Podcasts · Kids & Family

The Way the World Works: A Tuttle Twins Podcast for Families

Connor Boyack

300 episodes

From the trusted team behind the Tuttle Twins books, join us as we tackle current events, hot topics, and fun ideas to help your family find clarity in a world full of confusion.

Episodes page 1 of 6

  1. 733. What Would The World Be Like Without Global Trade?

    · 14 min · Episode 733

    Look around your house. How many of the things you see would be missing if only America made them? Today on The Way the World Works, Brittany explores how trading with other nations gave us the clothes, flavors,…

  2. 732. Were The "Good Old Days" Ever Really A Thing?

    · 13 min · Episode 732

    Ever catch yourself saying "things were so much better back in the day"? You're in good company, and there's a whole lot of psychology behind it. Today on The Way the World Works, Brittany takes on the "good old…

  3. 731. How Does A Case Get to The Supreme Court?

    · 20 min · Episode 731

    Ever heard someone threaten to take a fight all the way to the Supreme Court — and wondered what that actually means? Today on The Way the World Works, Brittany walks through exactly how a case climbs to the highest…

  4. 730. How The Ice Trade Changed The World

    · 21 min · Episode 730

    Getting ice for your drink takes about four seconds and zero thought — but for most of human history it was a luxury you could not buy at any price. Today on The Way the World Works, Brittany tells the story of how…

  5. 729. Samuel Gorton: The Radical Defender of Liberty Before America Existed

    · 14 min · Episode 729

    What if the man who fought hardest for liberty in early America is one you've never heard of? Today on The Way the World Works, Brittany shares the story of Samuel Gorton, one of the earliest and boldest pro-liberty…

  6. 728. What Can Wikipedia Teach Us about Decentralization of Knowledge?

    · 10 min · Episode 728

    What if the internet's biggest experiment in trusting ordinary people with knowledge actually solved a problem economists once said could never be solved? As Wikipedia turns 25 years old, let's take a minute to…

  7. 727. What Is The Backfire Effect?

    · 12 min · Episode 727

    Have you ever shown someone the facts, expected them to change their mind, and watched them dig in even harder instead? Today on The Way the World Works, Brittany continues the show's ongoing series on "beware our…

  8. 726. Why You Should Learn to Love Rejection

    · 13 min · Episode 726

    Nobody likes hearing "no." But what if learning to actually enjoy rejection is the real secret to success? No one likes being told no. But if you want to be successful in life, you better learn how to hear it — and…

  9. 725. What Did Henry Ford Teach Us about Minimum Wages?

    · 11 min · Episode 725

    What if the free market could raise wages faster and more effectively than any government mandate ever could? We hear it constantly: the government should raise the minimum wage, or states should set their own higher…

  10. 724. What Is Shrinkflation?

    · 11 min · Episode 724

    Ever noticed your favorite candy bar or bag of chips seems smaller than it used to be? You're not imagining it - that's shrinkflation, and it's happening all around you. We've all heard of inflation, but what do you…

  11. 723. What Is Castle Law?

    · 12 min · Episode 723

    There's a 400-year-old legal doctrine that still decides what happens if someone breaks into your house tonight — and most people have never heard its actual name. Brittany is back with another dive into property…

  12. 722. What Do You Call A War That Isn't Called A War?

    · 14 min · Episode 722

    If bombs are dropping and troops are being sent overseas, does it matter what the president decides to call it? Today's episode continues a conversation about war powers: who actually has the constitutional authority…

  13. 721. Is Capitalism Fair and Just?

    · 15 min · Episode 721

    If you built something with your own hands and your own time, who should get to keep it — and does the answer to that question tell you everything you need to know about capitalism? Today's episode tackles a big…

  14. 720. What Is The Bystander Effect?

    · 11 min · Episode 720

    *Would you actually call for help if you saw someone in trouble — or would you quietly assume someone else already had it covered?* Today's episode digs into one of the most eye-opening psychological biases from The…

  15. 719. What If Birthday Parties Were Centrally Planned?

    · 13 min · Episode 719

    You already know exactly what you'd want at your own birthday party — so what happens when a total stranger on the other side of the world tries to plan it for you? Brittany uses birthday parties to explain one of…

  16. 718. Why Group Projects Go Wrong — And What That Teaches Us About Running a Country

    · 12 min · Episode 718

    If your group project grade ever got wrecked by one teammate who did nothing, you already understand why entire economies collapse. Group projects rarely go well — someone always ends up doing all the work while…

  17. 717. Who Was Madam C.J. Walker?

