The Best One Yet - 🇺🇸 “Independence Pod” — Reese PB Cups’ frog salesman. Super Soaker’s lawsuit origin. The most profitable coin ever. +Co-Founding Fathers

Episode Date: July 1, 2026

For America’s 250th, we whipped up a show that highlights America’s competitive advantages with three stories:#1. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup: How a Frogsaleseman created the country’s best-selling candy.#2. Super Soaker: Why our legal system was the co-founder of summer's most-popular toy.#3. Collectible State Quarters: The US Mint made $3B on the most profitable coin in history.Plus, the USA is really the world’s biggest startup… and the Declaration of Independence was our IPO.$HSY $HAS $USDGrab your Tickets to the IPO Tour: Our In-Person OfferingSan Francisco 9/23: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1C0064AFB5F688BDBoston 10/14: https://tickets.citywinery.com/event/tboy-the-ipo-tour-in-person-offering-8cdhupSeattle 11/4 (21+): https://www.axs.com/events/1446394/the-best-one-yet-tickets Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Wednesday, so Iche Wednesday, June 31st. And today's pod is the best one yet. This Independence Day pod is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. Well, a happy end of Q2 to all those who celebrate. And what a quarter it has been, by the way, Jack. Stocks rose 15% in the last three months. And for the NASDAQ, it was the best quarter since June of 2020. But Bess, he's like we tease today's pod as the most patriotic one yet. We've been American dreaming on this thing. We are going to show. showcase America's coolest competitive advantage with profiles of two iconic U.S. inventors. Plus, the craziest coin in U.S. history. By the time this show is done, you're going to be deep fried. Jack, three fantastic stories for today's T-Boy. What have we got on the pod? For our first story, America's best-selling candy is the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, invented by a former frog salesman. But Bestie's, his American dream story wouldn't have happened without Milton Hershey. Yeah, this story, it's going to make you cry. That Hershey. For our second story, the Super Soaker is the top toy of the American Summer doing $200 million in annual sales.

But when the company tried to screw the inventor, the inventor found American justice. And our third and final story, 27 years ago, we got the state quarter series, where every state got their own quarter. Who could forget? What a great series. I love to collect those. But it's actually the greatest secret profit puppy in American history. We're talking $3 billion worth off of quarters. But besties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a mix to go into the holiday weekend. Love the mix, Jack.

America turns 250 years old this Saturday. Wow. Nick, that's a quarter of a millennium in age. But Jack paused the pod because we do like to think of America more as the world's most valuable startup. Because the 4th of July wasn't our Independence Day, it was our IPA. Jack, the Revolutionary War that was financed by French VCs. And the founding fathers were co-founders, weren't they, Nick? Literally.

Congress. It became the board of directors. George Washington, he became the CEO. Bessie's, if the Declaration of Independence was our pitch deck, then the Constitution is our terms and conditions. And the Bill of Rights is our shareholder agreement. Jack, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That's the mission statement. All men are created equal.

That's the HR policy. We hold these truths to be self-evident. That line clearly wasn't approved by Legal Nick, but I'm glad it got out there. Either way, America hired Betsy Ross for its first rebranding. Yeah, we turned a bald eagle and some stripes. to Disney-worthy IP. And the $15 million Louisiana purchased that was the ultimate M&A deal. Adjusted for inflation, we paid only $414 million for landmass the size of Saudi Arabia.

Who needs mergers and acquisitions when you got Lewis and Clark? Our national revenue just hit $32 trillion. Yeah, that's an all-time high. Now, we know what you're thinking, besties? Like any startup, it hasn't been a perfect hockey stick growth story. And like every great company, we've strayed from our mission statement from time to time, never quite nailing it. But Besties, this is shareholder democracy. 342 million shares outstanding. Each one gets a vote.

