Marisa Magnatta is joined by the Official Baseball Historian for Major League Baseball, John Thorn, to talk about America’s first baseball team, The Olympic Ball Club of Philadelphia, and how it planted the roots of America’s favorite pastime.

Before there was a national economy, someone had to figure out how to pay for one. This episode tells the story of the First Bank of the United States, born right here in Philadelphia in 1791, and how a fierce fight over this bank set the terms of a constitutional debate we're still having today. Host Marisa Magnatta is joined by Dr. Peter C. Earle, Senior Director of Research at the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), an economist and financial markets expert with over 30 years of experience.

Before there was freedom of the press, someone had to make the paper. This episode tells the story of William Rittenhouse, the immigrant who built America's first paper mill in Germantown in 1690, and why that mill wasn't just an industrial first, but the foundation of free speech in the colonies. Host Marisa Magnatta is joined by Professor Joseph M. Adelman, a historian of early American media, communication, and politics.

Most people think Stonewall was where the LGBTQ+ rights movement began, but Philadelphia got there first. This episode tells the story of the first Annual Reminder Demonstration, a series of Independence Day protests held at Independence Hall years before Stonewall, and how a simple act of holding hands helped ignite the modern Pride movement. Host Marisa Magnatta is joined by Rue Landau, Philadelphia City Councilmember At-Large, civil rights attorney, and the first openly LGBTQ+ member of Philadelphia City Council.

This episode tells the story of how thirteen fractured colonies — each with their own militias, customs, and loyalties — were forged into a single fighting force: the Continental Army. Host Marisa Magnatta is joined by Matthew Skic, Director of Collections and Exhibitions at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, whose award-winning curatorial work on the Revolutionary War brings the look, feel, and human drama of America's first army vividly to life.

Marisa sits down with Betsy Ross herself to dig into the story of the first American flag, the remarkable woman behind it, and why her story still resonates nearly 250 years later.

This episode tells the story of the strange, smoke-belching invention that changed transportation forever: the first successful steamboat for passengers and freight, launched on the Delaware River by an almost-forgotten inventor named John Fitch. Host Marisa Magnatta is joined by Mike Madeja, whose work bringing maritime history to life offers a unique window into the ambition, risk-taking, and river culture that shaped early America.

This episode explores the remarkable story of how Philadelphia hosted the 1876 Centennial Exhibition: the first World's Fair ever held in the United States – and in doing so, introduced the world to the telephone, the typewriter, ketchup, and a new vision of American identity. Host Marisa Magnatta is joined by John Sigmund, Director of Partnerships & Sponsorships at the Fairmount Park Conservancy and a resident caretaker of the very park where it all happened.

This episode uncovers the Philadelphia origins of American medicine. Host Marisa Magnatta is joined by the CEO of Penn Medicine, Kevin Mahoney, to explore the remarkable story of how two Philadelphia icons, a doctor and a founding father, made it so that healthcare could be more accessible to the working-class public by starting the first ever hospital in America, changing the trajectory of medicine for good. 

This episode dives into the Philadelphia roots of Mother’s Day. Host Marisa Magnatta is joined by journalist, content creator, and new mom Holly Jones to explore the remarkable story of Anna Jarvis, the woman who fought to establish Mother's Day as a national holiday…and then spent the rest of her life trying to take it back.