American Myths Part One: Origins

Civics 101

NHPR

History, Government, Society & Culture

4.2 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 1 November 2022

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode we take a closer look at four well-worn stories: that of Christopher Columbus, Pocahontas, the Pilgrims and Puritans and the Founding Fathers and ask what is actually true. They're our foundational origin myths, but why? And since when? Author Heike Paul, author of The Myths That Made America, is our guide. CLICK HERE: Visit our website to see all of our episodes, donate to the podcast, sign up for our newsletter, get free educational materials, and more! To see Civics 101 in book form, check out A User's Guide to Democracy: How America Works by Hannah McCarthy and Nick Capodice, featuring illustrations by Tom Toro. Check out our other weekly NHPR podcast, Outside/In - we think you'll love it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, Nick.
0:03.0	Hey, Hannah.
0:04.0	And hello, listener.
0:05.0	You're listening to Civics 101 and it's story time.
0:09.0	And actually this is going to be an episode in two parts.
0:12.0	Part one, America's origin stories.
0:16.0	More specifically, America's origin myths.
0:20.0	Do we have myths?
0:21.0	Oh, Nick.
0:22.0	We are myths.
0:24.0	I'm very excited for this in part because my older son right now is absolutely obsessed with Greek myths.
0:34.0	And it's Greek above all else.
0:36.0	Like other myths don't even come close to cutting it.
0:38.0	He sees Greek myth as the truest myth.
0:41.0	Okay, this is very interesting because Nick, what's a true myth?
0:46.0	Like truth is not the point of myth.
0:49.0	The point of myth is to create morals and principles and power dynamics and cultural practices.
0:56.0	Which is not necessarily to say that myths are about lying.
1:01.0	They're just about finding the strongest story to build a world around.
1:06.0	And mind you, myths are important.
1:09.0	We do need them.
1:12.0	But sometimes the question is, how long do we need them for?
	...

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