Hannah Rosen

Today, we talked to two of my Atlantic colleagues, writer and podcast host Adam Harris and staff writer Clint Smith, who's also the author of How the Word is Passed, A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America.

Adam, welcome to the show.

Clint, welcome to the show.

So, Clint, as someone who has studied the presentation of history, and specifically Black history, how would you characterize this administration's approach?

And what is that desire about?

Because Adam, Trump talks about wanting monuments to be uplifting, not to cause people shame.

What does that mean?

And that just feels bad?

Yeah, I can see it's disorienting.

I feel like we need to ground this conversation in a few examples.

You started by using the word intensity.

Of the things that the Trump administration has done, which one has stuck out to you?

Just give us a few examples.

Clint, I'm curious to put this in some kind of context.

What the Trump administration is doing now, which you described as having a certain degree of intensity, versus previous eras in American history, versus Trump won, because there's always a push and pull.

I mean, I imagine countries rarely do just clean memorialization of their sins, you know?

Oh, that is so important.

I get that.

So what you're saying is mostly the pushback is cultural, like it's cultural.

It comes from state governments.