America at 250: Celebration… or Stress Test? 🇺🇸
The Not Old - Better Show
Paul Vogelzang
4.7 • 106 Ratings
🗓️ 22 May 2026
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
🇺🇸 America turns 250… but what exactly are we celebrating?
And who gets to decide the story of the United States? 🤔📜
This week on The Not Old – Better Show, award-winning host Paul Vogelzang sits down with Princeton historian and CNN political analyst Dr. Julian Zelizer for a timely conversation about democracy, polarization, patriotism, and the future of America itself.
From the founders' vision 🇺🇸 to today's battles over elections, misinformation, and civic trust, Dr. Zelizer explains why America 250 may become a defining test for the nation.
🎧 Thoughtful. Provocative. Essential listening.
Listen now on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-not-old-better-show/id1085682174
#America250 #HistoryMatters #Democracy #JulianZelizer #SmithsonianAssociates #TheNotOldBetterShow #CivicEngagement #AmericanHistory
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Not Old Better Show, |
| 0:02.8 | Smithsonian Associates Interview Series on Radio and podcast. |
| 0:07.0 | The show covering all kinds of health, wellness, culture, and more. |
| 0:10.8 | This show for all of us who aren't old, were better. |
| 0:13.8 | Each week, we'll interview superstars, experts, and ordinary people, |
| 0:18.0 | doing extraordinary things, all related to this wonderful experience of getting |
| 0:23.0 | better, not just older. Now, here's your host, the award-winning Paul Vogelzang. |
| 0:31.8 | Thank you. And let me just say, we are coming up on a remarkable moment. In just a short time, the United |
| 0:39.5 | States will mark 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a document |
| 0:44.7 | filled with bold language about liberty, equality, and human dignity. Welcome to the not-old |
| 0:50.7 | Better Show's Smithsonian Associates Interview Series on radio and podcast. |
| 0:55.2 | You know, for 10 years now, the Not Old Better Show has celebrated health, wellness, culture, history, |
| 1:01.6 | and the stories that remind us, we're not old, we're better now. |
| 1:06.0 | As America commemorates 250 years of independence in 2026. |
| 1:11.6 | This special series offers a dynamic explanation of America's past, present, and future. |
| 1:19.6 | Explore the people, ideas, conflicts, and aspirations that have shaped America |
| 1:24.6 | and how the past informs the challenges and possibilities ahead. |
| 1:29.2 | At 250, America is still young enough to dream and seasoned enough to know that freedom asks something of every generation. |
| 1:38.9 | Through our Smithsonian Associates interview series, we invite you to hear that story and more stories with a fresh |
| 1:46.7 | perspective, honest reflection, and renewed purpose. In this series, we're stepping back, |
| 1:53.2 | not to settle history, but to explore it, to look at the places, the people and the moments |
| 1:58.0 | that have shaped who we are and who we're still becoming. |
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