Podcast Summary: The New Yorker Radio Hour — Podcast Extra: The State of The Union Songbook Live (Nov. 3, 2016)

Overview

In this special bonus episode of The New Yorker Radio Hour, composer and lyricist Michael Friedman performs his "State of the Union Songbook" live at WNYC’s Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. The project features songs crafted verbatim from interviews with voters across America during the 2016 election year, capturing raw and diverse perspectives on politics, identity, and the American condition. Friedman discusses his process and the ethical considerations of transforming lived voices into song, revealing the country's anxieties, divisions, hopes, and contradictions.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Origins and Purpose of the Songbook

• Michael Friedman explains that the project began with traveling to primary states, interviewing ordinary people—not politicians—about their lives and political beliefs ([09:00]).
• The Civilians, a theater group specializing in investigative theater, inspired the method of "verbatim song," in which interviewees’ actual words become lyrics ([09:52]).
• Friedman reflects on the ethical and emotional complexity of this process, noting that each song is a window into a singular, often conflicted worldview ([10:04]).

"What does that mean to do verbatim, to take someone's words and turn it into a song? There are some ethical questions that get involved ... but that's been part of this process."
— Michael Friedman ([09:53])

Song Performances: Americans in Their Own Words

1. New Jersey – The "Freedom" Song

• Opens with a verbatim, rapid-fire life story and political screed from a self-described Midwestern “angry white man” who narrates his disillusionment with the political class, his support for Trump as a vessel for "change," and skepticism about government and media narratives ([00:36]-[07:25]).
• Touches on themes of class resentment, shifting American identity, conspiracy, and perceived loss of privilege.
• Notable moment: He concludes, "This is the Flight 93 election, and this is 9/11 and you are on a plane. Who do you want flying the plane?" ([07:11])

"He may be imperfect, he may be crude, he may even lie, but he isn't corrupt. He represents a real change from what's going on."
— "Freedom" Interviewee (via Michael Friedman) ([03:33])

2. The John Brown Painting — Reflections on Race in America

• Performed by Jeremy Pope, this song sets to music the thoughts of a young Black man reacting to the painting “John Brown Kissing a Slave Baby” ([12:17]-[19:15]).
• The song interrogates the appropriations and oversimplifications of Black experience in historical memory, drawing stark lines between the past and the realities of racism today (references to Ferguson, Oklahoma frat boys).
• Notable, powerful portion about enduring racist slurs as a server and how language shapes trauma and resilience ([15:36]).

"That's not history. That's the bullshit of America forcing something on me."
— Jeremy Pope, as Interviewee ([13:00])

3. Iowa – The Mock Caucus High Schooler

• Perspective from a white high school senior in Iowa, reflecting on polarization, intergenerational divides, and negotiating identity in a nearly all-white school ([19:15]-[23:08]).
• Talks about growing up amid school shootings, political arguments at home, and the desire for greater openness.
• Expresses hope for the future, a desire to “make any world you want” (via designing video games), and contrasts political innocence with more complicated realities ([23:08]).

"We started the mock caucus at school to have a way to hear different opinions ... My generation didn't grow up with Gipper and Tip working together to get things done. We grew up with Bush against the Democrats, Obama, GOP tearing the fabric of the nation apart..."
— Iowa High Schooler (via Michael Friedman) ([19:35])

4. Dallas – The Undocumented Activist

• An activist born in Mexico, raised in Dallas, narrates the double life of the undocumented—forced family separation, exploitation, resilience, and political awakening ([23:08]-[27:13]).
• Tells stories of deportation, activism, police encounters, and the ironies of American belonging (e.g., using a Sam’s Club card as ID).
• The segment is vivid, highlighting both fear and agency in activism.

"If Trump wins, I see, like Gestapo style raids, crazy stuff... Maybe people who don't give a shit who the President is will wake the hell up."
— Dallas Activist (via Michael Friedman) ([25:16])

5. Fort Worth – A Reporter’s Drive

• African American reporter gives Friedman a driving tour of Fort Worth, recounting the layered history of race, segregation, decline of Black-owned property, and the enduring legacy of Jim Crow ([27:13]-[34:00]).
• Details the ghostly presence of former Black neighborhoods, segregated institutions, and contemporary police violence.
• Asserts that integration brought both hope and loss; notes the cyclical reemergence of white grievance politics.

"That was justice in America going back to slavery and Jim Crow. The poorest white person was ... The only thing they had going for them was they were better than any black person. And that's what we see happening again. People think something has been taken from them. Their country, not my country."
— Fort Worth Reporter (via Michael Friedman) ([32:26])

6. Charleston – “The Plum Tree”

• A Southern white man reminisces on growing up in segregated Charleston, initial casual use of racist slurs as a child, and the moral awakening inspired by a Black family maid ([37:22]-[40:36]).
• Grapples with nostalgia, shame, and the evolving meaning of heritage symbols like the Confederate flag.
• Emphasizes shifting social mores and personal reckonings with race.

