Shows
Searching for America with Robyn CurnowWhy I’m Grateful to Live in AmericaWhen I first moved to the US, I didn’t fully understand Thanksgiving. Now, after years of living here, this holiday reveals more about America than almost anything else.In this episode, I unpack the history, the travel madness, the affordability of the classic Thanksgiving meal, and the national instinct toward connection that defines this time of year. I also share my own Thanksgiving list—why I’m grateful for America’s opportunity culture, its democratic protections, and its deep spirit of generosity.Listen and subscribe to Searching for America, and explore more of my work on...
2025-11-2408 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowWill Artificial Intelligence Kill Journalism?Journalists have survived every major technological shift, but AI presents a new kind of challenge. Robyn Curnow walks through the excitement, disruption, and uncertainty surrounding artificial intelligence in today’s newsrooms. She reflects on her early days as a reporter, the rapid advance of generative systems, and why the fundamentals still hold.What we coverHow AI is transforming newsrooms and accelerating job lossesWhy images, audio, and video can no longer be taken at face valueThe deeper philosophical question: what happens to truthLessons from the printing press and historic disruptionsWhy the core questions of journalism still ma...
2025-11-1710 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowCan Dolly Parton save America?Dolly Parton is one of the few figures in American life who transcends politics, culture, and class. In this episode, I ask why. How does a woman with big wigs, big hair, and an even bigger heart manage to be loved by everyone from evangelical Republicans to progressive feminists?We travel to Tennessee to find out. Along the way, we explore Dolly’s genius for what her team calls “Dollitics”—a refusal to play partisan games while living out universal values of compassion, humor, and hard work. From her philanthropy to her mus...
2025-11-1009 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowAngertainment: How I Escaped the Business of OutrageWhy does it feel like the news wants us angry?In this week’s Searching for America, I dig into what I call “angertainment” — the weaponization of news into a cycle of outrage and division. I spent more than twenty years inside the global media machine, from CNN to the BBC, and I’ve watched how fear and fury turned into a profitable formula.In this episode, I talk about how I reached my breaking point, why I turned off cable news for good, and how I’ve started to rethink what it means to stay informe...
2025-11-0409 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowHalloween and the American PsycheWhy do Americans spend more on Halloween than some countries do on their national defense? Robyn Curnow explores the cultural, economic, and emotional significance of Halloween in the United States. From inflatable unicorns to spooky dog costumes, this episode reflects on what America’s love for Halloween reveals about its people, priorities, and longing for community.Timestamps:00:00 – Opening question: Why is Halloween spending so huge in the U.S.?00:30 – Personal observations of Halloween in the Deep South01:20 – Seasonal context: Fall as a lead-in to a trio of holidays01:50 – Shocking stats: $13 billion Halloween spend vs Nordic defense budgets02...
2025-10-2907 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowHappiest Place in the World | Robyn CurnowThe American Dream is about working hard and being rewarded. In Denmark, the dream is more about contentment and consistency than bigger and better. Robyn Curnow has been visiting Denmark the past few weeks and she reflects on what makes Danes, and her Danish husband, 'happier' than most.
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2025-07-0212 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowPolitically Homeless in the U.S.A | Robyn CurnowMany Americans are politically homeless, says Robyn Curnow. The loudness and anger of the extremes leaves many decent Americans left out of the national conversation.
The political and media machine reinforce left and right position, staking a claim to one view.
So what does being politically homeless look like in America right now? Robyn Curnow thinks it's a bit like being one of those wandering souls of unbaptized babies in medieval Europe trapped in a centrist purgatory.
Can you be an independent or centrist in Trumpian Times? Can this podcast be a success...
2025-06-1711 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowHow Biden gave Trump the White House | Robyn CurnowWho's blame for Donald Trump being President again? One simple answer. Joe Biden. Robyn Curnow has interviewed a US Presidents, a First Lady and been in the Rose Garden at the White House during press conferences.
The recent exposes on the coverups over Joe Biden's health tell her one thing .. the Biden administration handed Donald Trump a big beautiful second term when they lied about the President's capacity.
Many Americans and people around the world are lamenting Trump's world (dis)order but based on the information coming out she suggests that Joe Biden should be...
2025-06-1011 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowAre American Jews ok? | Robyn CurnowThe firebombing of Jews in Colorado is not just about rising anti-semitism but a worrying broader trend, says Robyn Curnow. Identity politics - couched in the Free Palestine rhetoric - threatens to unleash more violence against Jews and anyone who is viewed as an 'oppressor' or 'colonizer.'
