Donald Trump rose to power on a dark vision of American life: stagnation, lost greatness, unfairness. But he’ll eventually leave office — really, he will. David Leonhardt, an editorial director in Times Opinion, wants to know what’s next. What should America’s next story be? In the first in the series, he looks back to America’s founding story.
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Below is a transcript of an episode of “The Opinions.” We recommend listening to it in its original form for the full effect. You can do so using the player above or on the NYT Audio app, Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.
The transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
David Leonhardt: Today, “The Opinions” is starting something new: a series about our national story.
Right now, we’re obviously living through a pretty dark narrative. Americans are polarized and they’re frustrated, sometimes with good reason. But we’re not going to get out of this rut without a different story that can rally people to a new trajectory. That’s what this series will examine.
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The post America Was Defined by a Story. It’s Time for a New One. appeared first on New York Times.