    · 10 min · Episode 717

    She was born in a Louisiana cotton field to parents who had been enslaved, orphaned by age seven, and married at fourteen to escape an abusive home — yet Madam C.J. Walker became the first self-made female millionaire…

  18. 716. How The King's Search for Gun Powder Strengthened Property Rights

    · 15 min · Episode 716

    In 1606, King James's men were tearing up English homes with crowbars searching for a gunpowder ingredient — and the court ruling that finally reined them in is still being cited in property rights cases four centuries…

  19. 715. The Man Who Saved Thomas Jefferson's Life

    · 10 min · Episode 715

    In the dead of night, a 26-year-old Virginian heard hoofbeats on the road to Charlottesville and made a split-second choice that may have saved Thomas Jefferson's life. When British troops launched a surprise raid…

  20. 714. Why NYC's Socialist Mayor Can't Create More Housing

    · 15 min · Episode 714

    New York City just elected a democratic socialist mayor, and his plan to fix the housing crisis starts with getting rid of the very thing that builds houses: private ownership. Brittany dives into the real-world…

  21. 713. What Can Legos Teach Us about Innovation?

    · 10 min · Episode 713

    A struggling Danish carpenter lost his business in the Great Depression, watched his workshop burn to the ground twice, and still built one of the most beloved brands on the planet out of tiny plastic bricks. Legos…

  22. 712. The Baker Who Fed The Continental Army

    · 11 min · Episode 712

    He never fired a shot in battle, but George Washington called him "the general baker" — and without his bread, the Continental Army might have starved before it ever won independence. Christopher Ludwick was a German…

  23. 711. How Did Two People From Massachusetts Advance Religious Liberty?

    · 17 min · Episode 711

    Two colonists broke every rule of Puritan Massachusetts—and accidentally invented American religious liberty. The Puritans and Pilgrims sailed to America seeking freedom to worship as they pleased. But once they had…

  24. 710. John Adams, Free Speech, and the First Constitutional Crisis

    · 14 min · Episode 710

    John Adams helped write America's promise of free speech, then signed a law that made criticizing him a crime. The Revolution was won and the Constitution was ratified. But then what happened? Did the Constitution…

  25. 709. Benedict Arnold: The Hero Who Became a Villain

    · 12 min · Episode 709

    Benedict Arnold saved America at its most desperate hour, then became its most infamous traitor. This is the story of how wounded pride turned a war hero into a villain. Before he became America's most famous traitor,…

  26. 708. Seeing America Through Fresh Eyes

    · 9:51 · Episode 708

    A German tourist's viral videos about hotel rooms and gas stations reminded millions of Americans just how extraordinary their everyday life really is. During the 2026 World Cup, visitors from around the globe are…

  27. 707. America: An Idea Worth Believing In

    · 9:47 · Episode 707

    A place can be captured. An idea cannot — and that idea is what makes America, America. Historian Gordon S. Wood spent his entire career explaining something most countries never have to explain: why they exist. Wood,…

  28. 706. Why Did The Framers Hate Excessive Fines?

    · 14 min · Episode 706

    The Eighth Amendment says the government can't impose "excessive fines" — but that single clause has a wild, 800-year-old backstory involving a tyrant king, a murder accusation, and a family that paid the ultimate…

  29. 705. Who Was Mercy Otis Warren?

    · 15 min · Episode 705

    She grew up in a house with twelve brothers and sisters, snuck into her uncle's library to devour books she wasn't supposed to read, and became one of the sharpest political writers of the American Revolution — armed…

  30. 704. The Marquis de Lafayette and the Fight for Liberty on Two Continents

    · 13 min · Episode 704

    A 19-year-old French nobleman heard about a group of scrappy colonists fighting for liberty on the other side of the ocean — and decided to risk everything to join them. He wasn't asked. He wasn't paid. He bought a…

  31. 703. John Hancock: More Than a Big Signature

    · 14 min · Episode 703

    John Hancock's name was famous long before he signed the Declaration of Independence — and the story of how he became one of Boston's most powerful merchants reveals exactly why the British crown feared him. Most of…

  32. 702. The Acts That Sparked the American Revolution

    · 17 min · Episode 702

    One law that actually made sugar cheaper ended up setting off a ten-year chain reaction that cost Britain its American colonies. Before the American Revolution, Britain passed a series of laws that slowly pushed the…

  33. 701. How Americans Learned to Celebrate Independence

    · 11 min · Episode 701

    Did the Founders really imagine fireworks, parades, and hot dogs — or did they expect us to celebrate the 4th of July a different way? John Adams made one very specific prediction in 1776, and he was only two days off.…

  34. 700. The Liberty Tree: One of America's First Symbol of Freedom

    · 13 min · Episode 700

    In 1775, before he wrote Common Sense, Thomas Paine wrote a poem about a tree — and that tree was already shaping the American Revolution. The story of the American Revolution is usually told through famous documents…

  35. 699. Who Was Joseph Plumb Martin?

