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Ramtin Arablouei Ramtin Arablouei is co-host and co-producer of NPR's podcast Throughline.
Ramtin Arablouei, co-host and co-producer of Throughline.
Stories By

Ramtin Arablouei

Monday

History

NPR history podcast 'Throughline' examines the rise of Halloween's popularity

Halloween is now a multi-billion dollar industry. The holiday traces its roots back about 2,000 years to the Irish countryside and a spiritual celebration known as Samhain.

NPR history podcast 'Throughline' examines the rise of Halloween's popularity

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Thursday

The Three Faces of Ataturk
ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Throughline

The Three Faces of Ataturk

"Authority, without any condition and reservation, belongs to the nation." A military commander named Mustafa Kemal uttered these words in 1923, on the eve of the founding of the Republic of Turkey. He would later rename himself Ataturk, "Father of the Turks." And he was outlining a vision for the future: a future where old empires were buried and new nations reigned supreme. That vision would resonate beyond the borders of the new Turkey, becoming a shining example for leaders around the world of how to build a single unified national identity — no matter the cost.

The Three Faces of Ataturk

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Tuesday

History

NPR podcast 'Throughline' takes a closer look at the birth of a nation: Turkey

A century after the founding of the Republic of Turkey, NPR's history podcast Throughline examines the legacy of founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

NPR podcast 'Throughline' takes a closer look at the birth of a nation: Turkey

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Thursday

The Dance of the Dead (2021)

Illustration by Hokyoung Kim. Illustration by Hokyoung Kim hide caption

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Illustration by Hokyoung Kim

Throughline

The Dance of the Dead (2021)

Long before it was a sugary moviefest, the Halloween we know was called Samhain. The Celts of ancient Ireland believed Samhain was a night when the barrier between worlds was thin, the dead could cross over, and if you didn't disguise yourself, evil fairies might spirit you away. Over time the holiday shape-shifted too, thanks to the Catholic Church, pagan groups, and even the brewing company Coors. From the Great Famine of Ireland to Elvira and the Simpsons, we present the many faces of Halloween.

The Dance of the Dead (2021)

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Thursday

The Contradictions of Abraham Lincoln

A researcher holding one of America's most priceless negatives, the glass plate made by famous civil war photographer Mathew Brady of Abraham Lincoln in 1865 just before the 16th President of the United States was assassinated. It is stored in the National Archives in Washington. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images) Three Lions/Getty Images hide caption

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Three Lions/Getty Images

Throughline

The Contradictions of Abraham Lincoln

In 1855, Abraham Lincoln wrote a letter to his best friend, Joshua Speed. Speed was from a wealthy, slave-owning Kentucky family; Lincoln believed slavery was wrong. You are mistaken about this, Lincoln wrote to Speed. But, differ we must." One way for Lincoln to have dealt with his best friend, I suppose, would be to say you're a horrible person, you're morally wrong, and I shun you," says NPR's Steve Inskeep. "Lincoln did not take that approach, which I think might be a little controversial today."You might know Steve primarily for hosting NPR's Morning Edition. He also writes histories, and his newest book, "Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America," takes a long hard look at Lincoln the politician: the man who went out of his way to build political consensus, even with people whose views he considered noxious. It's a case for why we should collaborate, and yes, compromise with people across the aisle – not because it's nice or the right thing to do, but because it makes our government work. Today on Throughline, a conversation with Steve Inskeep about the contradictions of Abraham Lincoln.

The Contradictions of Abraham Lincoln

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Thursday

How everyday people started a movement that's shaping climate action to this day

Rev. Ben Chavis, right, raises his fist as fellow protesters are taken to jail at the Warren County PCB landfill near Afton, N.C., on Sept. 16, 1982. Greg Gibson/AP hide caption

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Greg Gibson/AP

NPR's Climate Solutions Week

How everyday people started a movement that's shaping climate action to this day

Deborah and Ken Ferruccio saw the toxic chemical spill while they were driving home late one summer night in 1978: a big smelly swath of brown oil on the side of the road. Reverend Willie T. Ramey saw it too. He was a pastor at two local churches and a respected community leader. And not long after that highway spill, he agreed to meet the Ferruccios just after midnight in a barn in Warren County, North Carolina. The Ferruccios told Reverend Ramey they needed his help. Someone was dumping toxic waste in their county, and they needed to organize. Today on the show: how a group of local citizens in a poor, rural, majority Black community came together to fight an iconic battle for environmental justice – and how their work laid a path that leads right up to today.

How everyday people started a movement that's shaping climate action to this day

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Thursday

Tenochtitlán: A Retelling of the Conquest (2021)

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

Tenochtitlán: A Retelling of the Conquest (2021)

In a sense, 1521 is Mexico's 1619. A foundational moment that for centuries has been shaped by just one perspective: a European one. The story of how Hernán Cortés and a few hundred Spaniards 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. And for a long time it was largely accepted as truth. But in recent decades researchers have pieced together a more nuanced, complicated version based on Indigenous accounts: a version that challenges what one historian calls "the greatest PR job in the history of the West." In this episode, the real story of the fall of Tenochtitlán.

