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On this episode of Our American Stories, some inventions solve problems. Others change the world in ways nobody could have predicted. The plow helped make civilization possible by creating agricultural surpluses and supporting cities, governments, and armies. Barbed wire transformed the American West, turning open prairie into private property and helping settle the frontier. Google Search changed how we find information, reshaping the internet and becoming so ubiquitous that its name became a verb.

Economist and bestselling author Tim Harford shares the surprising stories behind three inventions that profoundly altered the way people live, work, and interact with the world.

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