    · 12 min · Episode 699

    Joseph Plumb Martin was just a 15-year-old farm boy when he signed up to fight in the American Revolution — and the memoir he wrote at age 70 gives us one of the only firsthand glimpses of what war was actually like…

  36. 698. The Civilian Spies Who Helped America Win the Revolution

    · 13 min · Episode 698

    Two ordinary civilians — a New York tailor and an enslaved man from Virginia — used their everyday roles to outsmart the British and change the course of the American Revolution. In this episode of The Way the World…

  37. 697. Why Was Moral Character So Important to the Founding Fathers?

    · 13 min · Episode 697

    America's founders believed a free society could only survive if its people practiced self-control, integrity, personal responsibility, and virtue. The Founding Fathers didn't believe freedom meant doing whatever you…

  38. 696. Who Was Deborah Sampson? The Girl Who Disguised Herself to Fight in the Revolution

    · 10 min · Episode 696

    When women weren't allowed to serve in the army, Deborah Sampson risked everything to fight for American independence anyway. Deborah Sampson was one of the most remarkable unsung heroes of the American Revolution.…

  39. 695. Who Was Stephen Langton? The Man Who Told a King "No" and Helped Shape Magna Carta

    · 11 min · Episode 695

    One courageous scholar helped remind the world that even kings must live under the rule of law. Stephen Langton may not be a household name, but his courage and conviction helped change the limits of power forever. As…

  40. 694. Who Was Frédéric Bastiat? The Law, Liberty, and the Proper Role of Government

    · 15 min · Episode 694

    When government stops protecting our rights and starts violating them, the law becomes a weapon instead of a shield. Frédéric Bastiat was a French economist and writer whose timeless essay The Law remains one of the…

  41. 693. Why Was Lexington and Concord So Important? The Shot Heard Around the World

    · 17 min · Episode 693

    The Revolutionary War didn't begin with the Declaration of Independence. It began more than a year earlier when ordinary colonists stood up to the most powerful army in the world. In April 1775, tensions between the…

  42. 692. Who Was Salem Poor? The Forgotten Revolutionary War Hero Who Fought for Liberty

    · 9:22 · Episode 692

    The American Revolution was shaped not only by famous founders, but also by brave, often-overlooked heroes who risked everything for the cause of freedom. You've probably never heard of Salem Poor, but his courage at…

  43. 691. How to Write a Letter to the Editor and Enter the Tuttle Twins America 250 Contest

    · 13 min · Episode 691

    Kids can use persuasive writing, local newspapers, and their own ideas to help celebrate America's 250th birthday in a meaningful way. Did you know kids can get published in real newspapers? A letter to the editor is…

  44. 690. Why Did It Take 50 Years to Go Back to the Moon? Artemis II, NASA, and Government Bureaucracy

    · 10 min · Episode 690

    America landed on the Moon in 1969, but politics, bureaucracy, incentives, and shifting priorities help explain why it took more than 50 years to send astronauts back around it. NASA's Artemis II mission marked the…

  45. 689. Why Your Mom Might Be the Best Central Planner: The Knowledge Problem Explained

    · 9:57 · Episode 689

    Planning works well at home when someone knows everyone's needs — but falls apart when governments try to plan for millions of people they don't understand. Central planning often fails because no single person or…

  46. 688. Are Smartphones and Social Media Making Gen Z and Gen Alpha More Anxious?

    · 12 min · Episode 688

    While technology can help us learn, connect, and create, constant access to smartphones and social media may also be changing childhood in ways we don't fully understand. Author Jonathan Haidt recently wrote The…

  47. 687. May Day vs. Market Day: Why We Should Celebrate Free Markets Instead of Socialism

    · 11 min · Episode 687

    Instead of celebrating force, unions, and collectivism, May 1st is a perfect opportunity to celebrate work, entrepreneurship, voluntary exchange, and the free market. May Day is often known as International Workers'…

  48. 686. Why Do Lemonade Stands Need Protecting? The Fight for Kids' First Businesses

    · 13 min · Episode 686

    Something as simple as a lemonade stand teaches entrepreneurship, responsibility, and creativity, yet in some places, excessive rules are putting those lessons at risk. For generations, lemonade stands have been a…

  49. 685. How Can You Be Entrepreneurial in Everything You Do? The Mindset That Changes Your Life

    · 11 min · Episode 685

    Entrepreneurship isn't just about starting a business; it's about taking initiative, solving problems, and constantly improving everything you do. When most people hear the word "entrepreneur," they think of startups,…

  50. 684. Why Should We Be Concerned About Censorship in Other Countries?

    · 9:40 · Episode 684

    When governments restrict speech abroad — even for jokes, opinions, or "offensive" posts — it sets a precedent that could threaten freedom at home. Across parts of Europe and Canada, governments are increasingly…

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