Episode summary
Host Ben Meiselas interviews Maryland Governor Wes Moore on the Fourth of July about patriotism, democracy, and resistance to the Trump administration's efforts to co-opt America's 250th birthday celebration. Moore, the first African-American governor in Maryland's history, rejects the notion that America's best days are behind it, calling the country the greatest experiment in world history despite its deeply uneven history. The governor announces Maryland will hold counterprogramming to Trump's politicized National Mall celebration, with Moore giving a speech in the nation's oldest operating state house, built by enslaved people. Moore defines patriotism as demanding the country fulfill its promises rather than blind nationalism, citing his grandfather who returned to America despite Ku Klux Klan threats because he believed the country would be incomplete without him. In a significant revelation, Moore discloses that the Trump White House twice denied federal disaster relief to Western Port, Maryland after catastrophic flooding, despite the area voting 77% for Trump. Moore ordered Maryland state resources to rebuild the town's infrastructure after federal aid was rejected. The governor emphasizes his principle of leaving no one behind applies universally, including to MAGA supporters, arguing that healing, reconciliation, and fighting oppression can happen simultaneously. Moore frames the current moment not as a time to surrender to cynicism but to let it be a companion rather than a captor in the work of democratic renewal.
