Ramtin Arablouei
Stories
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History
The woman who pushed to make Thanksgiving a national holiday
When Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, he was thinking about the Civil War. And so was the woman who had lobbied for Thanksgiving for years.
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Science
The story of a scientist who tried to stand for the truth and avoid Covid politics
A scientist tried to stand up for the truth during a pandemic when political rhetoric and conspiracies were clouding everyone’s world.
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History
The story of how the 14th Amendment has remade America – and how America has remade the 14th.
The fourteenth amendment was ratified after the Civil War, and it's packed full of lofty phrases like due process, equal protection, and liberty. But what do those words really guarantee us?
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National
The peculiar origins of the second amendment defense
For most of U.S. history, the second amendment was rarely invoked to challenge laws, until a bank robber used it to justify ownership of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun, launching a legal battle.
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Business
The story of 'Monopoly' and American capitalism
Monopoly has been one of the best-selling board games in the United States for nearly a century now. And sure, maybe it's just a board game. But author Mary Pilon says Monopoly is much more than that.
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Education
'Throughline': The origins of federal student loans and promises the government made
At the start of the 20th century, only the most privileged could afford to go to college. Today millions of students pursue higher education, but collectively they owe $1.7 trillion in debt.
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Politics
'Throughline': The battle over the filibuster's future is a battle over its past
The filibuster can stop bills from reaching the Senate floor and lead to hours-long speeches. It can be hard to understand what a filibuster is, why we have it and how it impacts the country.
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History
'Throughline': The history of understanding our dreams
Our dreams can haunt us. Recurring dreams about failing tests or running late are a common occurrence, but what are we to make of them? And are there hidden meanings in our dreams?
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History
'Throughline': 2 decades later have we caught up to Radiohead's prophetic vision?
The team of the NPR history podcast Throughline talks to singer Thom Yorke and art designer Stanley Donwood about two Radiohead albums that captured the anxieties and dread of the early 2000s.
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Music
Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood on the dread at the heart of 'Kid A'
At the turn of the millennium, Radiohead turned creeping melancholy and desolation into two albums that changed the band's career. Two decades later, maybe we've caught up to their prophetic vision.