Who Owns the Flag? From the American Revolution to Charlie Kirk

The David McWilliams Podcast

David McWilliams

News & Politics

4.5 • 693 Ratings

🗓️ 25 September 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We’re in New York this week, celebrating my mam’s 90th birthday and launching The History of Money in the U.S., but the backdrop is America’s deepening culture war. With the 250th anniversary of the Revolution looming, both liberals and MAGA are fighting to “own” the flag, the story, and the soul of America. We dive into Ken Burns’s new PBS series The American Revolution, the forgotten role of General O’Hara (an Irishman who surrendered for the British), and why 75% of Black troops fought for the Crown. We reflect on Monica Lewinsky’s powerful talk on shame in the internet age, before turning to the fallout from Charlie Kirk’s killing, how one event is being weaponised to fuel division, echoing darker moments of history like Kristallnacht. And we look ahead: could the 2026 World Cup become the liberals’ unlikely answer to MAGA pageantry?

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before we start, today is a big.
0:02.9	In fact, it's a massive week.
0:04.4	It is the week that Kilkenomics tickets go on sale.
0:07.5	Kilkenomics is on 7th to 9th of November in Kilkenny.
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