Tracing The Path: The Connected 20th Century

By Dan R. Morris - 20th Century Historian

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Category: History

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Subscribers: 12
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Episodes: 73

Description

Tracing The Path is a 20th Century history podcast dedicated to exploring the connections between the defining stories of the twentieth century. Each episode follows surprising connections across time—linking world wars, political movements, cultural revolutions, iconic companies, unforgettable products and groundbreaking inventions.

We uncover the forgotten figures behind history’s turning points, reveal how technology and popular culture reshaped society, and highlight the stories that textbooks overlook. Whether you’re passionate about modern history, fascinated by world events, or looking for a history podcast that brings the 20th century alive through storytelling, Tracing The Path is your guide to understanding the past that shaped our present.

I'm Dan R Morris. I grew up with the greatest storytellers of the 20th century like Paul Harvey, Charles Kuralt, Charles Osgood and Garrison Keillor. And I absolutely loved the amazing stories they told about the people, places, companies, products and events of the 20th Century. 

Tracing the Path uncovers the hidden connections you would never know about the most iconic pop culture happenings of the 1900s. What you thought you knew, prepare to be amazed. 

And check out TracingThePath.com for the associated transcript, trivia/discussion questions, and glossary of key terms for every episode. We're proud to be the most listened to "Audio Hour" at assisted living and nursing homes around the world. 



