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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…
Published on 5 years, 2 months ago
The Electoral College
What is it, why do we have it, and why hasn't it changed? Born from a rushed, fraught, imperfect process, the origins and evolution of the Electoral College might surprise you and make you think dif…
Published on 5 years, 2 months ago
(mis)Representative Democracy, A New Series From Throughline
America has never been a country of one person, one vote. And that's by design. Our system was built by a select few, for a select few. We were never all supposed to get a say.
In this series, we'll …
Published on 5 years, 2 months ago
The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday helped shape American popular music with her voice and unique style. But, one song in particular has become her greatest legacy — "Strange Fruit." The song paints an unflinching pictur…
Published on 5 years, 2 months ago
The Everlasting Problem
Health insurance for millions of Americans is dependent on their jobs. But it's not like that everywhere. So, how did the U.S. end up with such a fragile system that leaves so many vulnerable or with…
Published on 5 years, 2 months ago
The Evangelical Vote
With the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the president is hoping to fill the seat with a more ideologically conservative justice. And evangelical Christians, who've become a powerful conservative votin…
Published on 5 years, 3 months ago
James Baldwin's Fire
In a moment when America is undertaking an uncomfortable reckoning with its racial inequality and violence, we wanted to look back at someone who concentrated on race in America his entire life. Cons…
Published on 5 years, 3 months ago
The Postal Service
The US Postal Service has played a role throughout American history - from the Declaration of Independence to today's mail-in voting. It was conceived of by the founders as the way to create a united…
Published on 5 years, 3 months ago
Reframing History: Mass Incarceration
The United States imprisons more people than any other country in the world, and a disproportionate number of those prisoners are Black. What are the origins of the U.S. criminal justice system and h…
Published on 5 years, 3 months ago
Reframing History: Bananas
The banana is a staple of the American diet and has been for generations. But how did this exotic tropical fruit become so commonplace? How one Brooklyn-born entrepreneur ruthlessly created the moder…
Published on 5 years, 4 months ago