That's why there've been some major leadership changes over the years. Oh, and the business model, yeah, America's has pivoted a couple times too. From agriculture to industry to self-driving burrito delivery today. But besties, we are bullish on America, Inc. Where the dividend ain't cash, it's opportunity. I think what we're trying to say, Jack, is count us in for the next fundraise. From C to shining C. core. Long term old, let's

hit our three stories. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea that caused a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is a norm. Jack Nick, that's it. The practice. 50% that's a fat tip.

Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show. Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, the top selling candy in America is the Reese's peanut butter cup. That's what it is. But Reese's investor, Milton Hershey, represents the best of America's billionaires.

All right, Eddie, you know from following the pod that Jack and I like to jokingly say, In this economy? Well, when we say that, you should consider launching your next product. That's a top theme in American business history from our show, the best idea yet. That's what we've noticed. The most viral American brands often begin with an economic backdrop that is ugly. Like a story we did from 1916, H.B. Reese is a Pennsylvania frog salesman with nine kids and zero career direction. Yes, we did say frog salesman. That's a fact. He raised and sold

frogs to sell the restaurants. Desperate for a job, though, Mr. H.B. Reese follows a help-wanted sign to a little town called Hershey, Pennsylvania. Milton Hershey isn't the mayor of that town. He's the CEO of that town, because it's a company town. And so he takes a like- to the new guy working there, H.B. Reese, who's got nine kids and lives in company housing. Because Milton and his wife loved kids, but weren't able to have their own. On the other hand, H.B. Reese has nine kids and probably doesn't even know all nine of their names. And there's nothing the candy maker Milton Hershey enjoys more than making kids smile. Wanka before Wanka. Wanka, but way less creepy.

This is what Jack and I find fascinating. The creation of the Reese's peanut butter cup. It wasn't a happy accident of chocolate falling into a big. of peanut butter and voila. Although the way that family guy portrays that origin story is hilarious fiction. We do appreciate that one. No, the actual origin of the peanut butter cup is this recipe. A splash of market research, one mistake, and a big hefty serving of economic collapse. Because H.B. Reese was inspired by his boss's candy efforts, so he starts a side hustle.

HB goes full kitchen sink on creating a brand new line of candy chocolates. Jack, what kind of stuff is he whipping up? He tries out coconut, caramel, even honeydew melon. But the first surprise that HB gets, it's when he asks a shopkeeper what sweet is selling. And the guy says, anything with peanut butter in it. The kids, they love peanut butter these days. So he spends the last of his money ordering machines to roast peanuts before turning them into butter. And the very first round of H.B. Reese's peanut butter that comes out is...

Wait, one section. Is that fire? Is something on fire? Am I smelling a fire? It's burned, Nick. Oh, Mom. Pause the pod yeties. because peanut butter made from burned peanuts actually tastes better? It does.

So HB uses this secretly delicious, overroasted peanut butter to inject into chocolate cups, hence Reese's peanut butter cups. That's right. And the launch of the new peanut butter cup creation happens on September 1929. Oh, wait, Jack. Hang on a second. Isn't that a historic date? I'm checking the calendar.

It's a problematic day, Jack. Yeah, that's the same month as the infamous stock market crash on Wall Street. It kicks off 10 years of Great Depression the very month he launches the brand new creation. With 25% unemployment and income down 40% HB can't make payroll. True story, he gives his employees free candy instead, hoping they can sell that for cash. Jack, the government ain't taking income taxes on that sugar, are they, man? But HB takes one last gasp shot at salvaging the business. And it's actually, in our opinion, a financial trick shot, right, Jack?

Because these new peanut butter cups, turns out these. use half as much chocolate as the rest of the sweets in the store. And chocolate is the most expensive ingredient, while peanut butter is the currently trendiest ingredient. So he goes all in on the peanut butter cup. It's lower cost than pure chocolate treats and trendier than pure chocolate treats. And Jack, in this Great Depression economy, it's actually a profit puppy. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Reese's peanut butter cups? Milton Hershey was a benevolent billionaire and a America is known for them. Yeties, Hersh gave Reese his blessing to side hustle the peanut butter cup as long as he did one thing.

