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Julie Caine Julie Caine is supervising senior editor for NPR's Throughline.
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Julie Caine

Thursday

The Invention of Race

Portrait of Dr. Franz Boas. Corbis via Getty Images hide caption

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Corbis via Getty Images

Throughline

The Invention of Race

The idea that race is a social construct comes from the pioneering work of anthropologist Franz Boas. During a time when race-based science and the eugenics movement were becoming mainstream, anthropologist Franz Boas actively sought to prove that race was a social construct, not a biological fact.

The Invention of Race

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Thursday

The Shadows of the Constitution

The preamble to the US Constitution. Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty hide caption

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Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty

Throughline

The Shadows of the Constitution

The Constitution is like America's secular bible, our sacred founding document. In her play, What the Constitution Means to Me, Heidi Schreck goes through a process of discovering what the document is really about – who wrote it, who it was for, who it protected and who it didn't. Through Heidi's personal story, we learn how the Constitution and how it has been interpreted have affected not just her family but generations of Americans.

The Shadows of the Constitution

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Thursday

The Most Sacred Right
Kaz Fantone

Throughline

The Most Sacred Right

Frederick Douglass dreamed of a country where all people could vote and he did everything in his power to make that dream a reality. In the face of slavery, the Civil War and the violence of Jim Crow, he fought his entire life for what he believed was a sacred, natural right that should be available to all people - voting.

The Most Sacred Right

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Thursday

How We Vote
Kaz Fantone

Throughline

How We Vote

Drunken brawls, coercion, and lace curtains. Believe it or not, how regular people vote was not something the founding fathers thought much about, or planned for. Americans went from casting votes at drunken parties in the town square to private booths behind a drawn curtain. In this episode, the process of voting; how it was originally designed, who it was intended for, moments in our country's history when we reimagined it altogether, and what we're left with today.

How We Vote

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Tuesday

Presenting Throughline: 'James Baldwin's Fire'

James Baldwin poses while at home in Saint Paul de Vence, South of France during September of 1985. Ulf Andersen/Getty Images hide caption

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Ulf Andersen/Getty Images

It's Been a Minute

Presenting Throughline: 'James Baldwin's Fire'

Writer and thinker James Baldwin used the power of his words to confront in order to connect, something that feels especially relatable in a year when the United States has been forced to reckon with racial inequality. This week we share an episode from our friends at NPR's Throughline, about James Baldwin, his life and philosophy, and what we can learn from him to lead us into the future.

Presenting Throughline: 'James Baldwin's Fire'

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Tuesday

Shopping On Shore Leave: How Seafarers Head To The Mall

First Officer Dheeraj Singh spends most of his time at the helm of a container ship, but on a three-hour shore leave from the Port of Oakland, he visits Old Navy at Bay Street Mall in Emeryville, Calif. Julie Caine/KALW hide caption

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Julie Caine/KALW

Business

Shopping On Shore Leave: How Seafarers Head To The Mall

KALW

Most of us pack a lot of trips to the mall into the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But what if you could only go shopping for just a few hours once a month?

Shopping On Shore Leave: How Seafarers Head To The Mall

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Sunday

The Nile Project: Producing Harmony In A Divided Region

A group of Nile Project musicians play together at the Ndere Cultural Centre, Kampala, Uganda in January 2013. Left to right: Dina El Wedidi, Dafaalla El Hag, Lawrence Okello, Kasiva Mutua. Julie Caine hide caption

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Julie Caine

Music News

The Nile Project: Producing Harmony In A Divided Region

It began as a conversation over a beer. Now, a collaboration between musicians across the Nile basin has expanded to concert tours, albums and courses at universities in the U.S. and East Africa.

The Nile Project: Producing Harmony In A Divided Region

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Sunday

Opinion

In Uganda, The Fastest Public Transport Is DIY

Stand on any corner in Kampala, Uganda, and you'll be swarmed by motorcycles. These are boda bodas, the country's DIY public transportation system. For $1, you can get pretty much anywhere.

In Uganda, The Fastest Public Transport Is DIY

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