Grading America's First 250 Years: America, Actually with Astead Herndon

Pivot

Vox Media Podcast Network

Tech News, News, Technology, News Commentary

4.2 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2026

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

America at 250 years old may need a new founding document. Historian Heather Cox Richardson drafts a new social contract. This show was edited by Kasia Broussalian, fact checked by Esther Gim, mixed by Shannon Mahoney, video edited by Christopher Snyder, and hosted by Astead Herndon. In this episode, Richardson references a tweet of Boebert's, not a text. You can also watch this episode on youtube.com/vox. Listen to more from America, Actually with Astead Herndon here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine in the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher. We're off for the holiday today. So we have an episode of America actually with Ested Herndon for you in this episode. Estead talks with historian Heather Cox Richardson about America's first 250 years and how the U.S. is facing its
0:22.1	biggest stress tests since the Civil War. Oh, joy. So you enjoy. So we are 250 years into
0:29.3	this American experiment. And I'd say it's going okay. I'd give us like a C plus. The Declaration
0:34.8	of Independence, the women's Rights Movement, the invention of basketball
0:38.3	or the iPhone, all good. Slavery, colonialism, income inequality, unequivocally bad. But what's going to
0:46.5	determine the next 250 years of America? And how do we write a new social contract that can give
0:52.4	us the democracy we deserve.
0:54.6	That's this week on America Actually. Let's begin.
1:10.5	Discover the breathtaking landscapes of Japan and Fawzer Horizon 6.
1:14.6	Experience stunning contrasts of rural and urban in this open world driving adventure.
1:19.6	Explore diverse biomes and beautiful landscapes and over 550 real world cars.
1:24.6	Your journey to becoming a Horizon legend starts now.
1:29.7	Play Fools at Horizon 6 Premium Edition on Xbox and PC.
1:33.2	Japan awaits.
1:35.4	What's up, y'all? I'm Skyler Diggins, seven-time WMBA All-Star, Olympic gold medalist, and mom.
1:41.8	And I'm Cassidy Hubbard, host and reporter for nearly 20 years,
1:45.2	covering the biggest names and stories in sports and mom. And this is Am Mom, a community for
1:51.3	athletes, game changers, and moms of all kinds. Dropping May 14th. Tap in with us.
1:58.5	Joining me now is Heather Cox Richardson. She's a historian and professor at Boston College, but you probably know her from her very
2:05.2	popular substack letters from an American and her YouTube channel.
2:09.2	I am excited that Heather is joining us because she's going to help us think about not only
2:13.0	the future, but how the past connects to it.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 17 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

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

Generated transcripts are the property of Vox Media Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.