Use Hershey Chocolate. And after H.B. Reese died, Hershey bought the company from his sons for what today would be $200 million. And just six years later, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup became the bestseller at Hershey's. But back to Milton Hershey Jack and his wife, Catherine, who wanted all those kids, but sadly couldn't have their own kids. Instead, they built schools, playgrounds, and churches in Hershey, Pennsylvania to encourage their work to have kids in a family if they want. And before they died, they built an orphanage in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which today is a tuition-free boarding school for pre-K through 12th grade students from low-income families.

That school is still open today, and it's funded by the Hershey Foundation tuition-free for underprivileged kids. Bessies, once you unwrap all of this, you see how America is unique for its wealth, but also unique in our philanthropy. We donate $600 billion a year, which is about 2% of our nation's GDP, and twice as much as other developed economies. You see, other countries provide far more government services while we have non-profits and charities. And they're funded by dudes like Milton Hershey in a big part.

He was a benevolent billionaire. The OG benevolent billionaire, and America is known for him. For our second story, the Super Soaker, it's a $1 billion brand invented by a black NASA scientist from the South. But when a big corporation tried to screw him, he relied on a rule of law for justice. LJ, not the LJ on the Nix, I should point out. Lonnie Johnson, born 1950 down in the Jim Crow South. At the age of 18, he was the only black student at the 1968 Southeast Junior Engineering Science Fair in Alabama.

Jack, could he sprinkle on some context of the Times right there? Yeah, 1968, that's when the governor of Alabama ran for president with his famous slogan, segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever. But despite that challenging background, Lonnie won first prize at that fair. Because he built with his bare hands a three and a half foot tall robot made from his sister's tape recorder and his brother's walkie-talkie. This is before Legos were a thing, besties. I don't know if that's true. All right, it was pre-magnetiles. It was pre-magnetiles. But still, Lonnie went on to Tuskegee where he got a master's degree in

nuclear engineering. His first job was at the U.S. Air Force. Keeping our nuclear arsenal safe. He even worked on the old B-2 bomber. And his second job was at NASA. The Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena ever heard of it? Yeah, he's a rocket scientist. No big deal. NBD. Now, Bessies, look, that could have been it. Pause the pod and the pod. Incredible achievements, house, kids, American Dream. Check, check, check, check. But Lonnie isn't just a paycheck collector and a rocket scientist.

He's also a serial inventor. That's right, Jack. This amateur tinker went pro tinkerer by accident. He was at home in his bathroom trying to create a refrigerator that wouldn't emit toxins that hurt the ozone layer. Again, NBD, no big deal. You grab a book, he invents a new refrigerator. Yeah, we're scrolling TikTok, and he's building a refrigerator that saves our planet. Well, we're scrolling it for stories for the pot. I just want to point out. It's a write-off, Jack. Then he accidentally soaks himself with a jet of high-pressure water to the face.

So L.J. Lonnie Johnson sit in there soaked. Keyword soaked, by the way. And after the shock wears off, he thinks, you know what? That was kind of awesome. He turned the accident into a prototype of a product that his seven-year-old loves playing with in the backyard. And what does he call it, Jack? The power drencher. That's right. That's the insight.

He liked it, but his seven-year-old loved it. Fortunately, in 1989, he renames his product, The Super Soaker. Yeah. It sells two million units in the first year. Because there is money in that alliteration. But Nick, Lonnie's still got his full-time job at NASA. He doesn't have time to scale. So he licenses the Super Soker to a company that eventually sells to Hasbro.

