David Remnick and Ryan Lizza on Obama’s two recent speeches.

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: David Remnick and Ryan Lizza on Obama’s Two Recent Speeches

Podcast: The Political Scene | The New Yorker
Date: July 25, 2013
Guests: David Remnick (Editor, The New Yorker), Ryan Lizza (Staff Writer)
Host: Dorothy Wickenden (Executive Editor, The New Yorker)

---

Overview

This episode examines President Barack Obama’s two recent speeches: his personal, impromptu remarks about the Trayvon Martin case and his major policy address on the economy in Illinois. Through an in-depth discussion with David Remnick and Ryan Lizza, the episode dives into the complexities of Obama’s approach to race, presidential strategy, the polarized state of American politics, and the limited powers of the modern presidency, especially in the face of congressional polarization.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Obama’s Speech on Trayvon Martin and Race in America

• Reluctance and Evolution: Obama has generally refrained from discussing race explicitly as president, being cautious of the political ramifications (03:05–04:20).
  • David Remnick recounts Obama's belief: “The most important thing that I can do, I’ve already done. I’m the first elected African American president. It’s an enormous thing.” (03:30)
• Friday’s Speech: Obama diverged from script, directly addressing experiences of young African-American men in America (01:24–02:18).
  • Barack Obama: “There are very few African American men who haven't had the experience of walking across and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars… or getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously.” (01:24)
• Strategy and Impact: He waited several days after the verdict to allow initial reactions to unfold, delivering an unscripted, heartfelt reflection, which was seen as highly effective and affecting (04:21–05:15).

2. The 2008 Race Speech in Context

• The Reverend Wright Crisis: Obama’s pivotal 2008 speech on race came at a moment of crisis, when controversy over Reverend Jeremiah Wright threatened his campaign (05:52–07:13).
  • Ryan Lizza: “That speech literally saved his campaign.… He talked about race in a way that seemed to speak to both white America and black America.” (05:52)
  • Obama leveraged his mixed-race background to bridge divides, but only did so when absolutely necessary, under immense political pressure (07:09–07:54).
• Contrast in Approaches: Obama invokes an ideal, “not white America or black America,” but was always conscious of the political constraints and impact on his broader agenda (08:14–09:00).

3. The Obama Household and Perspectives on Race

• Michelle vs. Barack: David Remnick highlights that Michelle Obama’s primary focus is on racial issues and advancing less privileged Americans, influenced by her South Side Chicago upbringing (09:00–10:08).
  • Remnick: “Michelle Obama… would have been called a race woman in the best sense, you know, really interested in advancing her people.” (09:10)

4. Politics, Policy, and Congressional Limitations

• Trayvon Martin and Gun Control: The administration’s ability to leverage the Martin case for gun reform is minimal; most meaningful legislation is controlled by states and stymied at the federal level (10:08–10:46).
  • Remnick: “These are lost, if not lost causes. The ability for the President of the United States to get anywhere is so diminished by the stranglehold that the radical right has on the House.” (10:46)
• Immigration Reform: Discussion about the post-2012 Republican strategy of appealing to Hispanic voters was quickly undercut by renewed focus on winning more white votes, enabled by gerrymandered House districts (11:16–13:18).
  • Ryan Lizza: “Maybe we can win 65% of the white vote next time… we don’t have to worry about the Hispanics.” (12:49)

5. Race, Generations, and Economic Division

• Younger Generations and Change: Obama’s mention of his daughters symbolizes generational progress, though debate remains about the representativeness and true extent of racial progress (13:18–13:54).
  • Remnick: “It was both politically true and needed… We are no longer living in the world of Bull Connor. It’s better in many ways, and in many ways it’s insufficient.” (13:32)
• Persistent Economic Divide: The conversation transitions to the widening economic gap, noting it’s not solely about race, but raises alarm as social mobility and the middle class decline (14:13–14:46).

