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Anya Steinberg Anya Steinberg is a Producer for Throughline. She joined the show in 2021 as an intern. Since then, she’s reported and produced dozens of episodes. Some of her favorites to work on have been: the 400 year history of sugar, a profile of Nelson Mandela, and the story of the water wars between Los Angeles and the Owens Valley.
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Anya Steinberg

Thursday

The Dance of the Dead
Hokyoung Kim

Throughline

The Dance of the Dead

Halloween — the night of ghost stories and trick-or-treating — has religious origins that span over two thousand years and over time, the Catholic Church, pagan groups, and even the brewing company Coors have played a role in shape-shifting the holiday. How did Halloween turn from a spiritual celebration to a multi-billion dollar industry? From the Great Famine of Ireland to the Simpsons, we present the many evolutions of Halloween.

The Dance of the Dead

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Thursday

The Stars (2020)

The Constellation of Taurus the Bull and Orion by James Thornhill. Historical Picture Archive/Corbis via Getty Images hide caption

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Historical Picture Archive/Corbis via Getty Images

Throughline

The Stars (2020)

Astrology has existed for thousands of years and has roots that span the globe. But is it a science or a religion or just a kind of personality test? And why is it more popular than ever? This week, the story of how finding our fates in the stars moved from the fringes to the mainstream and became a multi-billion dollar industry.

The Stars (2020)

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Thursday

The Nostalgia Bone
Hokyoung Kim

Throughline

The Nostalgia Bone

The global pandemic has spawned a different type of epidemic, one of an entirely different nature: a nostalgia outbreak. Longing for 'simpler times' and 'better days', many of us have been turning to 90s dance playlists, TV sitcoms, and sports highlights. We're looking for comfort and safety in the permanence of the past, or at least, what we think the past was. But, when it first appeared, nostalgia itself wasn't considered a feeling; it was a deadly disease. This episode traces the history of nostalgia from its origins as an illness to the dominating emotion of our time. And in doing so, we wrestle with its eternal paradox to both hold us back and keep us going.

The Nostalgia Bone

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Thursday

Tenochtitlan: A Retelling of The Conquest

Retreat of Hernando Cortes form Tenochtitlan, Mexico, 1520. Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images hide caption

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Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images

Throughline

Tenochtitlan: A Retelling of The Conquest

In a sense, 1521 is Mexico's 1619. A foundational moment that has for a long time been shaped by just one perspective, a European one. The story of how Hernán Cortés and his small army of conquistadors conquered the mighty Aztec Empire, in the heart of what's now modern Mexico City, has become a foundational myth of European dominance in the Americas. This is the story that for centuries was largely accepted as the truth. But in recent decades researchers have pieced together a more nuanced, complicated version based on indigenous accounts, a version that challenges many of the bedrock assumptions about how European Christians came to control the Western Hemisphere. In this episode, the story of the fall of Tenochtitlán.

Tenochtitlan: A Retelling of The Conquest

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