The Culture Wars: How Can We Lower the Temperature?

The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series

Welcome, welcome, welcome to The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series. I’m your host, and as we stand on the precipice of America’s 250th anniversary, the air is thick with the sparks of cultural contention. But today, we ask a pivotal question: “The Culture Wars: How Can We Lower the Temperature?”

In this episode, we’re diving into the undercurrents of America’s grand narrative with none other than Clay Jenkinson, a public humanities scholar who wields the past not as a weapon but as a lantern in the murky debates of the present.  Clay Jenkinson will be appearing at the Smithsonian Associates Interview Series coming up.  Please check out our website and show notes today for more details.  The title of Clay Jenkinson’s presentation via Zoom is The Culture Wars: How Can We Lower the Temperature?”

Clay Jenkinson’s presentation, rich with the wisdom of a seasoned historian, invites us to consider the full spectrum of America’s journey—the valor and the vices, the triumphs and the tribulations. As statues fall and the legacies of figures like Theodore Roosevelt and Thomas Jefferson face the tides of modern scrutiny, Jenkinson offers a voice of moderation. He beckons us away from the extremes of glorification and vilification to a place where we can engage with our history—all of it—with honesty and grace. He challenges us to see the removal of a statue not as an erasure but as a conversation, to view the controversies not as battles but as the growing pains of a democracy still striving towards its ideals. 

So, as we prepare to mark a milestone in our nation’s history, let us approach the conversation with the reverence and critical eye it deserves. Let’s explore the paths to cool the fires of division and fan the flames of understanding.

Stay tuned as we navigate the heated corridors of America’s past and present, seeking the cool waters of consensus and the fertile ground of mutual respect. This is The Not Old Better Show, Smithsonian Associates Interview Series, and I’m ready to embark on this journey with you. Let the conversation begin.

My thanks to Smithsonian Associate Clay Jenkinson.  Clay Jenkinson will be appearing at the Smithsonian Associates Interview Series coming up.  Please check out our website and show notes today for more details.  And my thanks to the Smithsonian team for all they do to support the show. My thanks to you, my wonderful audience here on the radio and podcast. Please be well.