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FROM WNYC Studios, host Kai Wright criss-crosses the country, revisiting our history to ask how relevant it is to the current election, and trace today’s political and cultural divides back to the Reconstruction era. The season begins with the story of black landowners from Quitman County, Mississippi, and grapples with the question: Who is the rightful owner of this country’s staggering wealth?
“One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. These ideas don’t trace back to the start of our nation; they were developed in the years following the Civil War, as we rewrote our Constitution to codify freedom for millions of formerly enslaved black people,” said Kai Wright. “In the stories we tell in each episode, we reveal how people are still trying to make those ideas real in their lives and communities. And we’re reminded of a time in our nation’s history in which that goal felt truly attainable.”
The first six episodes of The United States of Anxiety will be released weekly until March 5, then bi-weekly leading up to the November election. The series is available at UnitedStatesofAnxiety.org and all other platforms where podcasts are available.