Welcome to The Story of the United States in 100 Objects. Before we get into the objects, artifacts, and arguments, Tim and Andrea sit down to introduce the show: what it is, why they're doing it, and what you can expect from the next 100 episodes.

In this episode:

• Who Tim and Andrea are (married, competitive, self-described "non-historians")
• The idea behind the show: telling the story of America through 250 years of objects, from a rushed printer's broadside to a rock from another world
• How episodes will work, one object per episode, plus the running debate between two people who don't always agree on what it means
• What's coming up first: Episode 1 will be a birth certificate. You'll have to subscribe to find out whose birth certificate it is.

Thanks for being here for the introductory episode ...