What Does It Mean to Be American?
Obama speechwriter Ben Rhodes explains how we talk ourselves into our national identity.
The Memorial Day holiday this week wasn’t just a day off work, though I do hope you got that. It also offered us a chance to honor those who gave their lives in service to our country, and it left us thinking about what being an American is really all about. As this week’s podcast guest points out, it’s a somewhat unstable identity, one whose meaning has evolved over the last two and a half centuries. Read on to dive into an oratorical history of the nation, along with other big ideas we came across this week.
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This Week on the Next Big Idea Podcast
What does it mean to be American?
America’s a funny place. It’s not a country with a fixed geographic or religious identity. We don’t have a common story of divine creation. “What we have,” writes Ben Rhodes in his new book, All We Say, “are words.” The words of the founding documents, yes — but also “the words of speeches spoken by Americans who call us to be that better version of ourselves.”
Ben has spent more time with great American speeches than just about anyone. For eight years, he was a speechwriter in the Obama White House, crafting some of the defining oratory of the era. His new book is a 250-year tour through 15 speeches that built the country, challenged it, and raised its sights.
He tells us how FDR changed the course of WWII from behind the lectern, how MLK ad-libbed one of the most famous lines in American history, and what Obama’s 2008 speech about race can teach today’s politicians about storytelling. And he makes the case that America needs great oratory now more than it has in a long time. Check out our conversation with Ben on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Book Bite of the Week
Can walking change your life?
Walking and foot health are fundamental to overall health — not optional fitness habits. Unfortunately, modern lifestyles and footwear are weakening the body’s evolved design for regular movement. Fitness experts Dr. Milica McDowell and Dr. Courtney Conley share five key insights from their new book, Walk: Rediscover the Most Natural Way to Boost Your Health and Longevity―One Step at a Time on the Next Big Idea app.
This week’s Book of the Day sponsor is Effective by Melissa Swift. The modern workplace feels increasingly impossible — work has intensified, chaos seems constant, and everything seems designed to make you feel incompetent. Swift, founder of Anthrome Insight, offers a refreshingly practical path: how to get your job done well without losing your mind. Drawing surprising lessons from professions where failure isn’t an option — firefighters, air traffic controllers, ER doctors — this is a paradigm-shifting guide for anyone trying to do meaningful work today.
🎉 Happy Publication Week! 🎉
The following Next Big Idea Club Must-Read authors got to celebrate the publication of their books this week — congratulations to them all! 📖 Join us in reading and discussing these exciting new releases:
Ben Rhodes, All We Say: The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches
Eric Ries, Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad... and How Great Companies Stay Great
Jack Parlett, Flamboyance: The Power of Living Boldly
Soumaya Keynes & Chad P. Bown, How to Win a Trade War: An Optimistic Guide to an Anxious Global Economy
Stephanie Coontz, For Better and Worse: The Complicated Past and Challenging Future of Marriage
Tom Levenson, A Pox on Fools: The True Believers, Grifters, and Cynics Who Convinced Us to Reject Vaccines
Fun fact: Ben Rhodes was my creative writing teacher at NYU!