Robyn Curnow reflects on the language of 'resistance' and why it's so dangerous.
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2025-06-0310 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowLeadership lessons from the CIA | Marc Polymeropoulos and Robyn CurnowWhat can spycraft teach business leaders? Marc Polymeropoulos is one of the CIA's most decorated operatives. He spills secrets to Robyn Curnow about the leadership lessons he learnt in the shadows.
Memorial Day honors America's fallen warriors. The CIA men and women killed in action are remembered by stars at CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Marc lost colleagues and agents because of mistakes made in the field during post-9/11 years in hostile environments.
Marc Polymeropoulos talks to Robyn Curnow about the nine principles that leaders in any organisation can use to strength and clarity in...
2025-05-2725 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowWhy has Trump zero-ed in on South Africa? | Robyn CurnowOut of all the foreign policy tit-for-tats to have - why has President Trump picked South Africa? Why is he concerned about minority white farmers who speak Afrikaans in the rural areas of a continent that's not a strategic priority for the USA?
Robyn Curnow is South African, lives in Atlanta, Georgia and she was CNN's Africa correspondent for many years. She has known the South African president Cyril Ramaphosa since the 1990's when he was part of Nelson Mandela's team. She has also interviewed many American Presidents.
She offers a unique perspective - understanding...
2025-05-2220 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowAn MBA from the Vatican | Robyn CurnowBusiness schools across America should run an MBA course on corporate succession and the Catholic Church says Robyn Curnow who's covered the Vatican.
The ease of transition from one leader to another is smooth and seamless. And it's a key part of the enduring nature of the Vatican's well-oiled machine.
Pope Francis to Pope Leo, and the others that came before them for hundreds of years, are chosen by their peers (or the Holy Spirit, if you so wish) to lead the church (corporation) and to keep it profitable and with a steady supply of...
2025-05-2010 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowFOR SALE: Everything but the House! | Robyn CurnowWhat happens to our stuff when we die? The estate of Robyn Curnow's late neighbor has been up for sale next door. Antique bargain hunters and second-hand vultures have been 'shopping' the contents of the couple's house.
Strangers streamed through the neighborhood carting off everything the elderly couple owned, loved and collected for decades. Tupperware, silver, mattresses were all carried out of their front door for a few dollars.
Everything was sold off to the lowest bidder.
The odd-couple relationship between America and China is founded on American consumerism and Chinese productivity. There...
2025-05-1307 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowWhy is Graduation super-sized in America? | Robyn CurnowWe're in the middle of graduation season. Americans love a party, a theme and an excuse to put signs in their front yards announcing the celebration of the moment. Sometimes it's an election, other times it's July 4th and for these few weeks of spring.... it's graduation.
There is a constant rotation of goodbye parties. Graduation is not just a ceremony, it's a never-ending marathon of emotional and expensive moments.
Nowhere else in the world goes so BIG when school is finished. I'm embracing it because my eldest daughter deserves to be celebrated with trumpets...
2025-05-0610 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowDead Popes Society | Robyn CurnowBeing in the Vatican during a Pope's funeral and conclave is fascinating. Robyn Curnow was in Rome when John Paul II died. She remembers those days in St Peters. So, what to expect from the next conclave?
Robyn has covered many papal deaths and reported on the politics of the Catholic church.
Pope Francis was a different kind of pope to John Paul, and Ratzinger who succeeded him.
Both John Paul and Francis were epoch defining popes.
John Paul was one of the 20th century's great leaders against communism. Hewn from...
2025-04-2911 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowStrip Malls and the Cheers Bar | Robyn CurnowWhat do you think of when you read the words... STRIP MALL?
Firstly, there's no stripping. No pole dancing. No one dollar bills.
Secondly, they're everywhere and form the backbone of Main Street - the small mom-and-pop businesses that underpin American capitalism.
The rows of grubby one-story shops occupy a slice of real estate along side main roads and intersections. We have a bunch littered around us. Odd places, but filled with fascinating slices of Americana.
In just about every strip mall, even if they're near each other, there is nail...
2025-04-2214 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowThe 101 year perspective of politics | Robyn CurnowWhen politics get crazy who do you listen to? Your financial advisor who’s watching the stock market? A friend in government?
