A new NPR podcast provides historical context to shed light on contemporary discourse and headlines.
Throughline is hosted by Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei and covers a wide range of topics including technology, sports, and politics on both the global and national level.
“We’re living in history,” Arablouei told GLT’s Sound Ideas. “It’s not some far away thing that we can separate ourselves from; we’re part of it. This moment is a part of it. And I think you can’t understand this moment without some kind of basic understanding of what’s come before.”
A recent episode dove into the past to understand the rise of conspiracy theories—the predecessors to QAnon.
“As we started looking into it we were pretty surprised at how pervasive conspiracy theories have been throughout American history—not just pervasive but transformative,” Abdelfatah said. “There were a lot of values and ideals that were shaping the founding of the country but on the other hand the country was struggling with conspiracy theorists and the same struggle that we’re seeing today over the idea of fake news and authentic news.”
Arablouei’s research on this topic provided him a new lens through which to view the phenomena.
“It’s made me more tolerant and patient for the current situation.” Arablouei said. “What it shows is that this is a part of human nature and a part of political life in America since the beginning. So I have a more mixed, complicated view of conspiracy theories and I hope the listeners do too.”
A new episode of Throughline releases every Thursday. To listen to episodes or subscribe, check out Throughline’s webpage.
You can also listen to the full interview:
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