Ramtin Arablui
speaker
1,100 appearances
12 recordings
1 series
first heard Jan 2026
last heard 27 Aug
Ramtin Arablui’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 12 in all, peaking in Feb 2026 with 6.
Appearances
controlled Congo for 30 years after Lumumba's assassination.
That would end in 1997, after rebels forced him to flee.
They changed the name of the country back to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
And right around the same time, another revolution was taking place, a technological revolution that would once again make Congo the center of the world economy.
Longer-lasting charge on a portable device, the holy grail of electronics.
Lithium batteries, many fueled by cobalt, allowed for the rapid market takeover of laptops and iPods.
But another device was coming that would completely change the world.
The batteries in electric cars use a lot of cobalt.
And electric cars are seen by many as the key to cutting vehicle emissions and the impacts of climate change.
It may be easy to fall into despair after hearing this story, but even Siddharth Kara, who went into the heart of darkness to uncover the truth behind cobalt in the Congo, has found hope.
I'm Ramtin Arablui.
And you've been listening to ThruLine from NPR.
And me.
And.
Lawrence Wu.
Thank you to Chioki Ianson for playing William Henry Shepard.
Thanks also to Tara Neal, Micah Ratner, Johannes Dergi, and Anya Grungman.
Thank you for listening.
This is America in Pursuit, a limited run series from ThruLine and NPR.
I'm Ramtin Adablui.
Showing 101–120 of 1,100 · page 6 of 55
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