Notes from America with Kai Wright

Voters who switched from Trump to Biden in 2020 are headed to the polls again, and former GOP strategist Sarah Longwell wants to know what they’re thinking. Longwell is executive director of the Republican Accountability Project and publisher of The Bulwark, where she hosts The Focus Group podcast. She’s convening an ongoing series of focus groups with voters, including “flippers” who ditched Trump in 2020. What are they thinking as they head into primary elections for this year’s midterms? Then, Dr. Theresa Jean Tanenbaum responds to one of our listener voicemails about choosing a name as a trans woman. Dr. Tanenbaum shares her own story with producer Kousha Navidar, as well as her work at the intersection of technology, media, and identity.  Companion listening for this episode: A Conservative View of the Vigilante Right (1/24/2022) Mona Charen discusses the true meaning of conservative and the radical shift in the GOP. Plus, she helps take your calls. Then, a listener mailbag begs us to explore how "normal people" became part of the Jan 6. attack. “The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.  We want to hear from you! Connect with us on Twitter @WNYC using the hashtag #USofAnxiety or email us at anxiety@wnyc.org. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

As the country confronts racial tensions and class conflicts, it begs the question: How did we get here? We look back to a moment in history when our country was struggling to become a true, multiracial democracy -- meeting a lot of roadblocks, many of which persist today. Historian Eric Foner gives us a primer on the Reconstruction Era amendments that we explored in season four, as producer Veralyn Williams rides along to help us make sense of what it means today and how we can move forward as one nation. Companion listening for this episode: A History of Voter Suppression (1/20/2022) A conversation with historian Dr. Carol Anderson about how Black Americans have fought for their right to participate in the democratic process safely and make their votes count. “The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.  We want to hear from you! Connect with us on Twitter @WNYC using the hashtag #USofAnxiety or email us at anxiety@wnyc.org. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

Host Kai Wright attends a free self defense class hosted in partnership between The Alicia and Jason Lee Foundation and University Settlement, and meets the instructor. Read more about the effort’s mission here. Then, he speaks with Jo-Ann Yoo, Executive Director of the Asian American Federation, which works with nonprofits to support the pan-Asian community. What’s the economic and social cost of hate crime on Asian American communities? What are the uncomfortable – yet crucial –  tensions between Black and Asian-American communities in the air right now? And then, Kai grabs dinner with Tammie Teclemariam, New York Magazine’s first-ever Diner-at-Large, at her favorite restaurant, Singiri. They try Sri Lankan food as we learn about Tammie’s weekly newsletter and column called, “The Year I Ate New York.” Subscribe here. Companion listening for this episode: People Feel Unsafe–and It’s More Than Crime (3/14/2022) The social fabric is torn. People nationwide are scared, some going so far as to arm themselves. What can we learn from our history as we react to this fear? “The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.  We want to hear from you! Connect with us on Twitter @WNYC using the hashtag #USofAnxiety or email us at anxiety@wnyc.org. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

A slap at the Oscars tarnished Will Smith’s legacy. What about him did Hollywood treasure? Is this institution just a screen for projecting our own social anxieties and cultural debate? Culture critic Soraya McDonald joins to take a deeper look  at the roles Hollywood allows us to play, on screen and off. Plus, breaking down the exhausting reaction to Pixar’s defiantly Asian film, Turning Red, with Jeff Yang, the co-author of Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now. Read Jeff’s piece for The Guardian here. Companion listening for this episode: A Year of Performing Humanity, Reviewed (12/13/2021) A.O. Scott, co-chief film critic of the New York Times, helps us review the year in culture. What can we learn from 2021’s art about our struggling effort to live together? “The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.  We want to hear from you! Connect with us on Twitter @WNYC using the hashtag #USofAnxiety or email us at anxiety@wnyc.org. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

The Senate’s questioning of Ketanji Brown Jackson revealed where she might fit in the history, and future, of the Supreme Court. Host Kai Wright is joined by Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law at New York University, Melissa Murray, to discuss. Plus, a National Geographic explorer’s story of diving for sunken slave ships. Companion listening for this episode: Can America Be Redeemed? (7/5/2021) Eddie Glaude and Imani Perry consider the question through the work of James Baldwin and Richard Wright. Plus: How our country could enter a period of “post-traumatic growth.” “The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.  We want to hear from you! Connect with us on Twitter @WNYC using the hashtag #USofAnxiety or email us at anxiety@wnyc.org. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

