The Electoral College

FromThroughline

Start listening View podcast show

The Electoral College

FromThroughline

ratings:

Length:

57 minutes

Released:

Oct 15, 2020

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

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 differently about not only this upcoming presidential election, but our democracy as a whole.

Released:

Oct 15, 2020

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

The past is never past. Every headline has a history. Join us every week as we go back in time to understand the present. These are stories you can feel and sounds you can see from the moments that shaped our world.

Skip carousel

On the Shoulders of Giants: We explore three stories of protest in sports that are often overlooked but essential to understanding the current debate: Jack Johnson, Wilma Rudolph, and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. by Throughline
38 min listen
Outbreak: A deadly smallpox epidemic in the early 1900s and a Boston-area minister who refused mandatory vaccination — how his case ended up in front of the Supreme Court. by Throughline
21 min listen
Resistance Is Futile: From the tractor to talking robots, society has feared innovations. But usefulness usually overcomes resistance. Is today any different from the past? by Throughline
35 min listen
Four Days in August: This week we look back at four days in August 1953, when the CIA orchestrated a coup of Iran's elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh. by Throughline
36 min listen
The Forgotten War: What's fueled the hostility between the U.S. and North Korea? We look back at the tangled history. by Throughline
34 min listen
High Crimes And Misdemeanors: This week we return to 1868 and the first presidential impeachment in U.S. history — President Andrew Johnson. by Throughline
16 min listen
Introducing Throughline: NPR's new history podcast hosted by Ramtin Arablouei and Rund Abdelfatah. New episodes every Thursday starting February 7th. by Throughline
2 min listen
Four Days In August: This week, we revisit our very first episode about an event from August 1953 — when the CIA helped to overthrow Iran's Prime Minister. by Throughline
36 min listen
The Phoebus Cartel: This week, in a special collaboration with Planet Money, we bring you the history of planned obsolescence – the idea that products are designed to break. by Throughline
33 min listen
American Shadows: In this episode, we'll explore how conspiracy theories helped to create the U.S. and how they became the currency of political opportunists. by Throughline
41 min listen
El Libertador: We look back at the rise and fall of Venezuela through the lives of two revolutionaries turned authoritarian leaders: Simón Bolívar and Hugo Chávez. by Throughline
55 min listen
White Nationalism: How has white nationalism shaped U.S. immigration policy in the 20th century? This week, we share an episode we loved from It's Been A Minute with Sam Sanders. by Throughline
33 min listen
The Moth: In this episode, we dive into the life of Vladimir Putin and try to understand how he became Russia's new "tsar." by Throughline
33 min listen
The Border: In this week's episode, the history of militarization at the U.S.-Mexico border. by Throughline
14 min listen
Opioids In America: Three stories of opioids that have plagued Americans for more than 150 years. by Throughline
42 min listen
The Commentator: This week, how one Medieval Islamic philosopher put his pen to paper and shaped the modern world. by Throughline
29 min listen
Apocalypse Now: Evangelicals have played an important role in modern day American politics, but what exactly does it means to be an evangelical today and how it has changed over time? by Throughline
54 min listen
Strange Fruit: How singing "Strange Fruit" turned Billie Holiday into one of the first victims of the War on Drugs. by Throughline
30 min listen
A Dream Of Modern China: China is a world superpower today. But just over a century ago, the country was in complete turmoil. How one man led a movement to reshape China as we know — Sun Yat-sen. by Throughline
45 min listen
The X On The Map: How the murder of an unarmed black civil rights activist in 1965 lead to the march to Montgomery that ended in "Bloody Sunday." by Throughline
39 min listen
War Of The Worlds: Two sects of Islam, 1400 years of history, and three stories to help us better understand the Sunni-Shia divide. by Throughline
34 min listen
Nancy Pelosi: Nancy Pelosi is widely seen as the most powerful woman in U.S. politics. Follow her rise from a Baltimore political family to becoming Speaker of the House twice. by Throughline
23 min listen
American Exile: In this episode, two stories that challenge the idea of who and why Americans sought refuge in other countries. by Throughline
54 min listen
Savarkar's India: Right-wing Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi has won reelection as Prime Minister of India. We look back at Vinayak Savarkar, one of the architects of Hindu nationalism. by Throughline
34 min listen
American Anthem: This week, we share three stories from NPR Music's American Anthem series that highlight the origins of songs that have become ingrained in American culture. by Throughline
26 min listen
Before Stonewall: The protests at The Stonewall Inn 50 years ago fueled the gay rights movement. But gay activists were fighting harassment and discrimination years before. by Throughline
38 min listen
The Dark Side Of The Moon: This week, the story of how the U.S. space program was made possible by former Nazis. by Throughline
39 min listen
The Litter Myth: How one organization changed the American public's relationship with waste and who is ultimately responsible for it. by Throughline
36 min listen
Mass Incarceration: From the creation of the first penitentiaries in the 1800s, to the "tough-on-crime" prosecutors of the 1990s, how America created a culture of mass incarceration. by Throughline
48 min listen
Mitch McConnell: Mitch McConnell is one of the least popular politicians in the country, so how did he win eight consecutive elections? This week, we share an Embedded ep. that traces his history. by Throughline
32 min listen