---

6. Obama’s Economic Speech & Legislative Challenges

• A New Economic Vision: Obama aims to reset the economic conversation ahead of renewed budget battles, emphasizing working Americans and using the remaining days in office for tangible impact (14:53–15:25).
  • Obama: “I do not intend to wait until the next campaign or the next president… The only thing I care about is how to use every minute of the remaining 1,276 days of my term to make this country work for working Americans again.” (14:53)
• Recurrent Themes: Echoes his 2011 Osawatomie speech — provides a history of economic highs and struggles, highlights recovery markers (deficit, unemployment), spotlights inequality, and points blame at House Republicans for current stasis (16:06–17:17).
  • Ryan Lizza: "Our annual deficit is now below a trillion dollars for the first time in a long time.” (16:44)
• Limits of Executive Power: Obama now looks to executive actions and business partnerships, but his ability to effect significant change without Congress is sharply limited (17:17–17:31).
  • Ryan Lizza: “Without Congress’s assent, he can’t do a whole lot. That’s not the way our system works.” (17:31)

---

7. Rhetorical Flourishes and Historical Legacy

• Invoking Carl Sandburg: Obama closes with poetic imagery about “an ocean of tomorrows,” recalling American optimism (18:26–18:41).
  • Obama quoting Sandburg: “The past is a bucket of ashes… There is only an ocean of tomorrows, a sky of tomorrows.” (18:26)
• Comparisons to Reagan: Obama’s closing, reminiscent of Reagan’s rhetorical style, strives to inspire Americans to see their best selves and possibilities even as changing speeches cannot change political math (18:41–19:06).
• Presidential Legacy-Making: The episode concludes that, especially in the second term, Obama’s actions and speeches are increasingly conscious of how history will remember him, both on race and the economy (19:24–20:03).
  • Ryan Lizza: “A lot of the decisions presidents make in the second term are really with an eye towards… I want history to record that.” (19:33)

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Obama on everyday racism (01:24): "There are very few African American men who haven't had the experience of walking across and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars."
• Remnick on Obama’s strategy (03:30): “The most important thing that I can do, I’ve already done. I’m the first elected African American president. It’s an enormous thing.”
• Lizza on the 2008 speech (05:52): “That speech literally saved his campaign.”
• Remnick on Michelle Obama (09:10): “She would have been called a race woman in the best sense, you know, really interested in advancing her people.”
• Remnick on legislative lost causes (10:46): “These are lost, if not lost causes... [due to] the stranglehold that the radical right has on the House.”
• Lizza on Republican strategy (12:49): “Maybe we can win 65% of the white vote next time… we don’t have to worry about the Hispanics.”
• Obama invoking Sandburg (18:26): “The past is a bucket of ashes. Yesterday is a wind gone down... There is only an ocean of tomorrows, a sky of tomorrows.”
• Lizza on legacy (19:33): “A lot of the decisions presidents make in the second term are really with an eye towards… I want history to record that.”

---

Timeline & Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:24] Obama’s personal remarks following the Trayvon Martin ruling
• [03:05–05:15] Analysis of Obama’s approach to discussing race
• [05:27–07:54] Revisiting the 2008 race speech and its importance
• [09:00–10:08] Insights on Michelle Obama’s influence and household priorities
• [10:08–11:16] Discussion on the Trayvon Martin case, stand-your-ground, and gun control
• [11:16–13:18] Immigration, gerrymandering, and political polarization
• [13:18–14:46] Generational change and the economic divide in America
• [14:53–17:31] Obama’s economic speech and the reality of legislative roadblocks
• [18:26–19:24] Sandburg quote and Obama’s effort to inspire a sense of American optimism
• [19:24–20:03] Reflection on the presidency, legacy, and challenges of the second term

---

Conclusion

Through critical analysis and context, Remnick and Lizza highlight the signature tension at the heart of Obama’s presidency: moving between powerful symbolism and systemic limitation, grand speech and political reality. Obama’s careful navigation of race, struggle for economic reform, and growing focus on historical legacy frame both his second term and how he will be remembered.

