Ramtin Arablui

And like her book title implies, Winifred believes the Postal Service provided the technological infrastructure the American Revolution needed in order to succeed and then run a new democratic republic.

We know that revolutions are often fueled by new technologies.

Take the role Twitter played in organizing and connecting uprisings that took place a little over a decade ago in Tunisia, Egypt, and Syria during this so-called Arab Spring.

The American Revolution might have taken place centuries ago, and the post office might not seem anything like social media.

But consider that back then, the post office gave people in the American colonies a new way of sharing information more easily across more places than they could ever before.

And it would become a lifeline connecting people, quietly at first, to ideas that would change the world.

So today, me and Run bring you the story of how the U.S.

Postal Service fueled a revolution and gave rise to the United States of America.

That's coming up after a quick break.

She spoke to us from that little cowboy town, Du Bois, Wyoming.

Just a heads up, we talked to Winifred in the summer of 2020 at the start of the pandemic, so the audio quality may not be what you're used to hearing on this show.

That's it for this week's episode of America in Pursuit, a limited series from NPR and 3LINE.

If you want to hear more about the role of the U.S.

Postal Service in the years after the American Revolution, check out the full-length ThruLine episode called, you guessed it, The Postal Service.

And make sure to join us next week when the American Revolutionaries start building the U.S.

government from the ground up.

The executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judiciary.

How the Supreme Court went from the least powerful branch of government to the powerful arbiter it is today.

Don't miss it.

This episode was produced by Kiana Moghadam and edited by Christina Kim, with help from the Thuline production team.