So the Super Sok, it's a huge instant hit. Lonnie, he's entitled to 80 million royalties just for this specific invention. But Nick, the end of the Pledge of Allegiance, it finishes with liberty and justice for all. While Lonnie's creation of the Super Soker, it reflects our country's liberty. But it's his multi-million dollar lawsuit that ensures justice for all. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy Lonnie and the summer toy, the Super Soaker? In America, if you're wronged, you can legally make it right. Now, yet he's full disclosure. Jack and I got our MBAs, but we are both sons of lawyers,

so we got deep respect for the judicial system. And so does Lonnie Johnson. We know because we interviewed him last year, we're so impressed by this epic story, and he told us how he sued Hasbro. That's right, because Hasbro allegedly shorted him by 80 million royalties. They didn't send the inventor his cut for his invention. So in 2013, 24 years after inventing the Super Sokker, Lonnie sued to get what he was owed. And Hasbro settled that lawsuit by paying Lonnie a cool 72 million. And with that money, Lonnie established Johnson Research and Development, a company in Atlanta

with around 30 people as staff. Now, this amateur inventor turned pro-inventor is now an invention CEO. Basically, he went full Dyson. But what we love about this story is not just Lonnie's entrepreneurial spirit or that he defied the odds. No, no, no, no. It's that when he was wronged by a billion buck in multinational corporation, Lonnie had a legal system wingman to make it right.

Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, remember that U.S. state collectible quarter series from like 25 years ago? Yeah. Well, guess what? They made $3 billion in profit on that thing. America figured out how to make big money

by redesigning our smallest money. It's the most lucrative coin in history, and we got to tell you about it. But first, Jettys, I got to start with a disclosure, full disclosure. Jack, I don't know if I've told you this. but I was a child numismatist. Okay, should I call the police right now and report you?

It doesn't mean I can read your mind, Jack. I should point that out. It is a coin collector. Throughout my child, I just loved collecting coins. Oh, nice. Okay, you know, Buffalo Nickel, Liberty Dollar. Jack, I've got a mercury dime that could pay for your next trip to Italy. Is it made of mercury, the metal?

You know, I used to go to the hobby shops. Because I'd stay away from that. I had a lot of buddies in the mismatist community, Jack. But besties, us coin collectors, we were sad this year when the classic U.S. penny got retired, even though we understand the economics of it. But it reminded Nick of the craziest coin story in U.S. history. Coins, plural, because 25 years ago, the United States levied the most successful new tax ever through a new coin.

Because that new tax was voluntary, and Kermit the Frog helped solicit donations. Hey, you've no idea what we're talking about, but we'll explain. We're talking about the 50-state quarter series, which ran from 1999 to the year 2009. That's when the U.S. Mint issued 56 different quarters, one for each U.S. state and territory, issuing five new quarters per year. You may have one in your pocket right now. Kansas had a bison on the quarter. Georgia had a peach. Arkansas had kind of a cool diamond, if I remember correctly. And Connecticut had a gorgeous tree. I think it was a magnolia. I think it's like the Connecticut College tree. It's a very impressive, lovely tree in Connecticut.

Now, two of the quarters had airplanes. Interesting, Jack. Because North Carolina is where the Wright brothers first flew an airplane. Okay, then who was the other one? Ohio is where the Wright brothers built that airplane. Interesting drama. But Besties, everyone, from angsty teens to aging boomers to little us, got caught up in collecting these coins.

It was the most exciting nationwide scavenger hunt since McDonald's monopoly. Besties, this is what we find fascinating. As we learned from the 99% Invisible episode that just covered this topic, it wasn't a cute civic pride idea from the government to make these coins, right, Jack? No. It was strategically an initiative to make money. Yeah, this was a coin profit puppy. To sprinkle on some context yet,

these the U.S. Treasury is the federal agency responsible for ensuring economic security of the United States. And within the U.S. Treasury is the U.S. Mint, which is responsible for making and maintaining money, coins, and ceremonial medals. But the mint doesn't just make money. It makes money making money.

Yeah, you see, until 1965, coins were worth what they weighed, because the metal was valuable in the coins. It was silver. But then in 1965, to save money, they replaced silver with cheaper metals, copper with a layer of nickel on top. So the cost of producing a quarter fell from 25 cents to just 3 cents per quarter.

