from WNYC studios. I'm Brian Lehrer. This is my daily politics podcast. It's Monday, July 6th.

Well, the country's 250th birthday party is over. How are you actually feeling? How are you actually feeling? As you thought about

the United States of America on Saturday while you were whatever, barbecuing or at the beach or

watching fireworks or whatever you were doing. We hope to have very constructive dialogues here

in a series we'll call America 251 because, you know, for all the competing views of

history and the present as the big round number anniversary was approaching, Saturday was not the

end of history, right? And our complicated times in this country continue. So let's start year

251. By playing some clips of President Donald Trump and Mayor Zeran Mamdani's July 3rd speeches,

also a clip from Princeton Professor Eddie Glawd and an Andrew Cuomo clip from when he was governor that might very much surprise you.

So here we go.

I'm going to start with the Eddie Glawd clip in which he does not

sugarcoat his feelings. This is from June 15th on PBS as the Princeton historian and professor

was discussing his new book, America, USA, How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries. Obviously,

that was published in the context of

the big anniversary now. The context here further is that he opens the book, first words in the book,

opens the book with the words, I do not love America and never have. I do not love America and never have. And he explains why he

started that way. I wanted to differentiate myself from James Baldwin. I'm starting from a different

place. Baldwin begins with his love of country and says from there I can criticize the country

perpetually. I want to begin with wound.

So I'm really asking the question, how can you expect me to love the country,

given the reality of my experience and the experience of race in the country?

I do not love America and never have.

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