America

Will AI destroy us... or save us?

Iran and the U.S., Part Three: Soleimani's Iran

Iran and the U.S., Part Two: Rules of Engagement

Who gets to be an American citizen?

Al Capone and the transformation of the IRS

What the banana tells us about US history

Get Rich Quick: The American Lottery

How U.S. Unions Took Flight

Affirmative Action

Getting to Sesame Street

Pirates of the Senate

Bayard Rustin: The Man Behind the March on Washington (2021)

The Dance of the Dead

Bonus: The Vanishing of Harry Pace

Palestine

Five Fingers Crush The Land

The Land of the Fee