Accessibility links
Casey Miner Casey Miner is an editor for Throughline.
Stories By

Casey Miner

Thursday

Cinco de Mayo and the Rise of Modern Mexico (2022)

Brothers Ricardo Flores Magón and Enrique Flores Magón at Los Angeles Federal Court after being arrested on federal charges for their political activities. UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections hide caption

toggle caption
UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections

Throughline

Cinco de Mayo and the Rise of Modern Mexico (2022)

Does history have a border? That is the question at the heart of Cinco de Mayo, May 5th, a holiday that symbolizes Mexico's fight for autonomy, even as it's come to be associated with sales and cervezas and margaritas in the U.S. Cinco de Mayo is part of a much deeper story of two nations — Mexico and the U.S. — trying to define themselves at a time when old empires were crumbling and borders were in flux. A story that culminated in a revolution in Mexico that was at the forefront of a worldwide movement against predatory capitalism and foreign domination. So in this episode, we're going back to the first Cinco de Mayo and exploring how it helped shape the future on both sides of the border.

Cinco de Mayo and the Rise of Modern Mexico (2022)

Listen · 50:30
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1171642332/1200556198" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Thursday

The Way Back
Planet Flem

Throughline

The Way Back

Our society is saturated in apologies. They're scripted, they're public, and they often feel less than sincere. Political, corporate, celebrity apologies – they can all feel performed. It's not even always clear who they're for. So what purpose do these apologies serve? Because real apologies are not just PR stunts. Not just a way to move on. At their best, they're about acknowledgement and accountability, healing and repair. So how did apology go from a process to a product – and how can we make them work again?

The Way Back

Listen · 52:35
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1170705584/1200556202" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Past is Prologue: Talking Taxes
Nora Carol Photography/Getty Images

Throughline

Past is Prologue: Talking Taxes

Benjamin Franklin said the only certainties in life are death and taxes. Sifting through receipts, deciphering confusing codes, and filling out forms is an annual ritual that's about much more than money. The history of the income tax and the battle over who should pay how much is about what we value as a nation. In this conversation with historian Molly Michelmore we'll explore the past, present, and future of the income tax.

Past is Prologue: Talking Taxes

Listen · 50:24
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1169247885/1200556206" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Student Loans: The Fund-Eating Dragon (2022)

From 2011, at an Occupy DC protest in Washington. A man holds a sign and a ball and chain, representing his college loan debt. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) Jacquelyn Martin/ASSOCIATED PRESS hide caption

toggle caption
Jacquelyn Martin/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Throughline

Student Loans: The Fund-Eating Dragon (2022)

At the start of the 20th century, only the most privileged could afford to go to college. Today, millions of students pursue higher ed — and owe $1.7 trillion in debt.

Student Loans: The Fund-Eating Dragon (2022)

Listen · 50:41
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1167195874/1200556210" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Thursday

The Mystery of Inflation (2022)
Francesco Carta fotografo/Getty Images

Throughline

The Mystery of Inflation (2022)

Rising interest rates. Layoffs. A shrinking dollar. Over the past year, the US economy has been squeezed: The same amount of money gets you less stuff. It's inflation: a concept that's easy to feel but hard to understand. Its causes are complex, but it isn't some kind of naturally-occurring phenomenon — and neither are the ways in which governments try to fight it.

The Mystery of Inflation (2022)

Listen · 49:58
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1165958037/1200556218" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Thursday

Everyone Everywhere All At Once
imaginima/Getty Images

Throughline

Everyone Everywhere All At Once

This year's Oscars were one of the most diverse in history, in all kinds of ways. Everything Everywhere All At Once swept some of the biggest categories, notching incredible victories for Asian and Asian American actors, directors, and writers. At the same time, huge gaps persist – to take just one example, only seven women have ever been nominated for Best Director, and only three have won.

Everyone Everywhere All At Once

Listen · 49:00
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1164983078/1200556222" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

A More Perfect Human
Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images

Throughline

A More Perfect Human

The dream of AI — artificial intelligence — has been around for centuries: the idea of an intelligent machine without free will popped up in ancient Taoist scrolls, Buddhist fables, and the tales of medieval European courts. But it wasn't until the 20th century that science caught up to our imaginations.

A More Perfect Human

Listen · 52:06
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1161883646/1200556269" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Dance Yourself Free
John M Lund Photography Inc/Getty Images

Throughline

Dance Yourself Free

Ever since Beyonce's Renaissance dropped last summer, house music has found its way back to mainstream audiences, prompting some to ask "Is house back?" But the truth is, it never went away. Born out of the ashes of disco in the underground clubs of Chicago by Black queer youth in the late 1970s and 80s, house music has been the continued soundtrack of parties around the world, and laid the groundwork for one of the most popular musical genres in history – electronic dance music. And yet, the deeper you dig into the origins of house music, the more clear it becomes that the history of house, like the history of rock and roll, is a complicated tale of Black cultural resistance.