Robyn Curnow turns to her favorite analyst when times get complicated.... her 101 year old grandmother.
She's has lived through world wars that redrew the map, economic depressions that shattered lives, technological revolutions that have fundamentally altered how we connect and communicate. She’s seen empires rise and fall, social norms transform, and scientific breakthroughs once relegated to science fiction become everyday realities.
What does to she remind us when the only cert...
2025-04-1512 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowWhy Elvis is a great American | Robyn CurnowWhen Robyn Curnow moved to America she didn't take her family to Washington, or New York or Disney. Instead, they went on a pilgrimage to Graceland. The home of the King of Rock 'n Roll.
Elvis Presley is a rare thing in America. Most Americans would agree that his legacy and his music are the best of the USA. Robyn Curnow reflects on why she made a trip to Graceland.
It wasn't just Elvis and his music she was paying homage too, it was also the journey to Graceland that the Paul Simon sings about...
2025-04-0814 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowOoh La La! Coming back to America from France | Robyn CurnowThe paper-white flowers of the dogwood trees are out, along with fairy pink blossoms and bright azaleas. Spring is here in the American South.
After hosting an event with Prince Albert in Monaco, Robyn Curnow reflects on coming 'Home' to America and using her new US passport for the first time.
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2025-04-0108 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowFishin' with Jesus, Hell and losing religion | Drew McCoy and Robyn CurnowGrowing up in a hyper religious household, Drew McCoy had to 'come out' to shocked family and friends when he realized he no longer believed in God. Now he tries to understand the religious instincts of his Texas community via his hugely popular You Tube channel called Genetically Modified Skeptic.
Drew talks to Robyn Curnow about creationism, the bible and Donald Trump's evangelical political base.
Both Drew and Robyn live in the South and they talk about country music, persecution themes in politics and the bracelets that teenagers are wearing which say What Would Jesus...
2025-03-2533 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowStandup comedy, politics, and being Reasonably Happy | Paul Ollinger and Robyn CurnowHe was one of the first employees at Facebook, and then retired at 42 to follow his passion for stand-up comedy. Paul Ollinger talks to Robyn Curnow about his time at Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg and what his secret is to telling jokes in divided times.
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2025-03-1843 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowHamas tunnels, Ukraine and city warfare | John Spencer and Robyn CurnowUrban Warfare expert John Spencer says the conflict in Gaza is unlike any other. Spencer tells Robyn Curnow about his four trips into Gaza with the IDF since the October 7 massacre. As a combat veteran, national security and military analyst, he has served as an advisor to Pentagon to the U.S. Military Academy. Israel's fight in Gaza is unique in modern warfare, he says.
"Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza was the first one I've studied where the underground was more important than the surface."
He says in other wars, tunnels are used by civilians...
2025-03-1134 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowNo Diggity, Michael Jackson and I | Teddy Riley and Robyn CurnowNew Yorker Teddy Riley reflects on his experiences in the music industry, particularly his collaborations with iconic artists like Michael Jackson and Pharrell Williams. He discusses the evolution of American music and the importance of loyalty in both music and politics. Riley shares personal anecdotes from his upbringing in Harlem and his journey as a music producer, emphasizing the significance of spending time on music to create lasting impact.
Robyn Curnow asked him what was it like working with Michael Jackson and Teddy tells her that working with Michael was like working with your best friend.
2025-03-0427 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowThe USA Chaos Myth and Second Acts | Justin Farmer and Robyn CurnowRobyn Curnow had friends from abroad reach out to say they’re worried about “the chaos” in America right now, and she tells each of them
That she's patiently waiting to see what happens.
Between
→ The firing of federal employees.
→ The slashing of government funding.
→ The constant signing of executive orders.
…it’s easy to see how it looks like absolute chaos.
But when it comes to everyday life?
The waters are calmer than they appear.
Her guest this week is Justin Farmer is a former news anchor turned...
2025-02-2542 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowDeviants and true crime | Andrew IdenWhy is there such an obsession with True Crime stories in America? Andrew Iden, host of the Deviant podcast, has made a career covering true crime stories. Robyn Curnow wanted to know, out of all of the crazy stories — which one stayed with him? He quickly said…
BTK. The killer who would Bind. Torture. Kill.
“He was a killer in the 70s and 80s and went dark for a long time.
He came back in the early 2000s.
He taunted the media.