---

Transcript

[Mint Mobile Advertiser]

As summer draws to a close and the kids go back to school, I know I'm going to want to keep in touch with my kids at a price I can afford. Back to school Shopping can be a hassle, but your phone plan shouldn't be. That's why I made the switch to Mint Mobile. For a limited time, Mint mobile is offering three months of unlimited premium wireless service for 15 bucks a month. So while other parents are sweating overage charges, I have a little bit more room in my budget for cool back to school threads. Say bye bye to your overpriced wireless plan's jaw dropping monthly bills and unexpected overages, Mint Mobile is here to rescue you. All plans come with high speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network. Use your own phone with any Mint Mobile plan and bring your phone number along with all your existing contacts. Dish overpriced wireless and get three months of premium wireless service from Mint Mobile for 15 bucks a month. This year, skip breaking a sweat and breaking the bank. Get this new customer offer and your three month unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com newyorker that's that's mintmobile.com New Yorker upfront payment of $45 required, equivalent to $15 a month limited time new customer offer for first three months only. Speeds may slow above 35 gigabytes on unlimited plan. Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

This is the Political Scene, a weekly conversation with New Yorker writers and editors about politics. It's Wednesday, July 24th. I'm Dorothy Wickenden, executive editor of the New Yorker.

[Barack Obama]

There are very few African American men who haven't had the experience of walking across and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me, at least before I was a senator. There are very few African Americans who haven't had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

Last Friday, President Obama went into the White House press room to give unexpected and very personal remarks on the Trayvon Martin ruling. And today he gave a major address on the economy, which we'll get to later in the program. But first we're going to talk about Obama and race with David Remnick and Ryan Lizza Ryan up until last Friday, Obama conspicuously avoided saying much about race in relation to the Trayvon Martin trial. But then on Friday, he had quite a bit to say. Why did he change?

[Ryan Lizza]

You know, someone pointed out recently that this president has talked less about race than most recent presidents. And you can imagine all sorts of reasons why that is. Every once in a while, it seems to me he wants to speak for the African American community in this country in a way that's relatable to non African Americans. And the whole speech was, of course, about what it's like to be a young black man. And you know, when he talks in those terms, he very uniquely tries not to, not really to pitch those comments to black America, but to folks who are not African American and don't quite understand why a lot of non white Americans viewed the trial the way they did.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

What about that, David? And what did you think of the remarks?

[David Remnick]

I interviewed him for a book I did about Obama and race four years ago. And after we talked at great length in the Oval Office, we came out of the Oval Office and walking out and he left for his next meeting. And then he came all the way back because he wanted to talk to me about why he doesn't feel comfortable talking about race in a formal setting.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

What did he say?

[David Remnick]

He said, look, you know, the most important thing that I can do, I've already done. I'm the first elected African American president. It's an enormous thing. We look past it, we overlook it. We tend to forget what a big deal that is in our history. And he was acutely aware that when he adds his voice to any moment of racial division that it gets twisted in one way or another. The right does what the right does on Fox. The left isn't satisfied. Let's face it, the African American vote will always be his. There's not a lot in it for him. He's very, very cautious when it comes to this. And on the instances before this moment where he did it, most conspicuously with Henry Louis Gates and that incident in Cambridge, it didn't go over very well.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

No, it was a bit of a debacle.

[David Remnick]

Yeah. And, you know, he found himself, the President of the United States, having to have this, you know, beer summit in the backyard with the cop and Skip Gates and the rest. This time he did something very, very different. First of all, he waited a few days. He. He let the cable voices and all the rest spin out and go nuts in one way or another. And then he came out and he seemed to improvise. This was a very important part of the performative aspect of this. He had no notes in front of him. There was no formal speech. There was no grandiosity about it. He looks down and away as if the thought is occurring to him for the first time, but in fact, he's thought through it very, very carefully. And this time I think it was a very effective, very affecting, emotional, as Obama's going to get moment. I thought it was, you know, in the political sense and in the sense of message and what he had to say, I thought it was very successful.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

Ryan, let's go back, and I want to ask you about what seems to me the most significant turning point in Obama's first run for president, which was the speech on race that he gave in March 2008.

[Barack Obama]

I chose to run for president at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together, unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

Remind us how inflamed the campaign had become at that point over Reverend Wright and its relationship with Obama.

