What Does it Mean to Be an American?
Pod Save America
- Published
- May 31, 2026
- Duration
- 1h 20m
- Summary source
- description
- Last updated
- Jun 10, 2026
Discusses Jon sits down with our own Ben Rhodes to talk about how American leaders tell the story of who we ar…
Summary
Jon sits down with our own Ben Rhodes to talk about how American leaders tell the story of who we are — and who they think we should be — through the speeches they give. The two go through the seminal speeches Ben selected for his new book "All We Say," discussing their power for good (Frederic Douglass on human rights) and evil (Alexander Stephenson on t…
Intelligent report
Sign in to read teasers, or upgrade to Research Pro to commission a new dossier for this episode. Learn more →
Show notes
Jon sits down with our own Ben Rhodes to talk about how American leaders tell the story of who we are — and who they think we should be — through the speeches they give. The two go through the seminal speeches Ben selected for his new book "All We Say," discussing their power for good (Frederic Douglass on human rights) and evil (Alexander Stephenson on the "moral truth" of white supremacy), and their own memories of writing presidential addresses for Barack Obama when the stakes were highest.