"She came running out the front of the porch and she grabbed me and she said, let me tell you something. You better think before you use that word again ... If I hear you again, I will wash your mouth out with soap."
— Charleston Interviewee (via Michael Friedman) ([40:13])

7. Colorado Springs – “Student Debt”

• College student discusses their struggle with financial independence, religious identity, racial microaggressions, and political disillusionment on a liberal campus ([44:36]-[51:18]).
• Touches on social media-driven fracture, pressure to be "realistic," and the burdens of loan debt.

"I'm never going to retire. I'm going to be working forever if I'm lucky."
— Colorado College Student (via Kristalyn Lloyd) ([51:06])

8. California – The Disenchanted Journalist

• A network news journalist reflects on the transformation of political coverage, nostalgia for gravitas, and the shift toward entertainment and sensationalism ([53:32]-[56:35]).
• Regrets the loss of depth and public seriousness, seeing Trump as both a ratings magnet and a sign of decline.

"The only thing you see as a beacon of hope is at least people are paying attention."
— Journalist (via Michael Friedman) ([56:14])

9. Arizona – The Porn Actor’s Journey

• A gay man, disillusioned by economic insecurity and U.S. politics, becomes a porn actor, pursuing a radical personal and artistic project to "film sex in every state." Discusses family rifts, left-wing politics, infrastructure collapse, and finding hope in human relationships ([56:35]-[65:25]).
• Cynical about both political parties and future prospects, he finds connection and “salvation” in community and travel.
• Ends with a note of beauty in the possibility of imagining a better world, despite the prevailing darkness.

"That's my only hope. I don't think, you know, that it's a big hope, but, like, that is my salvation, I think, for me in the future, like, for people to work less and travel the country and not have a lot of possessions and, you know, eat good food and see natural wonders and incredible cultures you didn't know existed. I mean, that's what we should all be doing."
— Arizona Interviewee (via Michael Friedman) ([64:48])

Reflections & Meta-Discussion

• Guns as a Through-Line: Many interviewees, regardless of background, mention gun ownership as both cultural norm and political signifier ([34:07], [34:53]).
• Generational Change: Friedman and Sarah Larson comment on the innocence and optimism of younger interviewees, contrasting it with the rage or cynicism of older voices ([35:15]).
• Despair & Utopia: Friedman articulates the tension between hope and terror coursing through the country, finding that despair about the present often coexists with yearnings for a utopian future ([36:06]).
• Process of Turning Interviews into Songs: Choosing which stories to set to music depends on finding a central, revelatory moment in each interview that “opens up” the speaker’s world ([52:17]-[53:20]).
• The Value of Perspective: Both Friedman and Larson note how this project offers a momentary step back from the storm of outrage and panic that characterized 2016, letting listeners hear and reflect rather than react ([36:50]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the project’s conception:
  "Last year, I was in last summer ... kind of feeling disconnected from the process ... and a little disconnected from, like, the rest of the country or maybe from why I was making work."
  — Michael Friedman ([10:04])

• On empathy and rage:
  "Sometimes inhabiting ... these things. I will admit that when I started singing about how much I wanted to jail Hillary Clinton, I got actually kind of an adrenaline rush, which explains maybe something."
  — Michael Friedman ([37:04])

• On the arc of American discourse:
  "When 911 happened, I wanted to hear Peter Jennings, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw. I wanted a voice, a voice of God. When are we going to come together? I thought we'd come together by now. But you know, for better or worse, Trump's made people watch and participate and think and talk."
  — Journalist (via Michael Friedman) ([55:50])

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:36 | "Freedom" song — Midwest/NJ Trump supporter, life story, conspiracy, anger | | 12:17 | "John Brown" painting — Black interviewee on history, race, authenticity | | 19:15 | "Iowa High Schooler" — Political polarization, guns, youthful idealism | | 23:08 | "Dallas" — Undocumented activist, family, activism, fear, belonging | | 27:13 | "Fort Worth" — Black reporter’s tour of segregation, history, progress | | 37:22 | "Plum Tree" — Charleston, racism, confederate flag, personal reckoning | | 44:36 | "Student Debt" — Colorado college student, race, religion, loans, the future | | 53:32 | "California" journalist — News, cynicism, spectacle, hope, politics | | 56:35 | "Arizona porn actor" — Survival, leftism, hopelessness & community |

Tone & Style

The episode is candid, poignant, and at times unflinchingly direct. Michael Friedman’s respectful yet probing lens allows each subject’s worldview—whether hopeful, bitter, confused, or visionary—to sing in their own words. The live performance setting amplifies the immediacy and vulnerability of each story, while Sarah Larson’s conversation with Friedman provides essential context and moments of reflection.

Summary

"The State of the Union Songbook" is a powerful mosaic of American voices in 2016, chronicling both the fractures and small graces of a country in flux. Through music and raw testimony, Michael Friedman reveals the pain, pride, suspicion, and longing that defined a tumultuous election year.