Valley Public Radio listeners will now be able to hear the hit podcast Throughlineas a new weekly radio broadcast on KVPR, airing Thursday nights at 7:00 p.m beginning Thursday March 4, 2021. NPR’s history show provides the story and perspectives often missing from history textbooks to help you understand events in the news and ideas dominating our national conversations today.
Through immersive and sound-rich storytelling, co-hosts Rund Abdelfatah and Ramtin Arablouei explain issues like how the U.S. overthrew Iran's democratic government and changed the world; the direct line between slave patrols and modern American policing; why American 'democracy' was designed to be unrepresentative, and more.
In its debut year, Throughline was named one of the best podcasts of the year by TIME and The Atlantic. It has also received critical praise from Oprah Magazine, GQ, The Guardian, Refinery29, The New Yorker, Esquire and Vanity Fair, among others.
“At Valley Public Radio, we strongly believe that understanding the past is key to understanding the present,” said station President and General Manager Joe Moore. “We are excited to bring this new program to our air, which brings rich storytelling together with rigorous historical analysis. Each week the program’s hosts bring audiences fascinating stories about the past, with insights from some of the world’s top historians.”
"To understand today's conversations about major issues and events, we need to know the complete history of things like immigration, US-Iran relations and the opioid epidemic," said Arablouei.
"We want to bring history to life and make it feel urgent," said Abdelfatah. "Throughline is an auditory experience. With sound design and music we create a world that listeners can immerse themselves in."
Rund Abdelfatah has worked at NPR since 2014. She helped launch and produce How I Built This, Pop Culture Happy Hour, Code Switch, the NPR Politics Podcast, and TED Radio Hour, among other projects. She got her start in journalism covering local and domestic politics at the Washington Bureau of the BBC.
Before starting as the first producer on NPR's How I Built This in 2015, Ramtin Arablouei was a freelance composer, working on movies, commercials, and podcasts. He has composed music for numerous podcasts at the top of Apple Podcasts' Top 10.