He taunted the victims' families.
And he was living a very...
2025-02-1832 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowSick care, Dr America? | Dr LaSonya LopezDr LaSonya Lopez was taught that medicine is art. After 25 years of treating patients she quit as a doctor because she felt corporate medicine has broken the system. Robyn Curnow speaks to Dr Lopez about why she supports the questions that RFK is asking about how the medical industry works, even though she doesn't support the broader Trump presidency.
Now, she's practicing the artistry of medicine in her own way - without the burnout, and exhaustion.
Look at Dr Lopez's new ventures at:
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2025-02-1231 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowDive bars, happy places and bad dudes with a CIA legend (1) | Marc PolymeropoulosCIA intelligence officer (ret.) Marc Polymeropoulos joins Robyn Curnow to talk about the successes and failures of his time on the frontlines in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, as well as his love of dive bars and heavy metal music.
Marc was one of the CIA's most highly decorated operations officers. He specialized in counterterrorism, the Middle East and South Asia and was in charge of the CIA's clandestine operations in Europe and Eurasia when he retired in 2019.
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2025-02-0427 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowA Russian attack and the CIA cover-up (2) | Marc PolymeropoulosWhat happened in Moscow when CIA operative Marc Polymeropoulos was attacked by an energy weapon that left him with a traumatic brain injury? There are still too many questions and not enough answers from America's intelligence community, says the decorated intelligence officer on what appears to be a systematic, targeted attack on American spies by a foreign government.
Marc discusses, what he calls, a cover-up of Havana Syndrome with Robyn Curnow in this frank, emotional conversation about a career in the shadows, only to be hurt by a shadow weapon.
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2025-02-0431 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowUse and abuse of the words Nazi and Hitler | Robyn CurnowDuring Holocaust Remembrance Week, Robyn Curnow laments the words 'Nazi' and 'Hitler' are being overused in political name-calling. Stop cherrypicking the past to pigeonhole the present, she says, especially when it comes to the Holocaust.
No. Trump and his team are not Nazis and Hitlers.
No. Americans are not like 'Germans supporting Hitler,' or 'Russians supporting Putin' blindly.
And no, Big Business is not doing a Vichy France capitulation.
Leave the Holocaust out of political mudslinging - it's a specific time in history that cannot be used as a lens...
2025-01-2815 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowBuckle up, Buttercup | Robyn CurnowTrump's has power and political capital. Americans - over 60% - are optimistic and want his policy promises to succeed.
The Democrats have lost the White House, the Senate, the House, the Village People and Silicon Valley in the last four years. Now the Techbros are in DC - looking to deregulate the future instead of litigating the past with identity politics.
Chapters
00:00 Trump 2.0: A New Era Begins
04:03 Political Capital and Optimism in America
11:59 The Tech Bros: Innovating Government
17:09 Looking Ahead: Open Minds and Future Trends
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2025-01-2219 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowGoat rodeos and space nukes | Jeffrey Lewis and Robyn CurnowRobyn Curnow spoke to Jeffrey Lewis, pre-eminent American nuclear expert, State Department security advisor and a self-described ‘arms control wonk. ’
Robyn has known Jeffrey ever since he tweeted during President Trump’s first term that the administration’s nuclear plans were a ‘goat rodeo.’ But this time around, the world is different and Trump's team is different. They talk about non-rational actors, paranoid leaders and nuclear realities. And how Pres Trump has a great opportunity to use his power to get China and Russia to sign up to new arms control agreements for missile defense and other things.
...
2025-01-1531 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowChina, baby, it's all about China | Jim Sciutto and Robyn CurnowThe Biggest New Year Challenge for America: China! CNN's National Security Analyst, fmr. Chief of Staff to the US Ambassador to China and author of The Return of Great Powers joins Robyn Curnow to talk about how 2025 will be the Year of the Xi-Dragon.
Xi Jin Ping's ambitions clash with Donald Trump's plans - where do they battle it out and what does it mean for America and the rest of the world?
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2025-01-0720 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowNew Year, New World | Jim Sciutto and Robyn CurnowThe world is changing and it reminds CNN's National Security analyst Jim Sciutto of the 19th Century. He joins Robyn Curnow to talk about how 2025 will continue to trend towards Great Power rivalry and how that will or will not change with President Trump's reemergence on the global stage.
