America’s Song, Part 1

Sidebar

The Washington Post

News, True Crime, Politics

4.1 • 4.6K Ratings

🗓️ 9 September 2021

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

With his performance of “God Bless America” during Game 3 of the 2001 World Series, New York City Police Department Officer Daniel Rodriguez comforted a nation still grieving in the wake of 9/11. It felt like a timeless moment. Instead, it proved fleeting. Twenty years later, the reasons for that tell a sad American story of political divisions and the embellished patriotism that now polarizes sports. The weight of it all can be felt through the struggles of Rodriguez, a man still trying to bless people with his voice, while America attempts to rediscover its own.

Join Washington Post sports columnist Jerry Brewer, sports features writer Kent Babb and audio producer Bishop Sand as they explore how a man and a nation attempt to heal and find meaning after trauma and tragedy.

In Part 1, Jerry, Kent and Bishop revisit Daniel Rodriguez’s iconic performance and mull over what made it so powerful. Then they go looking for the real Rodriguez, and hear how an aspiring opera singer became a policeman catapulted to fame after a national tragedy.

To find photos of Daniel Rodriguez then and now, visit wapo.st/911.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Give a helping hand this holiday season with the Washington Post helping hand.
0:04.6	This is John Kelly and I'm writing about Bread for the City, Friendship Place, and Miriam's Kitchen over the next few weeks.
0:11.1	Go to posthelpinghand.com to learn more and donate today.
0:16.4	This is Can He Do That? I'm Allison Michaels.
0:19.3	Today and tomorrow on the show, we'll be doing something a little different to mark the anniversary of 9-11.
0:25.5	Every year, when we get to this point, a question always seems to come up about whether we can ever get back to the moment just after the attacks where it felt like we shared a sense of national unity.
0:37.6	It's something a few of my colleagues have been thinking a lot about on this 20th anniversary of 9-11.
0:44.1	And for a surprising reason, it goes back to a man who was on center stage at a major league baseball game just a few weeks after the attacks.
0:53.1	So, they set out to find him.
0:55.7	You're about to hear the first part of a special two-part series.
0:59.3	And just a heads up, there are some detailed discussions of the September 11th attacks and some other difficult material.
1:05.8	So please take care.
1:07.8	Part 1 begins during a more recent moment of turmoil for the country.
1:29.2	It was early June 2020.
1:33.6	A little more than a week after George Floyd was killed.
1:37.6	I couldn't stop watching the coverage of the protest.
1:41.0	I'd been up 21 hours straight.
1:44.1	No plans to call it a night.
1:47.3	Some of my friends were awake too.
1:50.0	And we ended up talking on the phone.
1:52.7	One of them asked this question,
1:55.7	Do you remember a time when a cop made you feel something other than fear?
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Washington Post, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Washington Post and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.