More Episodes from Throughline

Skip carousel

The 4th Amendment: Search and Seizure by Throughline
49 min listen
The Ghost in Your Phone (Throwback) by Throughline
52 min listen
Ralph Nader, Consumer Crusader by Throughline
47 min listen
The 14th Amendment by Throughline
50 min listen
The Land of the Fee (Throwback) by Throughline
45 min listen
A History of Hezbollah by Throughline
50 min listen
The Great Textbook War by Throughline
48 min listen
Radiolab: Worst. Year. Ever by Throughline
39 min listen
A Symphony of Resistance (Throwback) by Throughline
56 min listen
The Rise of the Right Wing in Israel by Throughline
53 min listen
The Right to An Attorney by Throughline
51 min listen
Dance Yourself Free (Throwback) by Throughline
50 min listen
Love, Throughline by Throughline
53 min listen
The Scent of History by Throughline
51 min listen
James Baldwin's Shadow (Throwback) by Throughline
44 min listen
Bonus: The Empty Grave of Comrade Bishop by Throughline
50 min listen
The Man Who Cured Aging by Throughline
50 min listen
The Right to Bear Arms by Throughline
52 min listen
When Things Fall Apart (Throwback) by Throughline
50 min listen
The Nostalgia Bone (2021) by Throughline
57 min listen
Editing Reality (2023) by Throughline
52 min listen
Apology: The Way Back (2023) by Throughline
52 min listen
Dare to Dissent by Throughline
50 min listen
The Lord Of Misrule by Throughline
49 min listen
A.D.A. Now! (2020) by Throughline
58 min listen
How U.S. Unions Took Flight by Throughline
47 min listen
A History of Hamas by Throughline
52 min listen
Grenada: Nobody's Backyard (2021) by Throughline
58 min listen
The Supreme Court's Shadow Docket by Throughline
50 min listen

Related podcast episodes

Skip carousel

How We Vote by Throughline
58 min listen
The Everlasting Problem by Throughline
54 min listen
The Evangelical Vote: What it means to be an evangelical today and how that has changed over time. by Throughline
62 min listen
The Shadows of the Constitution by Throughline
44 min listen
Bush v. Gore and Why It Matters in 2020 by Throughline
29 min listen
The Most Sacred Right by Throughline
64 min listen
The United States vs. Billie Holiday by Throughline
33 min listen
Outside/In: War of the Worlds by Throughline
37 min listen
Follow The Money by The Voucher Scam
33 min listen
BONUS: Louder Than A Riot by Throughline
49 min listen
Is America in a third reconstruction?: Peniel E. Joseph, author of "The Third Reconstruction," joins us this week to discuss how the era from Barack Obama's election to George Floyd's murder compare to the post-Civil War Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement. by Democracy Works
47 min listen
Alexis Wells-Oghoghomeh, "The Souls of Womenfolk: The Religious Cultures of Enslaved Women in the Lower South" (UNC Press, 2021): An interview with Alexis Wells-Oghoghomeh by New Books in Religion
55 min listen
The Anatomy of Autocracy: Timothy Snyder by Throughline
38 min listen
The news is by — and for — rich, white liberals by The Gray Area with Sean Illing
63 min listen
The Invention of Race by Throughline
41 min listen
Reframing History: The Commentator by Throughline
31 min listen
Was the cruelty the point? by The Gray Area with Sean Illing
61 min listen
A Pack Of Wolves by Throughline
50 min listen
Made in America (Seeing White, Part 3): Chattel slavery in the United States, with its distinctive – and strikingly cruel – laws and structures, took shape over many decades in colonial America. The innovations that built American slavery are inseparable from the construction of... by Scene on Radio
34 min listen
Democracy Awakening with Heather Cox Richardson by Just the Right Book with Roxanne Coady
57 min listen
Reframing History: Bananas by Throughline
57 min listen
CAFE Insider Special 1/27: Breyer Retires by Now & Then
1 min listen
Treva B. Lindsey, "America, Goddam: Violence, Black Women, and the Struggle for Justice" (U California Press, 2022): An interview with Treva B. Lindsey by New Books in Critical Theory
52 min listen
How Howard University shaped Kamala Harris: A new Senate report alleges close ties between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia. And how Sen. Kamala D. Harris was shaped by her time at the historically Black Howard University. by Post Reports
31 min listen
What did Teddy Roosevelt do to Dr. Seuss?!: In today’s special episode, Mango sits down with Erin McCarthy, editor-in-chief of Mental Floss to talk about everything Teddy Roosevelt… from whether he really climbed a mountain out of spite, to how a seal inspired his fossil collection, to what made him so darn productive (hint: it helps to drink coffee from a mug the size of a bathtub). Plus, we get into just how high-pitched TR’s voice was, and why Dr. Seuss was so darn scared of him. by Part-Time Genius
46 min listen
Remembering George Floyd and Reimagining Abortion and Community Care: This week, Farai is joined by Washington Post investigative journalists and co-authors, Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa to talk about their new biography His Name is George Floyd and why they chose to document George Floyd’s life, legacy, aspirations and the systematic marginalization that derailed him from the American dream. Then Farai interviews writer and visual artist, K. Ibura about her debut youth novel, When the World Turned Upside Down, that explores overcoming adversity with the help of community during racial reckonings and COVID. And on the weekly segment Sippin’ the Political Tea, Breya Johnson of the Black Women’s Health Imperative joins Farai to discuss the fallout of the Supreme Court decision on abortion rights and what it means for all women and birthing people. by Our Body Politic
50 min listen
02/19/2023: Candles Against the Darkness, Prime Minister Marin, The Historymakers by 60 Minutes
42 min listen
The Short Stacks 14: Etaf Rum//A Woman is No Man: Etaf Rum is a debut author, whose book A Woman is No Man, is one of the buzziest of the year. The story follows three gerneations of women in a Palestinian family, and throughout we are asked to grapple with the themes of identity, self... by The Stacks
26 min listen
To Free the Captives: A Plea for the American Soul by ALOUD @ Los Angeles Public Library
66 min listen
How Persistence Led to the Passage of the 19th Amendment - Giving Women the Right to Vote by The CBS Mornings Podcast
29 min listen

Discover this podcast and so much more

The Electoral College

The Electoral College

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from Throughline

Related podcast episodes