Got a great idea for an episode? Drop Robyn a message here with the subject line PODCAST IDEASubscribe to Robyn's Substack.Visit her website here.To book Robyn to speak at your event, get in touch here.More about Robyn's public sp...
2025-01-0223 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowXmas cheer for the New Year | Robyn CurnowChristmas Cheer (and Fear) this happy Yuletide! Greetings from the American South where the inflatable Santas are bigger and better and BBQ pork is a seasonal delicacy.
Robyn Curnow is hopeful that the Trump team's better angels will sing this time around. She's hoping the push and pull between his Disrupters and his Enforcers will create a less chaotic Presidency and lessen the worst instincts of The Don. For various reasons, Americans have trusted Trump with the country - will he leave it in a better place or not?
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2024-12-2410 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowBut You Don't Look Arab | Hala Gorani and Robyn CurnowGorani Street, Aleppo, Syria is where Hala Gorani's family lived for generations. As an American-born child of Syrian immigrant parents she and her extended family across the world are watching what is happening in Syria with a personal interest. As a journalist, Hala is reluctant to make predictions on how a post-Assad Syria will play out because she says disappointment is baked into the Syria expat experience.
Hala Gorani and Robyn Curnow were correspondents and anchors together at CNN for over twenty years. When Hala left CNN she wrote a memoir called You Don't Look Arab and...
2024-12-1729 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowTrump's Road to Damascus | Robyn CurnowIs there going to be a Balkanization of Syria after the fall of Assad? Robyn Curnow, who has covered Syria since the rise of ISIS, argues that even though President Trump doesn't want America to get involved there are opportunities for the US and allies like Israel, the Kurds etc in a post-Assad vacuum.
Will the country break up and how will fragmentation play out? How many backchannel conversations have there been with US forces in Syria and the rebels now in Damascus? What games are being played out behind closed doors?
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2024-12-1011 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowBiden's nothing-burger Africa trip | Robyn CurnowRobyn Curnow covered all the previous US President's trips to Africa. She says Joe Biden's sleepy, whistle-stop trip to Angola is symbolic of U.S. weakness on the continent during his presidency.
She interviewed President George W. Bush in Zambia, President's Carter and Clinton in South Africa and First Lady Michelle Obama in Botswana. She was there when President Obama attended Nelson Mandela's memorial service in Soweto and present in the White House Rose Garden when President Trump welcomed Nigeria's former President.
Biden's legacy on the continent is so bad, she says a second Trump...
2024-12-0515 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowWar and Peace | Lynsey AddarioWar photographer Lynsey Addario captures moments in history that are difficult to witness. She talks to Robyn Curnow about being an American during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and what it is like to face danger head-on. Her path to the frontlines was an unlikely one; her parents were hairdressers and she grew up in a small Connecticut town in a large Italian-American family.
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2024-11-2529 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowNot Havana a good time | Robyn Curnow and Patrick OppmannRobyn Curnow covered Fidel Castro's funeral from Havana and was in Cuba when President Obama made an historic visit to the island. Patrick Oppmann has lived and worked as a foreign correspondent in Cuba for over a decade. Talking to Robyn from his home in Havana, Patrick weighs up what the appointment of Marco Rubio as Secretary of State.
As the son of Cuban exiles, Rubio has always taken a hardline against Havana's leadership. While much of Trump's plans for his second term are still unclear, one definite is that Marco Rubio signals bad news for the...
2024-11-1925 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowWhat next, 'Merica? | Robyn CurnowThe electoral map is red, red, red. Across America, folks decided that they preferred Donald Trump to Kamala Harris. Why did the Democrats lose so badly? How did Trump get such a wide, and deep, mandate from the American public?
A South African living in the American South, Robyn Curnow brings her outsider perspective to the conversation about why Trump won (which did not surprise her in the least.) She argues it's wrong to suggest that more than half of Americans have been brainwashed by rightwing media. Nor is every Trump voter racist and sexist. It's not...
2024-11-1313 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowWar photographer on life and death | Lynsey AddarioLynsey Addario's war photographs have been on the front pages of newspapers since 9/11. She talks to Robyn Curnow about the moments that have defined her Pulitzer-Prize winning career and what she's learnt from photographing people in war, famine and desperate times. She speak about what it means being embedded with American troops even though she doesn't agree with US foreign policy. A harrowing and inspiring story of one woman's bravery in some of the world's most inhospitable places.
