The 21st Show

Author Interview: Jared Yates Sexton

 

Over the past four years under a Trump presidency, what it means — and does not mean — to be an “American,” has risen to the forefront of our individual, and collective consciousness. And as we see a nation polarized on so many issues — whether it be immigration, racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement, or even on the perceived legitimacy of our elections as we see it playing out right now — it is natural to wonder just who we “are” as a nation and as Americans, and perhaps time to reconsider it.

In his latest book American Rule: How A Nation Conquered the World But Failed Its People, author Jared Yates Sexton, dug into America’s past and excavated some of its skeletons, laying to bare some of the foundational American myths at the heart of the nation’s collective self perception. And in this reexamination, he debunks some of the misconceptions about who we are as a country, and a people.

To talk more about this and his latest book, The 21st was joined by Sexton. 

Guests:

Jared Yates Sexton, political analyst and associate professor of writing at Georgia Southern University, and author of American Rule: How A Nation Conquered the World But Failed Its People

Prepared for web by Zainab Qureshi

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