🤖 AI Summary
Overview
In celebration of America’s 250th birthday, this episode explores the essence of American identity through the lens of culture, art, technology, and more. Journalists and critics from The New York Times share their perspectives on what they consider the most American
elements within their respective beats, offering a kaleidoscopic view of the nation's character.
Notable Quotes
- Only in America could you get a horror film like Jordan Peele's 'Get Out.' It holds up a mirror to the so-called post-racial America and says, 'That monster you thought wasn’t there anymore? It’s still there.'
– Erik Piepenburg, on the enduring relevance of Get Out.
- America isn’t only what you look at and what you listen to. It’s also what you avert your eyes and ears from.
– Jon Caramanica, on the cultural significance of pop music.
- Survivor shows the challenges and the potential for triumph when you throw together a bunch of people who came from somewhere else and try to get them to create a world from scratch. It’s not always pretty, but it’s distinctly American.
– James Poniewozik, on the TV show Survivor.
🎵 The Sound of America: Music and Dance
- Joshua Barone highlights Aaron Copland’s Rodeo
as quintessentially American, blending folk music with themes of the American West. Its finale, Hoedown,
is pure Americana, famously used in the Beef, It’s What’s for Dinner
campaign.
- Gia Kourlas discusses two iconic dance pieces: George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes,
a playful yet technical ballet set to Sousa marches, and Martha Graham’s Appalachian Spring,
which captures the optimism of frontier life.
📺 Pop Culture as a Mirror of America
- James Poniewozik sees Survivor
as a microcosm of America, reflecting its competitive, tribal, and cooperative dynamics.
- Erik Piepenburg calls Get Out
a uniquely American horror film, exposing the lingering specter of racism in a post-racial
society.
- Alissa Wilkinson interprets There Will Be Blood
as a critique of capitalism and the destructive pursuit of power, flipping the traditional American Western narrative.
🍔 Food, Fashion, and Everyday Americana
- Kim Severson traces the history of M&M’s, from its wartime origins to its role in American marketing and agriculture, calling it a great American food story.
- Vanessa Friedman identifies workout wear—leggings and sports bras—as the most recognizable American fashion abroad, symbolizing the country’s casual, fitness-oriented culture.
🎢 Technology, Sports, and the American Spirit
- Kevin Roose describes Amazon Prime as emblematic of American consumerism: fast, cheap, and ever-available.
- Mekado Murphy celebrates The Beast,
a massive wooden roller coaster, as a metaphor for America’s love of excess and thrill-seeking.
- Elena Bergeron highlights the dominance of U.S. Olympic hockey teams as a source of national pride, embodying the competitive American spirit.
📚 Literature, Art, and the American Ideal
- A.O. Scott praises Walt Whitman’s Crossing Brooklyn Ferry
for its meditation on the shared future of America, embracing both its flaws and aspirations.
- Jason Farago calls the Statue of Liberty the ultimate American artwork, symbolizing liberty’s strength and fragility.
- Helen Shaw and M.J. Franklin explore the African-American experience through August Wilson’s Century Cycle
and Honorée Fanon Jeffers’ The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois,
both of which weave personal and historical narratives into the fabric of America.
AI-generated content may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon as a sole source of truth.
📋 Episode Description
In celebration of the United States of America’s 250th birthday, we posed a simple question to some of our favorite critics, columnists and editors across the New York Times newsroom, people who write about books, movies, TV shows, science, sports, wellness and food. We asked: What’s the most American thing on your beat?
On today’s episode, we present their answers. Happy Birthday, America!
On Today’s Episode
Joshua Barone, culture editor, on “Rodeo,” composed by Aaron Copland
Vanessa Friedman, chief fashion critic, on workout gear
Erik Piepenburg, culture writer, on the movie “Get Out”
Kevin Roose, technology columnist, on Amazon Prime
Mekado Murphy, culture editor, on the roller coaster The Beast
James Poniewozik, chief television critic, on “Survivor”
Jancee Dunn, wellness writer, on productivity and sleep
Elena Bergeron, culture editor, on U.S. hockey
Jennifer Szalai, editor at the Book Review, on “Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World” by Henry Grabar
Bill Wasik, science editor, on liquid rocket fuel
Madison Malone Kircher, internet culture reporter, on Bama Rush
Kim Severson, food reporter, on M&M’s
M.J. Franklin, editor at the Book Review, on “The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois” by Honorée Fanon Jeffers
Helen Shaw, chief theater critic, on “The Century Cycle” by August Wilson
Alissa Wilkinson, film critic, on the movie “There Will Be Blood”
Zachary Small, culture reporter, on Grand Theft Auto
Elisabeth Vincentelli, culture reporter, on demolition derbies
Jason Zinoman, critic at large, on the song “Political Science” by Randy Newman
Jason Farago, critic at large, on the Statue of Liberty
A.O. Scott, critic at large, on “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” by Walt Whitman (featuring a reading by Jeffrey Wright)
Gia Kourlas, dance critic, on “Stars and Stripes” by George Balanchine and “Appalachian Spring” by Martha Graham
Jon Caramanica, pop music critic, on “Trump Trump Baby” by Forgiato Blow
Photo credit: The New York Times
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