What’s in a name? A lot. A listener's voicemail inspired us to explore the sometimes complicated relationship between our names and our racial and ethnic identities. Host Kai Wright is joined by novelist Beth Nguyen to discuss her personal journey when it comes to her name, and invited callers to share their own stories. Check out Beth’s article for The New Yorker: America Ruined My Name For Me.  Companion listening for this episode: Why So Many Are Stuck in the “Other” Box (2/21/2022) The episode that motivated such listener reactions: The U.S. Census named “some other race” as the second-largest racial group in the U.S. Mona Chalabi talks us through the data, and the stakes, of that statistic. “The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.  We want to hear from you! Connect with us on Twitter @WNYC using the hashtag #USofAnxiety or email us at anxiety@wnyc.org. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

The social fabric is torn. People nationwide are scared, some going so far as to arm themselves. What can we learn from our history as we react to this fear? Scholar James Forman Jr., author of the book Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America, helps break down what’s real, vs perception, about the rise in violent crime. Plus, a conversation with Nina Jankowicz, author of How to be a Woman Online: Surviving Abuse and Harassment, and How to Fight Back, about how to make the internet safer for women with political expertise and opinions. If you’re experiencing abuse or harassment online, here are two links with more resources about steps you can take: https://womensmediacenter.com/speech-project/tools-resources https://onlineviolenceresponsehub.org/ Companion listening for this episode: Episode 6: The Kids Are Not Alright (10/27/2016) Gang violence and a drug epidemic might not be the first things one thinks about when they picture the American suburbs, but they have become prominent facts of life for many residents in Suffolk County, Long Island. In fact, the leafy New York suburb led the Empire State in opioid and heroin overdose deaths in 2014. WNYC Studios and The Nation set out to explore how these problems emerged in the first place. “The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.  We want to hear from you! Connect with us on Twitter @WNYC using the hashtag #USofAnxiety or email us at anxiety@wnyc.org. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

Presidencies are rarely transformational, and neither Biden nor Trump have lived up to their supporters’ dreams. So what does it take to really change our politics? Host Kai Wright is joined by political theorist Corey Robin to confront that question, and take your calls about Biden’s first year in office. Companion listening for this episode: Government: A Love-Hate Story (4/12/2021) How did Americans come to think so poorly of the government? And how did Joe Biden come to be the first modern president who’s even tried to change our minds? Kai talks with three change-makers about the role of government in our lives. “The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.  We want to hear from you! Connect with us on Twitter @WNYC using the hashtag #USofAnxiety or email us at anxiety@wnyc.org. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

Democracy won’t work if we can’t talk to each other. So how do we do it across the cultural and political divides? WNYC’s own Brian Lehrer has hosted his syndicated show for over 30 years. Find out how a Raegan-era repeal changed the course of his career. Companion listening for this episode: The Method to Tucker Carlson’s Madness (5/3/2021) History suggests we shouldn’t laugh off what’s happening in right wing media right now. Plus, profiting off of racism is a business model as old as the news. “The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.  We want to hear from you! Connect with us on Twitter @WNYC using the hashtag #USofAnxiety or email us at anxiety@wnyc.org. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.

U.S. Census data found that more people are choosing "some other race" when asked to self-identify. It reveals just how complicated identity is, especially when it comes to race. Data journalist Mona Chalabi talks us through the data, and the stakes, of that statistic. Plus we hear from people around New York City who live outside of the Black-white binary, as they share their stories.   Companion listening for this episode: This Land Is My Land, That Land Is Your Land (10/6/2016) One thing politicians on both sides of the aisle have agreed on is that immigrants seeking legal status should "go to the back of the line." Problem is, that line doesn't exist. “The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.    We want to hear from you! Connect with us on Twitter @WNYC using the hashtag #USofAnxiety or email us at anxiety@wnyc.org. Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.