Episodes

  • The Lord Of Misrule (Throwback)

    The Lord Of Misrule (Throwback)
    Nov 28 2024
    By the time his book went to press in London, on November 18, 1633, Thomas Morton had been exiled from the Puritan colonies in Massachusetts. His crimes: drinking, carousing, and — crucially — building social and economic ties with Native people. His book outlined a vision for what America could become. A very different vision than that of the Puritans.

    But the book wouldn't be published that day. It wouldn't be published for years. Because agents for the Puritan colonists stormed the press and destroyed every copy.

    Today on the show, the story of what's widely considered America's first banned book, the radical vision it conjured, and the man who outlined that vision: Thomas Morton, the Lord of Misrule.

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    49 mins
  • The Mother of Thanksgiving

    The Mother of Thanksgiving
    Nov 21 2024
    The Thanksgiving story most of us hear is about friendship and unity. And that's what Sarah Josepha Hale had on her mind when she sat down to write a letter to President Lincoln in 1863, deep into the Civil War. Hale had already spent years campaigning for a national day of thanksgiving, using her platform as editor of one the country's most widely-read magazines and writing elected officials to argue that Americans urgently needed a national story. But she'd gotten nowhere – until now.

    Five days after reading her letter, Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday. At the time, no one was talking about Pilgrims and Native Americans. But that too would change.

    Today on the show: a Thanksgiving story you may not have heard, how it happened, and what it leaves out.

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    50 mins
  • Behind the Scenes of Throughline

    Behind the Scenes of Throughline
    Nov 14 2024
    Today on the show, we're taking you behind the scenes. We'll tell you how Throughline was born, some of what goes into making our episodes, and a little bit about how we make our special sauce — the Throughline rizz, as the kids say.

    If you want more of these behind-the-scenes conversations become a Throughline+ subscriber. You can find out more at plus.npr.org/throughline.

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    51 mins
  • The Electoral College (Throwback)

    The Electoral College (Throwback)
    Nov 7 2024
    What is it, why do we have it, and why hasn't it changed? Born from a rushed, fraught, imperfect process, the origins and evolution of the Electoral College might surprise you and make you think differently about not only this upcoming presidential election, but our democracy as a whole.

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    47 mins
  • A History of Settlements

    A History of Settlements
    Oct 31 2024
    The question of settlements has loomed over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades, and has only intensified in the past year. According to a UN report, since October 7, 2023, there has been a record surge in settlement activities and increased settler violence against Palestinians. Today on the show: how the settlement movement grew from a small religious mission to one of the central tenets of the current Israeli government. It's a story that intersects with other topics we've covered in our series relating to this conflict – the history of Hamas, the rise of the Israeli right wing, Hezbollah, and Zionism.

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    54 mins
  • The Swing State Power Brokers

    The Swing State Power Brokers
    Oct 24 2024
    Today on the show, two stories of building power in swing states: from the top down, and the bottom up.

    First, how a future Supreme Court justice helped launch a program to challenge voters at the Arizona polls in the early 1960s, in a county that's become a hotbed for election conspiracies in the decades since. Then, how a 1973 labor strike led by Arab Americans in a Michigan factory town sparked a political movement that could play a major role in the 2024 election.

    This story is part of "We, The Voters," NPR's election series reported from the seven swing states that will most likely decide the 2024 election.

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    51 mins
  • How We Vote (Throwback)

    How We Vote (Throwback)
    Oct 17 2024
    Drunken brawls, coercion, and lace curtains: believe it or not, how regular people vote was not something the Founding Fathers thought much about. Americans went from casting votes at wild parties in the town square to doing so in private booths, behind a drawn curtain. In this episode, the process of voting: how it was designed, who it was meant for, and the moments when we reimagined it altogether.

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    55 mins
  • A History of Christian Nationalism

    A History of Christian Nationalism
    Oct 10 2024
    References to God and Christianity are sprinkled throughout American life. Our money has "In God We Trust" printed on it. Most presidents have chosen to swear their oath of office on the Bible.Christian nationalists want more.Christian nationalist beliefs are rooted in the idea that the United States was founded as a Christian nation, and that its laws should reflect certain Christian values. And versions of these beliefs are widely held by Americans of different ages, races, and backgrounds. In 2022, a Pew Research poll reported that 45 percent of Americans believe the country should be a Christian nation. More than half of those people said the Bible should influence U.S. laws. Today on the show: the complex relationship between Christianity and the U.S.

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    51 mins