America's birthday blues
6/9/202626 min
America's 250th birthday party has gotten political. So did its last big one. This episode was produced by Kelli Wessinger and Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Gabriel Dunatov, engineered by David Tatasciore and Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Noel King. The Capitol and Lincoln Memorial near a video display showing "250" projected on the Washington Monument during an America250 kickoff celebration. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. New Vox members get $20 off their membership right now. Transcript at vox.com/today-explained-podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:02
There, I heard there are going to be a record number of fireworks.
Speaker 10:06
Oh, okay.
Noel King· Host0:06
Everybody's excited about America 250 in Washington, DC.
Speaker 00:10
Like, a Guinness World Record number of fireworks.
Noel King· Host0:12
Producer Kelly Wessinger is excited. Lee Greenwood is excited.
Donald Trump· Soundbite0:16
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land.
Speaker 00:19
Are you gonna stick around for any of the events? Are you- Oh, we're only here till Thursday.
Noel King· Host0:25
Leaving on Thursday is excited. Admittedly, it's gotten a little messy. The concert's a flop. A judge might stop the UFC fight. The fireworks should be good.
Speaker 00:34
Which I'm excited about 'cause I love fireworks.
Speaker 10:36
Good for you.
Speaker 00:36
Like, a lot.
Speaker 10:37
[laughs] Yeah.
Noel King· Host0:37
The country's divided, the protests are planned, the locals are anxious, the president fell asleep at a Knicks game. It's summer in America. We are 250, and some years back we were 200, and you know what? That one was a mess, too. Today on Today, Explained from Vox, happy birthday dear America.
Speaker 10:53
Okay.
Speaker 00:53
I didn't realize they had closed it totally off. I thought- Mm-hmm ... the Mall would still be open, but yes.
Noel King· Host0:57
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