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After the Fact


After the Fact is a podcast from The Pew Charitable Trusts that brings you data and analysis on the issues that matter to you—from our environment and the sciences, to larger economic trends and public health. Experts from Pew and other special guests discuss the numbers and trends shaping some of society’s biggest challenges with host Dan LeDuc, then go behind the facts with nonpartisan analysis and stories.

Jun 29, 2018

Stat: The flag that inspired our national anthem has 15 stars and stripes.

Story: It flew over Fort McHenry in the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. And after the fight, it was what Francis Scott Key was looking for when he asked, “Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave.” It was, and it continues to inspire Americans today in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington. Host Dan LeDuc went there to talk to curator Jennifer Jones about the history of perhaps our most famous flag.