Show notes
America’s 250th birthday calls for a history as sprawling and contradictory as the country itself. A History of the United States in 100 Objects — hosted by Roman Mars and produced by BBC Studios and 99% Invisible — tells that history one thing at a time. A gold coin from an 1857 shipwreck that triggered a financial panic. An antebellum schoolbook that became an instrument of Black liberation. A ceramic dalmatian from the set of Wheel of Fortune . Or a tiny screw that shows how the US created a hidden industrial empire. Each week, an object opens the door into an extraordinary, often shocking story — about who we’ve been, what we’ve built, and what we’ve allowed ourselves to forget. Some of these objects are well-known. Many are not. But all of them carry the story of how we got to this moment. This is not one narrative. It’s a hundred of them — forming a kaleidoscope that reveals a country stranger and more fascinating than any single telling could capture. Launching May 19, 2026 , wherever you listen to 99% Invisible. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Highlighted moments
“The screw thread is a simple device, but it ties together the whole mechanical skeleton of our civilization.”
“The blueback speller is something that became a particularly prized possession because it meant that you might not be free in body, but you could be free in mind.”
“But there is another story to be told, using the objects that you don't see on sweaty field trips to museums. The equivalent of the ticket stubs, and the favorite knickknacks, and the paperclips.”
Transcript
0:00Wherever you are, stop for a moment and take a look around you. At all times, you are surrounded by objects that at first glance seem meaningless. But if you really think about them, they tell stories. A boarding pass that's still folded in your pocket. The book on the shelf that you were assigned in freshman seminar only read half of, but you still held onto for 20 years. The picture of your kids at the beach. Or even the paperclip that once fastened some important papers, but for the life of you, you can't remember which ones.
0:36Gather enough of these objects, and they begin to form a biography of who you are through things. The precious keepsakes, the clutter on your nightstand, even the stuff you'll eventually throw away.
0:49Now, stay with me here. Imagine you are the United States of America, and it's your 250th birthday. What objects would tell your history?
1:00Of course, there's the original Declaration of Independence, and Lincoln's top hat, and, I don't know, like a cannon from Fort Sumter. All worthy and fascinating objects, to be sure. But there is another story to be told, using the objects that you don't see on sweaty field trips to museums. The equivalent of the ticket stubs, and the favorite knickknacks, and the paperclips. Like a bootleg band t-shirt that tells the history of American punk rock.
1:31Or a little blue book that enslaved people transformed into a tool of liberation. Or a one-inch screw that shows how America built a hidden industrial empire. The screw thread is a simple device, but it ties together the whole mechanical skeleton of our civilization. Which, on the one hand, seems overblown, but you're like, is it wrong? I don't know that it's wrong. It's not wrong, my guy. From 99% Invisible and BBC Studios, I'm Roman Mars, and this is a history of the United States in 100 Objects.
2:04As the country marks its semi-quincentennial, a word I will never say again, we're going to collect objects from across American history. 100 objects, to be exact. Picture a Western where they're robbing a train, and there's a safe on one of the cars of the railroad train. This is the icon of his presidency. This is it. This is the Billy Possum. To tell the story of who we are and where we've been. Remember, this is before the invention of the electric bulb.
2:34So, when night fell, it was a night. Yes. We're going to talk to historians and journalists and regular folks who are obsessed with objects beyond the official record. Like forgotten nobodies, they might have well have been called. Objects that tell a history as sprawling and contradictory as America itself. The blueback speller is something that became a particularly prized possession because it meant that you might not be free in body, but you could be free in mind.
3:04100 Objects. 100 Stories. A new history of the U.S. hiding in plain sight. A history of the United States in 100 Objects. A brand new show from the BBC and 99% Invisible. We're going to publish a new episode every Friday in the 99% Invisible feed, which you can find wherever you get your podcasts. To be here in, let's see.