On a Manhattan sidewalk in 1973, Motorola engineer Martin Cooper made the first handheld cellular call—to his rival at Bell Labs, just to say Motorola got there first. Newt traces the mobile phone from a $3,995 status symbol to a global phenomenon with more subscriptions than people on Earth. Beyond the American story, this episode spotlights the developing world, where mobile networks leapfrogged landline infrastructure entirely—connecting fishermen in India to real-time market prices and bringing mobile banking to millions of unbanked Kenyans through M-Pesa. It's a story of connection reaching where wires never could.

<p>On a Manhattan sidewalk in 1973, Motorola engineer Martin Cooper made the first handheld cellular call&mdash;to his rival at Bell Labs, just to say Motorola got there first. Newt traces the mobile phone from a $3,995 status symbol to a global phenomenon with more subscriptions than people on Earth. Beyond the American story, this episode spotlights the developing world, where mobile networks leapfrogged landline infrastructure entirely&mdash;connecting fishermen in India to real-time market prices and bringing mobile banking to millions of unbanked Kenyans through M-Pesa. It's a story of connection reaching where wires never could.</p>

Join Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Speaker of the House and Ph.D. historian, for the most diverse, informative, and entertaining podcast available. Every episode is an education.

<p>Join Newt Gingrich, former U.S. Speaker of the House and Ph.D. historian, for the most diverse, informative, and entertaining podcast available. Every episode is an education.</p>

Newt's World

Episode 1026: Greatest American Inventions — The Mobile Phone

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/7d1464d5-8b95-4845-9042-b49b012166c7/transcript