It's time for country style USA.

They all night, stay a little longer.

Country music today is linked with a certain kind of raw patriotism,

but that wasn't always the case.

From WNYC in New York, this is on the media.

I'm Brooke Gladstone.

And I'm Michael Langer.

On this week's show, how the U.S. military gave the genre formerly known as Hillbilly music a much needed boost during the Cold War.

You have Uncle Sam, arguably the most powerful promotional partner in the world, pushing that onto the airwaves.

Plus how the myth of the Confederate lost cause has been fought over in a song written by a Canadian.

Songs never really belong entirely to the person who writes them or the person who performs them.

There's always this very complex negotiation between, you know, audience and composer. it's all coming up after this.

From WNYC in New York this is on the media. I'm Brooke Gladstone.

And I'm Michael Lohanger.

Go to a rally for Donald Trump these days,

and there are a couple songs you're almost guaranteed to hear,

like Toby Keith's courtesy of the red, white, and blue,

and this one, Trump's walkout song.

God Bless the USA by Lee Gleanwood. Thank you very much. These are the kinds of songs that you might have also heard at some

July 4th barbecues this week, depending on your host's taste in music and their politics.

Because today's country music industry is deeply associated with a certain kind of jingoistic rally around the flag,

support the troop spirit.

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