Tracing The Path is a 20th Century History podcast exploring how ordinary people, products, ideas, events, and places unexpectedly shaped the modern world.

Every episode begins with something familiar—a word, a company, a song, an invention, a historical event, or a cultural phenomenon—and follows the surprising chain of connections that made it matter.

Why did a grocery store change the course of the Cold War?

How did a simple greeting become part of everyday life?

What do advertising agencies, world leaders, musicians, inventors, and soft drink companies have in common?

More than you might think.

Hosted by award-winning storyteller Dan R. Morris, Tracing The Path connects familiar people, products, events, and places you never knew were linked, bringing together the forgotten figures, unexpected decisions, remarkable coincidences, and cultural turning points that shaped the 20th Century—and continue to influence our lives today.

Inspired by the storytelling traditions of Paul Harvey, Charles Kuralt, Charles Osgood, and Garrison Keillor, each episode approaches 20th Century History not as a collection of isolated events, but as an interconnected story waiting to be traced.

The individual pieces of these stories may already be known. What makes Tracing The Path different is the way those pieces are brought together—creating stories you've never heard before about things you thought you already knew.

Whether we're exploring world-changing inventions, iconic brands, cultural turning points, political upheavals, or everyday objects with extraordinary histories, the result is designed to leave you with that rare feeling:

“I had no idea.”

Because the modern world didn't appear overnight.

Someone built it.

Something changed it.

And everything is connected.

New episodes monthly, plus bonus Addendum episodes featuring the stories that didn't make the final cut.

Visit TracingThePath.com for episode transcripts, discussion questions, trivia, and additional resources.