2024-11-1229 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowDuh, Why Trump won | Robyn CurnowAs Donald Trump prepares to take control again - with a huge mandate from the American public - Robyn Curnow unpacks the result with her frank outsider perspective. While she's spent time trying to understand why so many of her neighbors voted for Trump, she is also clear that this is not a race the Democrats should have lost. Why? Joe Biden made a decision to run for a second term. If he had not, would things be very different now?
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2024-11-0717 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowThe Here Be Dragons Election | Robyn Curnow and guestsEarly European map makers drew dragons and wrote ‘Here Be Dragons’ on areas of the world that were still undiscovered or unknown. It is an HBD week in America.
We are about to sail into uncharted waters, and it’s totally and utterly unclear what the waves will reveal after the election.
In the first ten episodes of Searching for America, Robyn Curnow asked her guests to give her three words to describe America. Three words only. In this special election episode she piles all the words together and adds her own combination to the mix.
2024-11-0413 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowAn election scarier than Halloween | Ben JealousBen Jealous is one of America's civil rights leaders. He's worked with Kamala Harris in San Francisco and heads up the country's largest and oldest environmental group. Robyn Curnow talks to him about black men being 'Trump-curious,' white poverty and his personal story as the son of a mixed-race marriage that was illegal at the time.
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2024-10-2914 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowThat's when we knew something was off with Bill Cosby | Ben JealousBen Jealous has given thousands of speeches as an American civil rights leader but few would guess that he had a childhood stutter that still defines his patterns of speech. As a surfer, he says he tends to ride his words and sentences like a wave. When he was a kid, Bill Cosby humiliated his stammer which left Ben's family stunned at the contrast between Cosby's public and personal behavior.
Take listen to Ben favourite things on this bonus b-roll episode.
Ben Jealous
Three words to describe America: Big, beautiful, and divided.
2024-10-2911 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowPlease, no, American politics are not 'unprecedented' | Julian ZelizerThe son of a rabbi and a renowned sociologist, Julian Zelizer is a Princeton historian who studies modern American politics in a clear, cool way. Robyn Curnow - who has covered elections around the worlld wanted to know why the politics of Donald Trump has taken so firmly root in American life and why Americans get so amped up over single issues.
And, Robyn (who was in the 'belly of the beast' at CNN) and Julian talk frankly about the mistakes the media made in covering Trump in the early days. And the arguments over if the...
2024-10-2330 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowThe Son of a Rabbi, LBJ and the Grateful Dead | Julian ZelizerWhat are the current American leaders like? Princeton historian Julian Zelizer tells Robyn Curnow his perceptions of Trump, Biden, Vance, Harris and other leaders he's interviewed.
Three words to describe America right now? Fractured, divided and fragile.
Time travel? Oval Office, 1960's during Lyndon Johnson Presidency
Music? Grateful Dead
Ideal dinner guests? Ella Backer, Martin Luther King, FDR, Jerry Garcia.
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Chapters
00...
2024-10-2317 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowEx-CIA Station Chiefs | John Sipher and Jerry O'SheaTwo of America's high-level intelligence officers join Searching for America for a wide-ranging conversation about what might happen if Donald Trump becomes President again? Ex-CIA Station Chiefs John Sipher and Jerry O'Shea who have 60 years experience between them operating in hostile environments across the world but they agree that trying to understand America right now is "befuddling."
Robyn Curnow ask them who will win the election? "This isn't a secret that spies can steal."
Chapters
00:00 Defining American Identity
00:56 Intelligence Analysis of American Politics
02:51 Understanding Polarization and Trumpism
06:07 Foreign Influence and...
2024-10-1534 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowCIA, Hemmingway and a Nazi-KGB spy | Jerry O'Shea and John SipherFun questions for two former CIA Station Chiefs.
Where would you time travel to in American history?
John Sipher - 1950's post-war
John O'Shea - he wants to go 50 years into the future. "It's my time machine I can do what I want with it!"
Favorite American landscape?
Jerry O'Shea - Hawaii (and Zimbabwe and South Africa globally.)
John Sipher - New England
Dream dinner party guests
Jerry O'Shea - Hemingway and lots more...
John Sipher - FDR
Worst...
2024-10-1529 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowFarmers and Latinos for Trump | Leyla SantiagoLeyla Santiago, a proud Latina with Puerto Rican roots, lives in Trump turf, as she calls it. “My neighbor has a big sign that says Farmers for Trump. There's a huge sign downtown that basically says F@#k Joe Biden right across from the church, by the way.”
