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

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 with nothing but wit, satire, and a pen. Mercy Otis Warren doesn't get nearly the attention she deserves, but she's one of the most important Founding Mothers in American history. Bor...

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 boat, defied his own government, and crossed a dangerous ocean because he believed in an idea. Most people know the Marquis de Lafayette as a character from the Broadway musical Hamilto...

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 us picture John Hancock as the man with the boldest signature on the Declaration of Independence. But before he put pen to parchment, he was one of colonial Boston's most successful en...

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 colonies toward rebellion. In this episode of The Way the World Works, we explain why the Revolution wasn't sparked by one dramatic event — it was the result of ten years of escalating...

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. Why do Americans celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks, parades, and barbecues? In this episode of The Way the World Works, we travel back to 1776 to discover how the Founders...

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 and famous men, but some of the earliest and most powerful symbols of colonial resistance weren't speeches or armies at all. One of the first was a real elm tree on Boston Common — an...

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 for an ordinary Continental soldier. The story of the American Revolution is usually told through its most famous figures — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration, the Co...

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 Works, we tell the stories of two civilian spies who helped America win independence without ever joining the army. Hercules Mulligan, a tailor in British-occupied New York, used the g...

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 wanted without consequences. Leaders like George Washington , John Adams , Benjamin Franklin , and Thomas Jefferson understood that liberty requires strong moral character — because i...

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. Born in Massachusetts and raised through hardship, she grew up strong, determined, and deeply committed to the cause of liberty. But because women were not allowed to serve as soldiers,...

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 Archbishop of Canterbury, Langton refused to become a pawn of King John and later helped give the barons the language, ideas, and moral clarity they needed to stand against the king'...

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 clearest defenses of liberty, property rights, and limited government. His central question was simple but powerful: What is the law actually supposed to do? In this episode of The Way...

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 American colonies and the British Crown finally erupted in Massachusetts at Lexington and Concord. Long before the Declaration was signed, colonists had already been resisting British...

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 the Battle of Bunker Hill made him one of the most remarkable unsung heroes of the Revolutionary War. Born into slavery in Massachusetts in 1747, Salem worked hard, saved money, and...

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 a short opinion piece submitted to a local newspaper or news outlet, giving readers the chance to share their thoughts on important issues in their community or country. In this episo...

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 first crewed lunar flight in over five decades, sending four astronauts around the Moon and farther from Earth than humans have traveled in generations. But if America had already reach...

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 government agency can possibly know what every individual needs, wants, values, or prefers. But there may be one exception: your mom. Inside a household, moms often know who likes which...

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 Anxious Generation , a book arguing that smartphones, social media, and reduced free play are contributing to rising anxiety and mental health struggles among younger generations. For Gen...

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' Day, a holiday rooted in labor movements and socialist ideas about class struggle, unions, and government control over working conditions. But what if we used May 1st to celebrate some...

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 classic symbol of childhood entrepreneurship. But in recent years, kids across the country have faced surprising obstacles — from permits and fines to neighborhood restrictions — just fo...

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, billionaires, or building a company. But the truth is, entrepreneurial thinking goes far beyond business — it's a mindset that can transform your work, your habits, your education, a...

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 policing speech in ways that would shock many Americans. From fines for insulting politicians to investigations over social media posts, these policies raise serious questions about where...

While taxes are often described as the "price we pay for society," their history, purpose, and impact raise deeper questions about freedom, property, and government power. From ancient civilizations to modern governments, taxation has always been a central part of political systems. Many people accept taxes as unavoidable — even necessary — but few stop to ask where taxes come from or whether they...

Protecting the environment doesn't require government control — it can thrive through personal responsibility, property rights, and free market innovation. Every year around Earth Day, there's a growing narrative that if you support free markets or limited government, you must not care about the environment. But is that really true? Or are there better, more effective ways to protect nature withou...

After the horrors of World War II, the world had to answer a difficult question: should individuals be held responsible for evil actions, even if they were "just following orders"? The Nuremberg Trials marked a turning point in global justice. For the first time, leaders and participants of a regime were held personally accountable for war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity — setting a...