And the difference? 22 cents per quarter? That's potential profit for the U.S. government. Because besties, the Federal Reserve buys those quarters from the U.S. mint in order to supply our banking system with the change that we need for it all to function. The Fed pays face value, 25 cents, for something that costs just three cents to produce.

And that is how nickels, dimes, and quarters enter our money supply. But for each quarter, there's 22 cents of profit, and it goes to the mint, which eventually goes to our general fund. And that difference, the profit that mint makes, is called seniorage. And in the 1990s, one real go-getter of a U.S. Mint director was named Philip Deal. He had a counterintuitive idea to make money making money. Here's the thought. If you could create collectible coins that people would keep, that would require more new coins to be minted to replace them. More coins getting taken out of the financial system requires more new coins to get made and more potential profit. Voila, the 50 state quarter series, Jack.

What if we make a new quarter for each state that's designed to be part of a collection? Each state would run its own sweepstakes for one design that could capture the culture of that specific state. But yeties, this was the first ever money intended never to be used as money. It was intended to be collected so the mint could make money. But here's the wildest part, Jack, why don't you tell them? Because so many people collected these quarters and the mint had to produce so many new quarters, it netted the U.S. government $3 billion in profits. Sit down, stand up, and chiching again.

That's the most lucrative coin ever, $3 billion in profit. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies looking at the most, lucrative coin in history. Congress wasn't convinced by that surplus. They were convinced by the civics. Yeties, the mint can't just make whatever money they want to make. They got to get authorization and approval from Congress. $3 billion, that's nice profit, but no congressperson was going to put their neck in the line for some cute quarters. So the strategic solution, don't release the quarters in obvious alphabetical order. Instead, release them in the order that the states ratified the constitution.

Ah, that's an educational element that was persuasive, especially to the congressman from Delaware. Because by starting with Delaware, the first state to ratify the Constitution, the idea got a champion in Congress. Delaware's one congressman was pumped to sponsor and introduce this bill and rally everybody to vote because it would be like the biggest publicity for Delaware in the history of the United States. The result of the 50 States Commemorative Coin Program Act passed in 1997. And the product of that act was 56 brand new quarters With 22 cents a profit per every quarter collected. For marketing, the Mint partnered with the Muppets. They got Kermit the Frog.

Yeah, they got Kermit this frog as a spokesperson or spokesman for broad appeal across the U.S. And the final growth hack, the U.S. Mint borrowed an early idea from HBO. Here's what they did. They didn't drop all 50 quarters at once. Instead, they spread them out over time, a decade to build the buzz. The result was a 10-year extravagant,

that scaled the desire to get these quarters through anticipation. And it drove three billion bucks in profit for the U.S. Mint, the greatest ROI in the history of money. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for Saviche Wednesday? Reese's Peanut Buttercup was a success because it launched during an economic downturn. He had turned an economic nightmare into an American dream. Besties, it was also because of Milton Hershey. He brings out the best of America's billionaires.

For our second story, Lonnie Johnson invented the Super Soaker by accident, but got what he's due on purpose. Thanks to our rule of law, when you're wronged in America, there's a system to try to make it right. And our third and final story is the U.S. state quarter series. It was a profit play, resulting in $3 billion of profit for the U.S. government. Profit puppy, besties, we didn't just make money. We made money. Making money. But best dudes, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Team USA has its elimination world cup game tonight, Wednesday against Bosnia and Herzegovina. problem. You can't get a team USA jersey. Nike didn't make enough of them. True story, Nike didn't make

enough U.S. men soccer team jerseys. They're now about to sell out before the huge game even happens. And to boot, they just announced their earnings yesterday and Nike stock fell to a 12-year low. And second, the big egg lawsuit is officially over. And it's ending with a lot of free eggs for all of us. The U.S. government accused the top egg producers of manipulating the market in a collusion to keep egg prices high last year. Yeah, remember the Frittata Fiatia. ask of last year, omelets became the whole face of inflation on you? Well, the biggest egg companies just desperately want to settle the case. So they're donating 50 million eggs and three and a half million dollars to the 50 states to end the lawsuit. Just don't crack them, guys. And finally,

