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They're little snapshots of what a country thinks is important about itself at the time they were issued.

The Story of America in 25 Objects.

It's Friday, January 23rd, and this is here and now anytime from NPR and WBOR.

I'm Chris Bennett.

The United States turns 250 years old in July, counting from the Declaration of Independence,

at least, HBD, America. To mark the occasion, we're looking at 25 objects from the archives

of the Smithsonian Institution that tell the story of America. Today, we're looking at 25 objects from the archives of the Smithsonian Institution

that tell the story of America.

Today, we'll hear about postage stamps from 1847 and the actual original Star-Spangled Banner

that inspired the national anthem.

Yes, it's a real flag.

The fertility of the flag and the care that we provide for this flag to preserve it for another 200 years

is like the care that we as Americans need to give to our democracy.

You can learn a lot about American history from seemingly small items.

So we'll be telling these stories every other Friday from now on till July.

Make sure you click that follow button, whether you listen to this podcast on Spotify,

Apple, the NPR app, or somewhere else, so you don't miss any of that. But without further ado,

I'll hand it over to Peter O'Dowd to get us started.

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