MAGA, the New Confederate Lost Cause

White supremacist myths turn defeated leaders into heroic victors. Will Donald Trump now get the same transfiguration as Robert E. Lee?

If history is our guide -- as it often is on this show -- then there’s reason to worry about the answer to that question. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Dr. David Blight (Sterling Professor of History at Yale University and the author of "Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom") joins Kai to tell the story of the Confederacy’s Lost Cause mythology -- how it was created, why it still matters today, and how similar it may feel to the new Lost Cause of Donald Trump.

Plus, we open our pre-election time capsule of your wildest dreams. Before the election, we asked you to imagine a future for the country, your communities, and yourselves. In this episode, we share some of the dreams you sent us -- including a dream of cross-species telepathy! Really, though. 

Companion listening from our archives:

An Invitation to Dream (11/02/2020)

 https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/anxiety/episodes/invitation-dream

A Historian’s Guide to the 2020 Election (09/28/2020)

 https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/anxiety/episodes/historians-guide-2020-electionThe Life and Work of Ida B. Wells (05/08/2020) https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/anxiety/episodes/life-and-work-ida-b-wells

“The United States of Anxiety” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on WNYC.org/anxiety or tell your smart speakers to play WNYC.

Tell us what you think. We're @noteswithkai on Instagram and X (Twitter). Email us at notes@wnyc.org. Send us a voice message by recording yourself on your phone and emailing us, or record one here.

Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.