logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2021
40m 35s

Fighting Fires and Family Secrets

NPR
About this episode
Uncontrollable western wildfires and a hidden family history — two puzzles that can only be solved with knowledge buried in the past. Indigenous people in Montana fight fire with fire, drawing on the unique relationships their ancestors had to one of the West's greatest threats today. And a young woman grapples with the secret that binds her family together, but also tears them apart. This week, we bring you stories produced by two members of the Throughline team: Victor Yvellez and Anya Steinberg. Through their past work before joining the show, we'll travel from the homelands of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes to the freezers of a cryobank to answer questions about family, tradition, and the future.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy
Up next
Today
What Makes Us Free?
What's the role of government in society? What do we mean when we talk about individual responsibility? What makes us free? 'Neoliberalism' might feel like a squishy term that's hard to define and understand. But this ideology, founded by a group of men in the Swiss Alps, is a po ... Show More
49m 9s
Jul 3
Does America Need a Hero?
Captain America: an all-American superhero. Clad in red, white, and blue, he carries only a shield. And he fights only when he must. When it's right.But what happens when what's right isn't so clear? And how does a comic book hero designed to represent America's values survive in ... Show More
51m 5s
Jun 29
Iran and the U.S., Part Three: Soleimani's Iran
The Iran-Iraq war, 9/11, and the story of Iranian Revolutionary Guard general Qassem Soleimani, from his rise to power, to his assassination, by the U.S., to the power his legacy wields now.This episode originally ran as Soleimani's Iran. You can find more of Throughline's covera ... Show More
45m 33s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2023
The Destructive Power of the Family, From Oedipus to the Godfather
Family has been an inexhaustible source of conflict for writers from the ancient to modern worlds – maybe even more inexhaustible than war. From Greek dramatists Aeschylus and Sophocles to Confucius, family is a source of both self-destruction and self-actualization. In this epis ... Show More
32m 10s
Jul 2022
America's Serial Killer Family
When the Bender family disappeared from Labette county, Kansas, in 1873, they left a dozen bodies buried in the garden of their home. But who were they? Who were their victims? And why did people take bricks from their well as souvenirs? Today Betwixt the Sheets, Kate is joined b ... Show More
40m 20s
Oct 2022
Faleeha Hassan, "War and Me" (Amazon Crossing, 2022)
An intimate memoir about coming of age in a tight-knit working-class family during Iraq's seemingly endless series of wars.Faleeha Hassan became intimately acquainted with loss and fear while growing up in Najaf, Iraq. Now, in a deeply personal account of her life, she remembers ... Show More
44m 56s
Mar 2021
One Normal Family, 300 Years of History
Every family has a history and delving into the history of one ordinary French family over three centuries provides a remarkable picture of deep social and economic changes. Accounts of the lives of the rich and powerful families of history are commonplace. We have all read about ... Show More
23m 16s
May 2023
Serial Killer Family on the Frontier
Between 1871 and 1872, Labette County, Kansas became a source of mystery. Several people have gone missing on their journey west and a few bodies have been found. Is this the work of highway robbers? Or could it be the peculiar family who live beside the Great Osage Trail? Don is ... Show More
40m 48s
Jul 2023
Tons of People Married Their First Cousins
What do Albert Einstein, Jesse James and Saddam Hussein have in common? Like many notable figures throughout history, these men ended up marrying their first cousins. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max dive into the stories of how these historical figures ended up in romantic ... Show More
51m 2s
May 2022
Tracing forgotten female ancestors
Kim Chakanetsa meets two genealogists passionate about uncovering the forgotten stories of their clients' female ancestors. Kenyatta D Berry is a lawyer and genealogist from the USA. She is the author of The Family Tree Toolkit and the co-host of The Genealogy Roadshow on PBS. Sh ... Show More
27m 32s
May 2023
The Rise & Fall of the de la Pole Family
The de la Pole dynasty played a central role in the Wars of the Roses. Theirs is a fascinating story of the rises and falls that plagued families - and the disputes within them - as they tried to chart the stormy waters of a civil war.  In this edition of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewi ... Show More
26m 27s
Jan 2023
Leur histoire d'amour a fait scandale dans la famille
« Leur histoire d'amour a fait scandale dans la famille » diffusée le 24/01/2023 à 13h55 sur France 2.  Un amour qui a fait grincer des dents et pour lequel ils ont dû se battre… Au point de couper les ponts avec leur famille qui a tout fait pour s’opposer à cette histoire.  Tous ... Show More
58m 20s