America's birthday blues
09 June 2026

America's birthday blues

Today, Explained

About
America's 250th birthday party has gotten political. So did its last big one.

This episode was produced by Kelli Wessinger and Hady Mawajdeh, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Gabriel Dunatov, engineered by David Tatasciore and Patrick Boyd, and hosted by Noel King.

The Capitol and Lincoln Memorial near a video display showing "250" projected on the Washington Monument during an America250 kickoff celebration. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

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