The Mega-Brands That Built America

Season 3

2025 · 10 episodes · 7h 10m in all

Episodes

1. 

   1. The World in Your Palm

   1 Jun 2025 · 43 min

   The biggest names in computers go head-to-head in a race to create the first portable computers; through failures, alliances and the return of an American icon, they'll usher in their first ever handheld device.

2. 

   2. The Retail Reckoning

   8 Jun 2025 · 43 min

   Three American retail icons are born within months of each other in 1962, sparking a rivalry for the ages.

3. 

   3. Rise of the Internet Empires

   15 Jun 2025 · 43 min

   An ambitious upstart leaves Wall Street to start an internet store that becomes a global empire, while a young computer programmer revolutionizes the way we buy and sell online--creating rival multibillion-dollar brands that become household names.

4. 

   4. Hardware Warfare

   22 Jun 2025 · 43 min

   Family-owned hardware stores become behemoth brands who battle it out taking big risks, ushering in new innovations, and betting it all in a race to become the number one hardware store chain in America.

5. 

   5. Rise of the Office Machines

   29 Jun 2025 · 43 min

   To simplify tedious office tasks in the mid-20th century, one unknown company introduces the world's first photocopier and becomes a household name.

6. 

   6. Photo Bombs

   6 Jul 2025 · 43 min

   An underdog breaks the mold by creating instant photography, revolutionizing how we take photos. And it kicks off a war of innovation between two iconic companies battling to be the number one camera brand in the country.

7. 

   7. Fight for the Fast Lane

   13 Jul 2025 · 43 min

   American cars get a makeover when an engineer creates the first sports car.

8. 

   8. Pants on Fire

   20 Jul 2025 · 43 min

   Levi Strauss partners with a tailor who makes a groundbreaking discovery during the Gold Rush—sparking a blue jean boom and a fierce rivalry between two iconic companies that spans generations and builds a billion-dollar industry.

9. 

   9. Wipe Out the Competition

   27 Jul 2025 · 43 min

   Before toilet paper, Americans used just about anything–until the Scott brothers turn a mistake into an opportunity and invent the toilet paper roll, giving birth to a new billion-dollar industry.

10. 

    10. Reinventing the Wheel

    3 Aug 2025 · 43 min

    Harvey Firestone races to innovation against a crosstown rival as they both bet big on bringing car tires to the nation.