NPR's Throughline Isn't Your High School History Class

quotHistory is often taught through facts numbers and datesquot explained Arablouei quotWe try to do the opposite and tell history through a story or narrativequotWhile the podcast marketplace is rich in genres like news true crime and comedy Abdelfatah said history is a void While some shows dipped into American or foreign affairs she said none of them tackled current affairs or big topics and they failed to provide background or context She also felt there weren39t enough podcasts that innovated with sound and stylequotWe wanted to push the bounds and create a documentary feel that is super immersive and bring to history something that others were bringing to science fiction or true crimequot Abdelfatah explained quotPodcasts don39t have to be two people talking on a micquotThe show39s goal she explained was to quottake a step back dig deeper and give that extra layer of context and that extra layer of challenging assumptionsquotWhile many Americans are discovering podcasts Arablouei and Abdelfatah are podcasting veterans with several years of experience producing shows Abdelfatah first joined NPR as an editorial intern in 2014 and worked on the NPR Politics podcast Hidden Brain and Invisibilia Arablouei39s background is in sound engineering and composing and he created the theme music for several popular NPR showsThe duo first met in 2015 in NPR39s Washington DC headquarters They were part of the launch team on several nowhits including How I Built This and TED Radio Hour Through these early projects they earned a crash course in development research and testing They leveraged those experiences to build their own show which is now one of NPR39s fastestgrowing podcastsquotWe know you need a certain number of listeners to stay alive and be sustainable We had been there on ground level on now majorly successful podcastsquot Arablouei said quotWe understood the business of it what it meant to create something and how to fill a gap in the marketquotThroughline combines creative storytelling with innovative production The hosts said each episode has its own rhythm and style Some feature historians or witnesses to history sharing their accounts with minimal input from the hosts while others have them playing a prominent role such as when Abdelfatah travelled to Costa Rica to report on the history of the banana industryWhen they first pitched Throughline to the NPR podcast brass Arablouei and Abdelfatah waited six months for an answer Undeterred they spent nights and weekends developing a pilot which traced the history of conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims This topic is particularly salient because both hosts are of Middle Eastern descent Arablouei is of Iranian descent and is Shia while Abdelfatah was born in Saudi Arabia and is SunniNearly two years later that episode titled War of the Worlds remains one of Abdelfatah39s favorites quotWhen our show is at its best it challenges assumptions and brings these stories to lifequot she said quotThat39s what we39re trying to do in every episode to interrogate the things we kind of take for granted as truth or realityquotWhile dozens of news podcasts tackle the daily news Throughline tries to provide perspective For instance after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer Throughline examined the history of policing in America quotWe want to bring something to the conversation that isn39t just repeatingquot Abdelfatah saidWith any episode Arablouei said they need to provide an original angle to get listeners to invest in listening There39s no shortage of material quotThere are so many incredible stories out therequot he noted quotWe are always trying to find a home for themquotRecently the COVID19 pandemic has both inspired episodes and changed how the team works Abdelfatah now lives in New York while Arablouei remains in Washington DC Prior to the crisis they travelled frequently between the two cities but the team now works remotely from home complicating communication and production but that hasn39t slowed them downTo continue to grow Throughline they39re steadfast on telling compelling stories and creating innovate audioquotWe want people to walk away as surprised and interested and as engaged as we were when we came up with the topicquot Arablouei notedClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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NPR's Throughline Isn't Your High School History Class

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Alli Romano

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