Newt's World
Newt's World
Gingrich 360
Episode 1023: Greatest American Inventions — The Moving Assembly Line
5 minutes Posted Aug 4, 2026 at 9:00 am.
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Show notes

Henry Ford didn't invent the automobile—he invented a way to make it affordable. Newt examines how Ford's 1913 moving assembly line cut Model T production time from 12.5 hours to 93 minutes, and how Ford's controversial $5-a-day wage turned his own workers into customers, helping create the American middle class. But this episode doesn't shy away from complexity: the same system that built American prosperity was also dehumanizing for many workers, and Ford himself was a deeply flawed figure. It's a clear-eyed look at innovation's power—and its costs.

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