Tenochtitlán: A Retelling of the Conquest (2021)

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Wednesday

David v Goliath
Hulton Archive/Getty Images/Getty Images

Throughline

David v Goliath

In the year 1258, more than 100,000 soldiers amassed outside the great Islamic city of Baghdad. They were the Mongol Army, led by the grandson of the fearsome Genghis Khan. Within weeks, they'd left the city – which had stood as the center of power and commerce in the Muslim world for nearly 500 years – smoldering in a grotesque heap. And that was just the beginning. The Mongols would continue to push West, conquering Muslim cities until there was just one left in their way: Cairo.

David v Goliath

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History

NPR's history podcast 'Throughline' revisits the fall of Tenochtitlán

Throughline takes us back 500 years to understand the rise, fall and resilience of the great Aztec city Tenochititlán. The story of European dominance has been largely accepted as historical truth.

NPR's history podcast 'Throughline' revisits the fall of Tenochtitlán

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Thursday

A Tale of Two Tribal Nations

Nate Taylor (left) and Sylvia Fred (right), two of the co-founders of the Endazhi-Nitaawiging Charter School on Red Lake Reservation standing in front of the construction site for a new school building. Sequoia Carrillo/NPR hide caption

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Sequoia Carrillo/NPR

Throughline

A Tale of Two Tribal Nations

The word "reservation" implies "reserved" – as in, this land is reserved for Native Americans. But most reservation land actually isn't owned by tribes. Instead it's checkerboarded into private farmland, federal forests, summer camps, even resorts. That's true for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe in northern Minnesota, where the tribe owns just a tiny fraction of its reservation land. But just northwest of Leech Lake is Red Lake: one of the only reservations in the country where the tribe owns all of its land. So what happened? In this episode, we take a road trip through Leech Lake and Red Lake to tell a tale of two tribal nations, the moments of choice that led them down very different paths, and what the future looks like from where they are now

A Tale of Two Tribal Nations

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Thursday

Silicon Island (2022)
Annabelle Chih/Getty Images

Throughline

Silicon Island (2022)

In a world where computer chips run everything from laptops to cars to the Nintendo Switch, Taiwan is the undisputed leader. It's one of the most powerful tech centers in the world — so powerful that both China and the U.S. have vital interests there. But if you went back to the Taiwan of the 1950s, this would have seemed unimaginable. It was a quiet, sleepy island; an agrarian culture. Fifty years later, it experienced what many recall as an "economic miracle" — a transformation into not just one of Asia's economic powerhouses, but one of the world's.

Silicon Island (2022)

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Thursday

How Korean Culture Went Global (2022)
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Throughline

How Korean Culture Went Global (2022)

From BTS to Squid Game to high-end beauty standards, South Korea reigns as a global exporter of pop culture and entertainment. Just 70 years ago, it would have seemed impossible. For the next episode in our "Superpower" series, exploring U.S. connections to East Asia, we tell the story of South Korea's rise from a war-decimated state to a major driver of global soft power: a story of war, occupation, economic crisis, and national strategy that breaks around the world as the Korean Wave.

How Korean Culture Went Global (2022)

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Tuesday

Africa

How did Ethiopia go from its leader winning the Nobel Peace Prize to war in a year?

In 2019, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize. A year later, he launched what has become the deadliest war of the 21st century. NPR's history podcast Throughline investigates.

How did Ethiopia go from its leader winning the Nobel Peace Prize to war in a year?

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Thursday

By Accident of Birth (2022)

Painted portrait of Wong Kim Ark in the Asian American Community Heroes Mural, located in San Francisco's Chinatown. Julie Caine/Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco hide caption

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Julie Caine/Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco

Throughline

By Accident of Birth (2022)

In August of 1895, a ship called the SS Coptic approached the coast of Northern California. On that boat was a passenger from San Francisco, a young man named Wong Kim Ark. He was returning home after visiting his wife and child in China, and he'd taken similar trips before. But when the ship docked, officials told him he couldn't get off. The customs agent barred him according to the Chinese Exclusion Act, which denied citizenship to Chinese immigrants.

By Accident of Birth (2022)

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Thursday

The Characters That Built China (2022)

Two craftsmen printing a book in kanji (the Chinese logographic system), China, circa 1800. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

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Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Throughline

The Characters That Built China (2022)

Today, China is a global superpower. But less than two hundred years ago, the nation was in a state of decline. After what became known as the 'century of humiliation' at the hands of Western imperialist powers, its very survival was in question. A movement arose to fight off foreign interference and preserve Chinese culture in the face of intense pressure from a rapidly-changing world. And the key to that movement was language.In this episode, we follow three key reformers who worked to modernize written and spoken Chinese, sometimes risking their lives to do so. Their work simplified Chinese, standardized it, and took it from an inaccessible language built for the elite to a modern language for the masses. It was a struggle that spanned generations, changed the fate of millions of people, and helped create the powerful modern nation-state of China.

The Characters That Built China (2022)

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