Episodes

  • War by remote control, how drones changed modern warfare

    War by remote control, how drones changed modern warfare
    May 14 2026
    Drones are swarming battlefields in Ukraine, Iran, and beyond. Drone warfare is cheap, efficient, autonomous — and changing warfare forever. Today on the show, the past, present and future of battle by remote control. This episode originally published in 2021 and has been updated.

    GUEST:

    James Rodgers, war historian and author of several books about drones, including Drones: What Everyone Needs to Know

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    51 mins
  • Four voices from the Great Depression

    Four voices from the Great Depression
    May 12 2026
    A glimpse into life during the Great Depression from the people that lived it.

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    19 mins
  • How our memory of war can shape the future

    How our memory of war can shape the future
    May 7 2026
    All wars are fought twice: first on the battlefield, the second time in memory," writes Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen. This week on Throughline, we revisit our 2022 conversation with Nguyen about how the way we remember and selectively forget the ravages of war has the power to reshape our future.

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    49 mins
  • The origins of the Socialist Party of America

    The origins of the Socialist Party of America
    May 5 2026
    Rapid industrialization reshaped American life in the mid-19th century. But as corporations grew larger and more powerful, working conditions for many everyday Americans worsened while wages stalled. Enter Eugene Debs, the labor organizer and founder of the American Socialist Party, who rallied workers nationwide to fight for their rights.

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    17 mins
  • Gladiators, real housewives and the pull of reality TV

    Gladiators, real housewives and the pull of reality TV
    Apr 30 2026
    People used to say "believe your eyes." But these days that's not so easy to do. What we scroll through every day blurs the line between entertainment and fact. And nowhere is that phenomenon more evident than in reality television. Today on the show, we tackle the genre that takes our most potent feelings – love, hope, anxiety, loneliness – and turns them into profit. This episode originally ran in 2022.

    Guests:

    Goloka Bolte, reality TV casting director

    Dr. Jana Scrivani, licensed clinical psychologist

    Racquel Gates, associate professor of film and media studies at Columbia University

    Dr. J'tia Hart, nuclear engineer on Survivor (Season 28)

    Jeff Jenkins, founder of Jeff Jenkins Productions (JJP)

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    52 mins
  • The fight that shook America

    The fight that shook America
    Apr 28 2026
    Jack Johnson was the first world Black heavyweight champion, but winning the title was only part of the battle. Every time Johnson stepped into a boxing ring, he struck a blow to white supremacy. In this week’s episode, the story of Jack Johnson and the legacy of Black athletes pushing for social change in America.

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    15 mins
  • The billionaires' utopia blueprint

    The billionaires' utopia blueprint
    Apr 23 2026
    Starbase. Prospera. California Forever. Mars. From private cities to interstellar colonies, tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel have backed experiments designed to operate beyond the borders — and laws — most of us live by. So we wondered: has this happened before? In this episode, we visit an Arctic archipelago, homesteads floating in the ocean, and a startup city in Honduras to explore where places built with the ultra-rich in mind leave all the rest of us.

    Guests:

    Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, author of The Cosmopolites and The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the World

    Wayne Gramlich, retired computer engineer

    Dan Girma, producer on NPR's Embedded podcast

    Jacob Silverman, author of Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley

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    49 mins
  • Why the wall was built

    Why the wall was built
    Apr 21 2026
    As the United States expanded into a global superpower, it simultaneously strengthened its national borders and began to limit who could come in and out of the country. In this week’s episode, the story of how one of the very first walls meant to divide people was built on the US Southern border.

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    13 mins