An American Playlist | The New Yorker

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This week, to commemorate 2 hundred and fifty years of the American experiment, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz current an American playlist. On this particular episode, the hosts hear from listeners relating to the songs that greatest encapsulate their emotions concerning the U.S. immediately—and provide some tracks of their very own. The ensuing compilation displays the nation’s turbulent historical past, its unsure current, and, crucially, listeners’ hopes for its future. “What we consider as nation-building—not less than if you happen to care about artwork, that’s not the place the true motion is,” Cunningham says. “The motion is in our inventive response to the circumstances that we’re given. And that’s what music is all about.”

Learn, watch, and hear with the critics:

“Children in America,” by Kim Wilde
“Miss America,” by David Byrne
“All-American Bitch,” by Olivia Rodrigo
“Django Jane,” by Janelle Monáe
“Assist Save the Youth of America,” by Billy Bragg
“Virtually Minimize My Hair,” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Younger
“Free Fallin’,” by Tom Petty
“America,” by Simon & Garfunkel
“Battle Hymn of the Republic,” lined by Joan Baez
“Sleep Now within the Hearth,” by Rage Towards the Machine
“Your Flag Decal Received’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore,” by John Prine
“In comparison with What,” by Roberta Flack
“Ohio/Machine Gun,” by The Isley Brothers
“Bob Dylan’s a hundred and fifteenth Dream,” by Bob Dylan
“Wild Goose Chase,” lined by Nora Brown
“That’s Life,” lined by James Brown
“Billy the Child Suite,” by Aaron Copland
“A Change Is Gonna Come,” by Sam Cooke