The Global Story - The soft power superpower, with Roman Mars
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Hi In Our Time listeners, Misha Glenny here. I wanted to share a great episode from The Global Story, the BBC's daily international news podcast. This week they're publishing a special collection around the 250th anniversary of the United States, exploring America's relationship with the world. In this episode, Asma and Tristan speak with Roman Mars from 99% Invisible and the new host of the History of the United States in 100 Objects to talk about soft power. How America's drive to standardise something as small as the screw meant the US now decides how the world is built. If you want to listen to more episodes from this landmark series, find it on The Global Story. And if you're in the UK, listen on BBC Sounds.
If you're outside the UK, find it on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
The United States is about to mark 250 years since its founding.
Most Americans know that their country has profoundly shaped the world that we all live in. They liberated most of Europe in World War II. They invented things like the electric pencil sharpener, the atom bomb, the internet, the personal computer, breakfast cereal.
I admit, I didn't know we actually invented all those things. But like many big birthdays, this is a moment of celebration over here in Washington and across the country. It is also, though, a moment of angst and introspection, a moment to reflect on America as an idea, as a country, as a people.
So we're stepping back from the news to dedicate a whole week of episodes to the surprising tales of American influence on the world stage and in ordinary people's lives across the globe.
since we are a show about where the world and America meet. We have been looking into some gripping stories about how, over the years, the United States has shaped the world.
People think in stories, and we have this ability to export our story, and a lot of people have bought it.
And today, with the help of the podcaster Roman Mars, we tell the story of the United States as an innovator and how being inventive isn't just about creating things. From the BBC, I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. And I'm Tristan Redman in London. And today on The Global Story, how America used soft power to build a hidden empire. Asma, as we celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States, I want to start with a big question for you. What does the United States mean to Asma Khalid?
That is a big question. You know, I know that this is a moment in which many people in the United States are feeling really polarised. But I will also say, as you all who work with me have probably gleaned, I am somebody who believes deeply in the promise of the United States. And in major part, that's because my family's story here in the United States is so fundamentally linked to opportunities and inventions in the United States. My uncle had polio as a small child living in Pakistan, and they moved to the United States in 1962 for polio treatment. The best polio treatments in the world were here. The polio vaccine was invented in the United States. And yes, I'm clear-eyed that there are many debates now happening with an administration that has...
cut support for funding, has raised questions about trust in vaccines and science. I know that those are the debates we are having in this moment. But you're also speaking to somebody whose life has been fundamentally reshaped because of the opportunities that the United States could provide her family.
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