First hour: "American Anthem: The Special"
Second hour: The Capitol Steps present "Politics Takes a Holiday: July 4th Edition"
We bring you special programming on this fourth of July holiday. In our first hour, it's "American Anthem: The Special." Hosted by Elizabeth Blair and Tom Cole from NPR’s Arts Desk, the program will highlight standout stories from NPR’s American Anthem series. The hour will weave together the creation, popularization, and evolution of a selection of songs about our shared national identity as Americans. Songs like “Fight the Power,” “This Land is Your Land”, “Dixie,” and “The Times They Are a Changin’” were all written as a response to a moment or a movement and grew into an anthem. We put those songs and others meant to serve as a uniting rallying cry, or way to push back against politics and division in conversation with each other in this special. They all speak to the changing ways in which we think and rethink what it means to be an American and each has evolved into an anthem of its own.
Then in our second hour, this July 4th, the Capitol Steps answer all of the burning questions! What rhymes with Pete Buttigieg? If Joe Biden and Donald Trump have a Twitter exchange at 3 a.m., how fast can the Capitol Steps write a song about it? And if Vladimir Putin appears shirtless on the radio, does it violate the FCC’s decency standards? There’s plenty of material to go around so why not sit back, relax and forget you voted for any of the people mentioned in our special! Not for the faint of heart or for those considering running for office.