For many Americans, the rural countryside is the 'real' America. Trump and his team have been hugely successful in crafting the image of rural life as something that is pure America; untainted and disrespected by outsiders, liberals and urbanites.
Yard signs are always a surefire way to gaug...
2024-10-0822 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowArmy Brat, Dolly Parton and Puerto Rico | Leyla SantiagoLeyla Santiago answers Robyn's questionnaire that she sends to all her guests before the show.
Three words to describe America?
AT A CROSSROADS
Where did you grow up?
I'm an Army brat, so I moved around quite a bit. Born in Puerto Rico, moved to Panama during the Noriega conflict, then moved to South Carolina when my dad was stationed at Ft. Jackson
If you could time travel, which era in American history would you like to visit? Why?
If I'm being honest, the idea of traveling back in time...
2024-10-0816 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowThe Hundred Year Old President | Kevin Sullivan"I think the race is a toss up," says Kevin Sullivan, "Trump has really captured the Republican Party." In this episode of Searching for America, Robyn Curnow talks with Washington Post journalist Kevin Sullivan about all the president's he has interviewed. They discuss the enduring influence of Donald Trump, the dynamics of the Biden administration, and the role of Kamala Harris as a progressive leader. Sullivan shares insights from his experiences covering American politics and reflects on the legacy of Jimmy Carter who turned 100 on Oct 1.
#America #Trump #Biden #Kamala Harris # Jimmy Carter #carter100
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2024-10-0125 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowWizard of Oz and Singing Angels | Kevin SullivanEvery week Robyn Curnow asks her guest the same questions in this bonus episode. Where would you go if you could time travel? Dream Thanksgiving dinner guest (dead or alive)? What does it mean to be an American? Why is the country polarized? Favorite movie?
Kevin Sullivan lists his favorite things
02:49 Time Traveling
06:09 The Role of Social Media in Polarization "It's amplified the worst of us"
09:00 Patience, listening and being a decent person
Got a great idea for an episode? Drop Robyn a message here with the subject line PODCAST IDEA
2024-10-0110 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowWhy is Jesus on the ballot? | Doug HeyeUnlike other Western democracies, America's politics are infused with religion. Why is God part of the get-out-and-vote plans? Republican strategist Doug Heye says Republicans and Democrats have used religion to attract voters in the past but evangelical fervor for Donald Trump has turbo-charged the Republican ticket in different ways.
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Got a great idea for an episode? Drop Robyn a message here with the...
2024-09-2422 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowThree-day weekend in NYC in 1951 | Doug HeyeIn this bonus episode, Republican strategist Doug Heye shows his foodie side by listing his favorite restaurants and imagining his dream dinner party with Julia Child, Thomas Jefferson and Hank Aaron. When Robyn Curnow asks him about his favorite Presidents, Doug Heye gives a surprising answer.
Favorite piece of music or movie: Frank Sinatra singing
What makes him cry? Maybe a few tears were shed' seeing Bruce Springsteen sing "Thunder Road"
Favorite American landscape: Yellowstone
Favorite President; Ronald Reagan. George Washington. Richard Nixon.
Sports team: Tar Heels.
2024-09-2415 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowPoor teeth, rural voters | Sarah SmarshSarah Smarsh's grandmother had dentures in her twenties, after her teeth were pulled out due to poverty. Robyn Curnow asks why good or bad teeth explain whether America is a meritocracy?
Smarsh's new book is called Bone of Bone; Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class.
Robyn wanted to talk to Sarah because she's rare commodity in America - a whisperer or translator of two Americas; rural, white, poor middle America and the educated, urbane newsrooms of the coasts. As one of the few people in a newsroom who have worked in...
2024-09-1924 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowTexas two-step and Bourbon | Sarah SmarshEven though her family says American politicians 'are all crooks,' Sarah Smarsh was asked to run for Senate after she became a rare voice of an ignored part of America; the white, poor, rural working class. She choose not to go to run for office but instead wrote another book about her life in Kansas while working to save the prairies and fight against the stereotypes that paint her people as backwards.
The solution to American polarization? More honky-tonks, dancing and bourbon.
Her favorite landscape? The American prairie where she lives.
American...
