History

A voter leaves a voting booth in Concord, N.H., the during primary election on Jan. 23, 2024.

How the Founding Fathers' concept of 'Minority Rule' is alive and well today

2:05pm April 22, 2024

by Terry Gross

Journalist Ari Berman says the founding fathers created a system that concentrated power in the hands of an elite minority — and that their decisions continue to impact American democracy today.

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Structures in the Freedom Monument Sclupture park give a sense of the homes enslaved individuals lived in.

National

Freedom Monument Park tells honest story of enslaved people

9:49am April 22, 2024

by Kyle Gassiott

The new Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama, is designed to get visitors closer to the experiences of enslaved people in America.

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Scholars Susan Ashbrook Harvey, left, and Robin Darling Young became 'sworn siblings' after an ancient ritual at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

How two good friends became sworn siblings — with the revival of an ancient ritual

8:30am April 22, 2024

Thousands of years ago, there was a ceremony to bind close friends together as sworn siblings. Could the practice be resurrected today to strengthen modern friendships? Two women did just that.

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National

Alabama's Freedom Monument Sculpture Park tells the story of enslaved people

5:10pm April 21, 2024

by Kyle Gassiott

Montgomery, Ala., has a new monument park where visitors are confronted with the history of enslaved people in America.

Surviving children of the Auschwitz concentration camp, one of the camps the Nazis had set up to exterminate Jews and kill millions of others. Research into the appropriate way to "re-feed" those who've experienced starvation was prompted by the deaths of camp survivors after liberation.

Health & Safety

What World War II taught us about how to help starving people today

5:14pm April 19, 2024

by Nurith Aizenman

The modern study of starvation was sparked by the liberation of concentration camp survivors. U.S. and British soldiers rushed to feed them — and yet they sometimes perished.

There's more plastic waste in the world than ever. So, where did the idea come from that individuals, rather than corporations, should keep the world litter-free?

Who created the idea of litter – and why? Play this month's Throughline history quiz.

10:02am April 19, 2024

Where did the idea come from that individuals, rather than corporations, should keep the world litter-free? What history is hidden in the trash? Find out here.

Arts

Amateur art detectives used modern tools and the law to return stolen artifacts

6:12pm April 18, 2024

by Erika Beras

Thirty years ago, two copper gilded Bhairav masks were stolen from a temple in Nepal. The mask's owners thought they were gone for good – but they ended up in two American museums.

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Japanese-American baseball players will bring the game back to a WWII camp

7:13pm April 16, 2024

by Adrian Florido

Volunteers are restoring the Manzanar War Reloctation Center's baseball field. In the fall, Japanese-American baseball players play where many of their families were held during World War II.

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New HBO series looks at Vietnam War from Vietnamese perspective

6:03pm April 16, 2024

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with actor Hoa Xuande about the new HBO show 'The Sympathizer' — a rare piece of Hollywood entertainment that tells the story of the Vietnam War from a Vietnamese perspective.

The porches of the 1890s Allison Buildings, shown above in 1910, were later enclosed to provide more space for patient beds.

Could the U.S. force treatment on mentally ill people (again)?

6:30am April 16, 2024

by Greg Rosalsky

Sixty years ago, America began closing mental hospitals. A growing chorus is blaming that for the crisis of mentally ill folks living on our streets.