NPR · History

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 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.

Episodes

The 1918 flu pandemic offers critical historical context for understanding the COVID-19 crisis, though modern medicine provides significant advantages over the past. Emergency physician Jeremy Brown highlights that while both are novel, winter-seasonal viruses, current society benefits from rapid genomic sequencing, in...