2024-09-1910 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowBack-to-school battles over ideas | Josh ClarkWe need to immerse kids in more ambiguity, says headteacher Josh Clark, who is also on the board of the National Association of Independent Schools. How do the divisions in America manifest in schools?
Is pressure to say the right thing and give the 'correct answer' stifling debate and critical thinking in classrooms? Why have kids lost the ability to put themselves in another person's shoes? Does simplification of complicated issues create less empathy?
Josh Clark's dad was a prison warder which meant Josh grew up in the warder's house inside a prison complex in...
2024-09-1722 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowDazed and Confused, U.S.A. | Josh ClarkJosh Clark would love to time travel to the 1850's just before the Civil War when the country was dealing with what it meant to be an American. As a Southerner, who grew up Mississippi, he is intrigued by a country that was grappling with itself and at the same time embracing transcendentalism. He lists his favorite books from the pre-Civil War days, written during an time of national tension. Leaves of Grass, Moby Dick and the Scarlet Letter.
Motto: Make it New.
Best President: Abraham Lincoln.
Greatest fear for America: Apathy
2024-09-1714 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowAn American Soldier | Lt. Gen Mark Hertling (1)What does it mean to die for America? What is it like losing men under your command? Why do so many American civilians dress up like soldiers in camouflage gear and carry deadly weapons of war? (Lt. Gen Mark Hertling has strong opinions about that...)
General Mark Hertling earned the Purple Heart in Operation Desert Storm and commanded the US Army Europe and Seventh Army. He's a Westpoint graduate and has numerous university degrees.
When she was a CNN anchor, Robyn Curnow and Mark Hertling had numerous conversations on air about battles, wars or terror...
2024-09-1224 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowThe Sounds of Battle | Lt. Gen Mark Hertling (2)Why do so many American civilians dress up like soldiers in camouflage gear and carry deadly weapons of war? Lt. Gen Mark Hertling talks about what makes a soldier, and what it means to die for America. Hertling earned the Purple Heart in Operation Desert Storm and commanded the US Army Europe and Seventh Army.
When she was a CNN anchor, Robyn Curnow and Mark Hertling had numerous conversations on air about battles, wars or terror attacks, but now Robyn gets a chance to ask Mark all the questions she never had the chance to during breaking n...
2024-09-1218 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowWho is Kamala Harris? | Jason Kander (Part 1)What is Kamala Harris like? Why do Trump voters believe he's on their side?
US Army veteran and a former Democratic Party wunderkind, Jason Kander says he 'sorta ran for President.' He's also ran for Senate along with Kamala Harris so he knows what it's like working with her.
Kander pulled back from public life after admitting he was struggling with PTSD from his time serving in Afghanistan. His book Invisible Storm, a soldier's memoir of politics and PTSD is a New York Times bestseller.
Even though he's no longer in politics...
2024-09-1023 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowWalking into a military psych ward | Jason Kander (Part 2)Jason Kander tells the (funny) story of when checked himself into a military psych ward for PTSD
Jason Kander was 'sorta' running to be President when he realized he needed to back out of politics because he was suffering from PTSD after a deployment in Afghanistan. His New York Times Best Selling book is called Invisible Storm, a Soldier's Memoir of Politics and PTSD.
In a humorous account of when he checked himself into a military psychiatric ward, he explains to Robyn Curnow why the doctor thought he was hear ing voices (President Obama really...
2024-09-1015 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowTime Travel and baseball | Jason Kander (Part 3)Jason Kander on his Field of Dreams and New York New York!
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Got a great idea for an episode? Drop Robyn a message here with the subject line PODCAST IDEASubscribe to Robyn's Substack.Visit her website here.To book Robyn to speak at your event, get in touch here.More about Robyn's public speakingRobyn Curnow is a sought-after public speaker on what it takes to create...
2024-09-1012 minSearching for America with Robyn CurnowSearching for America trailer. NEW! A podcast from Robyn CurnowListen to a fast-moving summary of what to expect from Robyn Curnow's new podcast called Searching for America.
Based in Atlanta, Georgia after decades reporting around the world for CNN, Robyn Curnow wants to understand what it means to be an American in 2024.
In this trailer she asks Democrats, Republicans, head teachers, ex-CIA officers, US Army Generals, Pulitzer prize winning journalists and photographers, Presidential historians and Americans from across the political spectrum why the country is divided and what can be done to bring people together.
Make sure to tune into her bi-weekly...
2024-09-0903 min