The New Yorker Radio Hour

The staff writer and historian Jill Lepore is an admirer of the Federal Writers’ Project, and the man-on-the-street form of documentary it helped to pioneer. This type of journalism, she thinks, is integral to the democratic project. As part of a special episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour, Lepore collaborated with the audio-storytelling group Transom to create a new documentary on how Americans perceive their country on the eve of its two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary. Producers conducted interviews in Illinois, California, Louisiana, Vermont, and Utah, in gas stations, city parks, and malls, on street corners and dairy farms, asking people how they see themselves in the American story, how they feel about America at two hundred and fifty, and what they imagine the tricentennial of independence will be like. 

The New Yorker Radio Hour’s collaboration with Transom was produced by Sophie Crane. It was recorded by Eve Abrams, Scott Carrier, Erica Heilman, Yohance Lacour, and David Weinberg. Mixing and sound design by Josh Crane. Music by Jon Evans and Matthias Bossi at Stellwagen Symphonette. It was created as part of Transom’s Listeners Project, an experiment in hyperlocal documentary storytelling. 

 

New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.

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The two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence arrives during intense disputes about American history, as the Trump Administration demands a more glorifying view of the nation’s past at federally run historical sites and in federally funded projects. The staff writer Jill Lepore (who won the Pulitzer Prize in History this month for her book “We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution”) guest-hosts a special episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour about this fraught moment, reflecting on the responsibility of academic historians to shape the public debate. She compares our moment with the bicentennial—which fell in the wake of the Vietnam War and the scandals of Richard Nixon’s Presidency—in a conversation with the Yale historian Beverly Gage. Lepore looks at the nature of the country’s war over history with Jelani Cobb, the dean of Columbia Journalism School and a staff writer at The New Yorker. They discuss the Donald Trump-approved “Freedom 250” projection on the Washington Monument, and talk about how Americans can meaningfully participate in the semiquincentennial. If “we’re sitting around waiting for the occupant of the White House to tell us what American history means,” Lepore says, “you just kind of want to walk into traffic.” 

Further reading: 

America at 250, a special issue of The New Yorker

“Was the Declaration of Independence Better Before the Edits?,” by Jill Lepore

“Scandal, Protest, Goofiness, and Grandeur at the U.S. Bicentennial,” by Jill Lepore

“Two Hundred and Fifty Years of Complicated Commemorations,” by Jelani Cobb

“This Land Is Your Land: A Road Trip Through U.S. History,” by Beverly Gage

 

New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.

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Harriet Clark’s novel, “The Hill,” is one of the most anticipated works of fiction of the year. It’s a story of a girl growing up visiting her mother, who is serving a life sentence in prison for a politically motivated crime. And although “The Hill” is a work of fiction, it follows the contours of Clark’s own life closely: her mother is Judy Clark, who drove a getaway car after a robbery in which two police officers and a security guard were killed. One of “The Hill” ’s enthusiastic admirers is Rachel Aviv, a staff writer at The New Yorker. She spoke with Clark about the power of fiction, her mother’s life story, and the power of narrative when thinking about how to confront carceral systems.

Further reading: 

“Harriet Clark’s Début Is a New Kind of Coming-of-Age Novel,” by James Wood

“The Trial of Gisèle Pelicot’s Rapists United France and Fractured Her Family,” by Rachel Aviv

 

New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.

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The contributing writer Peter Slevin met with Barack Obama at the new Obama Presidential Center, which opens next month, in Chicago, and asked him the question on a lot of Democrats’ minds: Where is he, and why isn’t he doing more to help the country in a moment of crisis? Slevin shares excerpts from his interview, during which Obama explains the limits of his role, and why he should no longer be the figurehead for his party. Slevin also speaks with David Remnick about why the famously optimistic President has lost some of his confidence in the American prospect. “I would be dishonest if I didn’t acknowledge that,” Obama admitted. 

Further reading: 

“Barack Obama Considers His Role in the Age of Trump,” by Peter Slevin

“Presidents’ Days: From Obama to Trump,” by David Remnick

 

New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.

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Most basketball fans first took note of Steve Kerr when he played for the Chicago Bulls in the nineteen-nineties, but it’s through coaching that Kerr really came to the fore in the N.B.A. For more than twelve years, he’s led the Golden State Warriors to four titles, and a record seventy-three-win season, in 2016. He also took home an Olympic gold medal as the coach of the U.S. men’s team in 2024. Kerr has used his platform, at times, to wade into politics. He’s spoken at the Democratic National Convention, and his name comes up in conversations about candidates for higher office. He’s also been vocal about President Donald Trump, which is not without some risk. “Calling the President a buffoon? I kind of regret that, even though I felt it in my heart, even though a lot of people agreed with me,” Kerr tells the staff writer Charles Bethea.

 

Further reading: 

“Has Steve Kerr Had Enough?,” by Charles Bethea

“U.S.A. Basketball Is Still an Awkward Fit at the Olympics,” by Louisa Thomas

 

New episodes of The New Yorker Radio Hour drop every Tuesday and Friday. Join host David Remnick as he discusses the latest in politics, news, and current events in conversation with political leaders, newsmakers, innovators, New Yorker staff writers, authors, actors, and musicians.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.