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The Best One Yet

🌆 Sesame Street: The Trojan Horse of TV

The Best One Yet

Nick & Jack Studios

News, Business

4.7 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet here: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/


Once upon a time, American kids had a problem—OK, two. They were watching way, WAY too much TV and they were falling way, way behind in school. But then a trailblazing producer and her psychologist friend asked a bold question: What if we used the first problem to solve the second? The result: Sesame Street, home of Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Bert & Ernie, and a social-media superstar named Elmo. Since Sesame Street’s debut in 1969—the same year as the moon landing!—the show’s helped educate more than 150 million kids in 70 different languages while breaking racial barriers along the way. It’s also taught us the meaning of friendship, the value of neighbors, and the joy of a good rubber ducky. And it was only possible thanks to audacious creators, educators, and one shaggy-looking puppeteer named James Maury Henson (but you can call him Jim). Learn about Kermit The Frog’s commercial past, why the only bets worth making are contrarian ones, and why Sesame Street is the best idea yet.


Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet for the untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed with — and the bold risk takers who made them go viral.


Episodes drop every Tuesday, listen here: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Yeties, Nick and Jack here.

0:03.1

We're still on Jack's paternity leave, although we're going to be back very, very soon.

0:07.8

Full disclosure, we've recorded this before my paternity leave.

0:10.6

Yes, we did.

0:11.6

But in the meantime, we wanted to whip up something special for you.

0:14.7

And that thing is the best idea yet.

0:17.0

The best idea yet.

0:17.8

Our second show, it's weekly, and it dives deep into the most viral

0:21.4

products of all time. Today, it's Sesame Street, the most surprisingly powerful story we've ever

0:27.2

covered. As I read the script for this story, I cried. Yeah, twice. Also in the recording,

0:32.5

and since Jack's about to return from paternity leave, we thought the timing of this was perfect.

0:38.4

So, Eddie, sit back,

0:42.6

relax, and enjoy this sample of the best idea yet with our Sesame Street episode.

0:54.4

Nick, as you know, I decided to go to Paris this summer. Wee Not just with Alex. We brought both boys, too.

0:56.1

Bold move.

0:56.9

We should point out, these boys are under four years old.

0:59.5

And we had four seats next to each other in the middle of the huge airplane.

1:02.6

And everyone loved you on that airplane, didn't they?

1:04.2

Well, you know, we whipped out the nuclear option.

1:07.6

iPads.

1:08.5

Yeah.

1:08.9

The cheapest babysitter there is.

...

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