the Taylor Swift-Travs Kelsey wedding at Madison Square Garden is still not confirmed up to the final night. But Dumois posted picks of the staff of MSG turning the stairs into a red carpet. and a thousand guests have been invited according to legitimate reporting. But our prediction, this is all a massive head fake. Totally, we're calling it. She's actually getting married in Rhode Island. Yeah. Which is where we all thought she was getting married a month ago.

Now, Bestie's time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by our Uncle Sam, Jack, what do we got? We're a country of immigrants. And our favorite immigrant we've ever covered on the pod, who is it next? It was on the best ID yet. We covered David Tran. This man was born in Vietnam of Chinese descent. He was kicked out of his own country after the Vietnam War

and then spent a month on a boat because Hong Kong wouldn't let the refugees dock that boat. When they finally did dock in Hong Kong, he was stuck in a refugee camp for eight months. But Jack, the country that did finally take David and his whole family in, what was it? The United States. He arrived in Los Angeles and quickly launched a local business.

A spicy sauce business that he had discovered as a chef back when he was working in Vietnam. You know it as Sir Racha. An ethnic Chinese man from Vietnam who no-bo-lawed. would accept except the United States. And in the U.S., he built the third biggest sauce brand in the country, and he refuses to raise prices because he wants everyone to be able to enjoy his sauce. He still owns the sauce, and you still put it on everything.

Yeties, you look fantastic today. Jack, you are glowing. Even the Liberty Bell with that crack. You never looked better, honey. All right, yeties, if you got a buddy who needs to feel brighter this Independence Day, drop the link to this episode in their group chat. And if you can't get your hands on a bald eagle because they're endangered, grab tickets to our live show.

It's the next best thing. Fact check, bald eagles are not endangered anymore. They're in all 50 states. I see them all the time. It's wild. So grab your tickets. We've got a link in today's show. Bald eagles will be there,

and so will the numismatis. And look out tomorrow for our interview with Mickey Drexler. It's an awesome story about the Gap, Jay Crew, Gap Kids, Made Well, Old Navy, American fashion in one episode. So Jack and I will see you for an Americana Pod tomorrow. And before we go, happy birthday to legendary Yeti, Stephsy, in Shenzhou, Taiwan. Happy birthday to Rahit Sharma in Hyderabad, India.

And Eduardo Montez is having the best birthday yet down in lovely Los Angeles. Happy birthday to Brandon McCarthy, the closing king of Orlando. And Brousetto, the 11-year-old Super Yetty, is in Ontario celebrating a birthday. Happy birthday to Day 1 Divya Shavon Moore in West Waxbury, Massachusetts. And Jose Estrada have the best birthday yet over New York City. Happy 42nd birthday to Austin Villa Lobos in New York City. And Dan Drewba is having a birthday up in Portland, Oregon. And Ruby Sanchez in Bowlingbrook, Illinois.

And Sudide Carrillo, happy birthday in Omaha, Nebraska. And Jacob Bright, happy birthday in Providence, Rhode Island. And Matthias Schilling, we see your birthday, the best in Germany and also San Francisco. And happy birthday to Marina McCoy from just outside this building where I'm recording, who's celebrating her 33rd birthday off a boat in Rhode Island. And Benson Payne, happy 40th with four generations of family in Vegas. Happy sixth birthday to Sillyman Munier in San Jose. This is a future firefighter on our hands.

And Samita Bot also in San Jose has got the best birthday yet. And congratulations to Ty Jacobson, Victoria, and Little Maxine for the new baby Dot. Join the family up in Seattle. You guys look fantastic. This is Jack, ironstock of Disney and nickel stock of Nike.