This is the Influence Watch podcast. The Smithsonian Institution, the federal government created and funded entity that manages the national museums in D.C. is now under a very political review, courtesy of the Trump administration.

Progressives decry the move as improper interference in what is supposed to be an independent entity, but perhaps such a move is necessary.

Joining us today to present the case for some political supervision for the nation's curators of cultural heritage is Mike Gonzalez, Angelis T. Eridondo, I pluribus, Unum, senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

Mike, welcome back.

Thanks.

It's great to be on.

I would not, right away, I'm going to challenge the premise.

I would not call it a political review.

I think it could be a historical review.

It could be a cultural review.

I don't know that it's, you know, the fact is, as the Smithsonian has been choosing to focus,

but they're very narrow, on very narrow aspects of America.

And I'm not calling slavery a narrow element in American history.

Obviously, slavery is huge in American history.

Shuteway has a huge weight in American history.

But what I'm saying is not our whole history and our value as a country

should not be looked at through the prism of slavery. Every other country

has had slavery of the people who were brought against their will across the Atlantic.

The millions of people who brought from Africa across the Atlantic, less than 6% made it to the

United States of America.

The vast majority, vast majority ended up in Brazil, the Caribbean, my native island of Cuba,

Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, the West Indies.

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