Episode Date
Episode 79: The Conversation: Yeltsin's Grocery Revolution
May 02, 2026
Episode 78: Yeltsin's Grocery Revolution
Apr 30, 2026
Episode 77: The Conversation: World's Best Music
Apr 01, 2026
Episode 76: The World's Most Famous Music
Mar 29, 2026
Episode 75: The Conversation: The Real Forrest Gump
Mar 11, 2026
Episode 74: The Real Life Forrest Gump
Mar 01, 2026
Episode 73: The Gilded Age: First March on Washington D.C.
Jan 30, 2026
Episode 72: The Invention of Hello
Dec 28, 2025
Episode 71: The Amana Utopia and Patriot Missile
Nov 24, 2025
Episode 70: Who Knows The Truth? Does A.I.?
Oct 24, 2025
Episode 69: Status Symbol for Rent
Sep 29, 2025
Episode 68: Hello Darkness My New Friend - The Story of The Family Who Created Sonar and Braille
Aug 22, 2025
Episode 67: How a Coffee Shop Changed the World: The Origin Story of Lloyds of London
Jul 28, 2025
Episode 66: The America of Tarzan and Buck vs Bell
Jun 27, 2025
Episode 65: When Osama Bin Laden Wrinkled FDR's Plans: The 100 Year Fight Against Polio
May 27, 2025
Episode 64: How did Bob Hope's USO become a thing? And who performed?
Apr 25, 2025
Episode 63: Classified: How the Library Built the FBI and How did J. Edgar Hoover Get Involved?
Mar 25, 2025
Episode 62: The Cheesy Results of WW II: Plus the Story of How Nachos Came to Be
Feb 26, 2025
Episode 61: Every Episode Has 4
Jan 21, 2025
Episode 60: The Secret World of Roald Dahl (A Real Chocolate Spy)
Dec 18, 2024
Episode 59: The True Story of Candy Canes and How They Became a Christmas Tradition
Nov 22, 2024
Episode 58: The Cultural Impact of Don McLean's "American Pie" (and the part Roberta Flack played)
Oct 23, 2024
Episode 57: 1848: The Year Halloween Began and How it Started
Sep 26, 2024
Episode 56: The Amazing Story of Van Diemen's Land and the U.S. Presidential Resolute Desk
Aug 24, 2024
Episode 55: The Story of Grant Wood's American Gothic and How Crayola Was the Inspiration
Jul 28, 2024
Episode 54: America's Westward Expansion and CBS TV's Rural Purge
Jun 21, 2024
Episode 53: Robert Smalls & the Death of Lincoln: A Civil War Story
May 04, 2024
Episode 52: The History of Maritime Law and How The Chinese Spy Balloon Used it
Apr 11, 2024
Episode 51: The NBA?? Origin of the Bloody Mary & Moscow Mule
Mar 10, 2024
Episode 50: How Many Times Has Coca-Cola Changed Their Secret Recipe?
Feb 12, 2024
Episode 49: The 20th Century Trivia Window: Jeopardy & Trivial Pursuit
Jan 10, 2024
Episode 48: The Whole It's A Wonderful Life Movie Story
Nov 19, 2023
Episode 47: Was Dickens the World's First Influencer?
Nov 06, 2023
Episode 46: How East Texas Wildcatters Won World War II
Oct 07, 2023
Episode 45: How the Chinese Exclusion Act Created Bing Cherries and General Tso Chicken
Aug 04, 2023
Episode 44: The Complex History of Popcorn in the 20th Century Culture
Jul 03, 2023
Episode 43: Celebrity Edition: The Rest of the Story
Jun 06, 2023
Episode 42: The Murder That Created the Oxford English Dictionary
May 03, 2023
Episode 41: Halley's Comet and the Scientist who Hijacked a NASA Satellite
Apr 03, 2023
Episode 40: The Evolution of Email and the Enron Corpus
Mar 03, 2023
Episode 39: 484 Year Documentary of Muscle Shoals
Feb 04, 2023
Episode 38: Who Silenced Alfred Hitchcock?
Jan 23, 2023
Episode 37: The Cropduster, The Military Plot & Lindbergh's 322 Bones
Oct 22, 2022
Episode 36: When 26 Million Teens Waited for The Beatles
Sep 21, 2022
Episode 34: Rolex and the Hands that Changed the World
Aug 23, 2022
Episode 35: The Fairy Tale of Sixto Rodriquez
Jul 20, 2022
Episode 33: Finish What You Started
Jun 25, 2022
Episode 32: How the Creation of Blue Dye Became the Signature of the 20th Century
May 20, 2022
Episode 31: Did Russia Start the Peace Movement?
Apr 22, 2022
Episode 30: The Wright Brothers, The Suffragists and the U.S. President
Mar 18, 2022
Episode 29: 187 Years Behind Martin Luther King's Dream
Feb 20, 2022
Episode 28: Will Winnie the Pooh Ever Find Freedom?
Jan 21, 2022
Episode 27: The History and Impact of McCann Erickson
Dec 20, 2021
Episode 26: A Charlie Brown Christmas Podcast (The Trivia)
Nov 17, 2021
Episode 25: Ian Fleming and the Fake Armies of World War II
Oct 22, 2021
Episode 24: How the Cholera Epidemic Jump Started the History of Pizza
Sep 22, 2021
Episode 23: Did the Post Office Grow America?
Aug 23, 2021
Episode 22: How the Supreme Court Created Disney+ and HBOMax
Jul 21, 2021
Episode 21: How H.G. Wells Started Science Fiction and the Space Race
Jun 20, 2021
Episode 20: Connecting The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon
May 19, 2021
Episode 19: Was the Idea for m&ms Stolen or Inspired?
Apr 20, 2021
Episode 18: How Negro League Baseball Solved the Cuban Missile Crisis
Mar 20, 2021
Episode 17: How a Tennessee Student Overturned the Scopes Trial Verdict
Feb 22, 2021
Episode 16: Believe it or Not! A Cartoonist Saved our National Anthem
Jan 20, 2021
Episode 9: How the Transistor and Pirate Radio Created Rock n Roll
Oct 23, 2020
Episode 8: ABCs of the Most Famous Song in the World
Aug 25, 2020
Episode 7: Why Rand McNally's Route 66 Started With Camels
Jul 20, 2020
Episode 6: The Wizard of Oz's 30 Year Miracle
Jun 18, 2020
Episode 5: The John Williams Legacy You Knew Nothing About
May 19, 2020
Episode 4: How Curious George Escaped Nazi Germany
Apr 17, 2020
Episode 3: The Surprising Life Story of Paul Harvey (Radio)
Mar 19, 2020
Episode 2: How the Hostess Twinkie Survived Death (Twice)
Feb 20, 2020
Episode 1: How The Oregon Trail Game Made Apple Computers Famous
Aug 06, 2019