Dance Yourself Free

Listen · 50:18
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1160259231/1200556273" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Of Rats and Men (2022)
New York Public Library Digital Collection

Throughline

Of Rats and Men (2022)

Rats. Love 'em or hate 'em, (though you probably hate 'em), they're part of our world. And they've been out in full force: In New York City, health data show rat sightings doubled in the past year. It turns out they're a lot like us: They've colonized the whole planet; they're incredibly adaptable; they go wherever the resources are. And, they share one-fourth of our genome—meaning that when you look in the mirror, you're kinda seeing a rat staring back at you. So for this episode, we dove into the history of our rodent doppelgängers. What we found was a story that spans thousands of years and nearly every continent on Earth, from the fields of ancient Mongolia to the palaces of Victorian England to the laboratories of 20th century Maryland... and probably to a burrow near you.

Of Rats and Men (2022)

Listen · 51:26
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1158719975/1200556277" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Thursday

The Whiteness Myth
belterz/Getty Images

Throughline

The Whiteness Myth

In 1923, an Indian American man named Bhagat Singh Thind argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that he was a white man and was therefore eligible to become a naturalized citizen. He based his claim on the fact that he was a member of India's highest caste and identified as an Aryan and therefore white. His claims were supported by the so-called Indo-European language theory, a controversial idea at the time that says nearly half the world's population speak a language that originated in one place. Theories about who lived in that place inspired a racist ideology that contended that the original speakers of the language were a white supreme race that colonized Europe and Asia thousands of years ago. This was used by many to define whiteness and eventually led to one of the most horrific events in history. On this episode of Throughline, we unpack the myths around this powerful idea and explore the politics and promise of the mother tongue.

The Whiteness Myth

Listen · 50:00
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1155489235/1200556285" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

When Things Fall Apart
KenCanning/Getty Images

Throughline

When Things Fall Apart

Climate change, political unrest, random violence - Western society can often feel like what the filmmaker Werner Herzog calls, "a thin layer of ice on top of an ocean of chaos and darkness." In the United States, polls indicate that many people believe that law and order is the only thing protecting us from the savagery of our neighbors, that the fundamental nature of humanity is competition and struggle. This idea is often called "veneer theory." But is this idea rooted in historical reality? Is this actually what happens when societies face disasters? Are we always on the cusp of brutality?

When Things Fall Apart

Listen · 50:48
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1151023362/1200556293" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Thursday

Extremist Futures
Marcia Straub/Getty Images

Throughline

Extremist Futures

It's 2074 and a suicide bomber has killed the President of the United States. Months later Marines open fire on protesters killing dozens. The Second American Civil War has just begun and once again the North and South are pitted against each other. This is all according to the dystopian world chronicled in Omar El Akkad's novel, American War. El Akkad's imagined, yet familiar, world is reflective of today's deep political and societal fissures, but it also pushes us to understand the universal language of war and ruin, to what happens after the violence begins and why it's so hard to end.

Extremist Futures

Listen · 48:36
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1148854407/1200556297" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Do Not Pass Go (2022)
Mark Lennihan/AP

Throughline

Do Not Pass Go (2022)

There's more to Monopoly than you might think. It's one of the best-selling board games in history — despite huge economic instability, sales actually went up during the pandemic — and it's been an iconic part of American life at other pivotal moments: a cheap pastime during the Great Depression; a reminder of home for soldiers during WWII; and an American export during its rise as a global superpower. It endured even as it reflected some of the ongoing inequities in American society, from segregation and redlining, to capitalism run rampant. That's because Monopoly is also built on powerful American lore – the idea that anyone, with just a little bit of cash, can rise from rags to riches. Writer Mary Pilon, the author of The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World's Favorite Board Game, describes Monopoly as "the Great American Dream in a board game – or, nightmare."This week: how a critique of capitalism grew from a seed of an idea in a rebellious young woman's mind into a game legendary for its celebration of wealth at all costs. And behind that legend — there's a lie.

Do Not Pass Go (2022)

Listen · 50:58
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1143650089/1200556301" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Thursday

The New Gilded Age (2022)
Library of Congress

Throughline

The New Gilded Age (2022)

Philanthropic foundations are a fundamental part of our society: they support media, the arts, education, medical research, and more. NPR, and even this show, is supported by many personal and family foundations. But it wasn't always that way. In this episode, we go back to the beginning — the Gilded Age. We trace the birth and evolution of what many today call "big philanthropy," and ask what all this private wealth means for the public good.

The New Gilded Age (2022)

Listen · 50:19
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1143428885/1200556313" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">