On this episode of Our American Stories, Enrique had lived a long, dignified life at the St. Louis Zoo when age finally caught up to his feet. Arthritis doesn’t care whether you’re human or penguin, and soon every step told his keepers something needed to change. What followed wasn’t a grand breakthrough so much as a series of small experiments that eventually pointed toward an idea no one expected — shoes. Marija Elden walks us through how an aging bird, some stubborn symptoms, and a whole lot of trial and error turned into one of the zoo’s most quietly charming success stories.

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