The American Story, in a Single Day

01/11/21 • 50 min

2 Listeners

January 6, 2021, offered a hyper-condensed version of our country’s entire political history--with all of its complexity, inspiration, and terror.

In a special national radio broadcast of our show, we walk through a day that began with the historic election of a Black man and ended with a horrifying insurrection led by white nationalists. Newly elected Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) explains why he’s introduced a bill to investigate white nationalists’ infiltration of the Capitol Police. And Kai takes calls from around the country with Dr. Christina Greer, author of “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream” and co-host of the podcasts “FAQ-NYC” and The Grio’s “What's In It For Us”.

COMPANION LISTENING:

“The Racist History of Georgia’s Runoff” (12/21/20)

Journalist Ari Berman connects a system created by segregationists in 1957 to the 2020 elections, and a modern-day, Black-led organizing effort to reverse history.

“MAGA, the New Confederate Lost Cause” (11/16/20)

Historian Douglas Blight explains how secessionist mythology survived after the Civil War, and how it echoes in Donald Trump’s movement today.

“The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.

Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at [email protected]. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

January 6, 2021, offered a hyper-condensed version of our country’s entire political history--with all of its complexity, inspiration, and terror.

COMPANION LISTENING:

“The Racist History of Georgia’s Runoff” (12/21/20)

Journalist Ari Berman connects a system created by segregationists in 1957 to the 2020 elections, and a modern-day, Black-led organizing effort to reverse history.

“MAGA, the New Confederate Lost Cause” (11/16/20)

Historian Douglas Blight explains how secessionist mythology survived after the Civil War, and how it echoes in Donald Trump’s movement today.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

Previous Episode

The (Un)Making of a ‘Model Minority’

An odd racial pecking order puts Indian Americans in a curious place -- outside of whiteness, but distinct from other people of color. How’d that come to be? And is it changing?

We explore these questions by revisiting a story from Arun Venugopal, senior reporter with WNYC’s Race & Justice Unit, about how a Kansan community grappled with one of the first widely reported hate crimes following the 2016 election. Then he joins us to check in on that community today and walk through the history of the “model minority” myth -- and how perceptions may or may not be about to change, yet again.

Most recently, Venugopal penned “The Truth Behind Indian American Exceptionalism” for the January/February 2021 issue of The Atlantic.

COMPANION LISTENING:

“White Like Me” (10/20/2016)

A history of what it means -- and has meant -- to be white in the United States of America, and what that meant for the 2016 election.

“A Secret Meeting in South Bend” (6/18/2020)

How a group of Black families in the mid 20th Century carved out a neighborhood for themselves, and tried to make their American Dreams real, despite the terrorism of Jim Crow.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

Next Episode

How Martin Luther King, Jr., Changed American Christianity

And what MLK’s uniquely Black theology can teach us about the relationship between faith and politics in 2021.

Rev. Dr. Yolanda Pierce, dean of the Howard University School of Divinity and author of the forthcoming book “In My Grandmother's House: Black Women, Faith, and the Stories We Inherit,” walks Kai through the history of the Black Church and Dr. King’s place in its evolution. And Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis, senior minister of Middle Collegiate Church, explains how her own ministry -- centered on love and inspired by King’s message -- attempts to build a new and diverse progressive movement. Her new podcast, Love.Period, debuts on Valentine’s Day.

A special thanks to the New York City Municipal Archives and WNYC’s archivist Andy Lanset for audio recordings of Dr. King.

COMPANION LISTENING:

“In Jesus’s Name...We Legislate” (6/13/17)

A court battle over LGBTQ rights in Mississippi reveals the segregationist history of the religious right’s effort to avoid anti-discrimination laws.

“Dissent, Dissent, Dissent” (9/20/20)

We reflect on the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, including her political roots in a progressive, Jewish tradition.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.