[Ryan Lizza]

Well, first of all, remember March 2008. This is the primary campaign, not the general election. So he's in the pitched battle against Hillary Clinton. And Reverend Wright's sermons, the controversial sermons that were played over and over and over again, were allegedly threatening to derail his campaign. And there's probably truth to that. I remember David Plouffe at the time said it was a direct torpedo to the hull of the campaign. That speech literally saved his campaign. And what was so special about the speech, or so unique about the speech, is that he talked about race in a way that seemed to speak to both white America and black America. He talked about his white grandmother, who was, you know, occasionally frightened when she walked down the street and saw a young black man. Right. And he drew on his biracial past to talk about race in America. Not to be, you know, crassly political, but when Obama spoke about race in the context of a Democratic primary, the dynamic is very, very different than when he would be speaking about it in the general election or as president. It's not as polarizing an issue among Democrats.

[David Remnick]

But here's the thing about that speech. He only gave it when he had to.

[Ryan Lizza]

Yeah, that's true.

[David Remnick]

And he had said as early as the Iowa caucuses that he had this speech that he wanted to give. And everybody in the campaign around him, all white guys, by the way, said, no, please, thank you, don't. And it's only when the nature of Jeremiah Wright's politics and sermons was exposed that he had to give this speech, because otherwise he probably would have tumbled. He would have lost. We forget how close a race that was. We forget how tough a race that was. We forget the willingness of the Clinton side to, in very clever and not very attractive ways, use race in selected moments, like in South Carolina. And they thought they were in really the end of the line.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

But, David, how did he diffuse the issue? I mean, it is kind of remarkable because before that point, it seemed almost inconceivable that a black man could be elected president. And then he gave this extremely explicit speech about race in which he laid it all on the line. How did he turn that to his advantage?

[David Remnick]

He did it. That wasn't the first time he talked about race. In fact, he introduced himself to the United States at the Democratic convention four years prior by talking about race in a kind of highly idealistic, highly almost Benetton like way that we dream of we're not white America or black America and the kind of multiracial paradise and paradigm. And he's not naive about this at all. By the way, I've got to say, from my experience of the Obamas, the degree to which they downplay their interest in, and I think in the best sense in race and in raising up African Americans from the distance between the podium at the White House and at home is really marked.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

What do you mean?

[David Remnick]

Well, I mean that it is very clear to me that Michelle Obama, this is her, if not singular, interest. It's a very primary interest.

[Ryan Lizza]

Going back to her college thesis.

[David Remnick]

Right, David, Going back to everything. This is a woman from the south side of Chicago who in the old terms would have been called a race woman in the best sense, you know, really interested in advancing her people, knowing that she had fortunate things going for her, whether it had to do with her the cohesiveness and the decency of her family and the ability to go to Princeton and then Harvard Law. And she wanted to help raise up her brothers and sisters from the south side. And in general, this is a big theme with her. Her concentration is on what we used to call the underprivileged, whether by dint of ethnicity or income. And that's no less an interest of Barack Obama's. He lives in that household. He doesn't come from the south side. He has a very different background than she does, but he holds a very different office. He's the President of the United States. He has a different set of decisions he has to make, the flashpoints of which are much more pronounced.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

Ryan, let's get back to the specifics of the Trayvon Martin case. On Friday, Obama criticized stand your ground statutes. Essentially, he said, do we actually think Trayvon Martin would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman because he felt threatened. How is the administration going to be using the Martin case to further its agenda on gun control?

[Ryan Lizza]

I mean, the truth is I don't think they're going to be using it much beyond what we've already seen.

[David Remnick]

Already lost.

[Ryan Lizza]

They lost the case. You know, there's some embryonic movement in Congress to maybe change some of these laws, but you know, they're state laws and it's unlikely any federal law is going to pass to get rid of these.

[David Remnick]

I think Ryan would agree with me that this is the nature of the presidency where we are vis a vis Congress. Any number of issues, whether it's the environment, the budget, gun control, and on and on and on. These are lost, if not lost causes. The ability for the President of the United States to get anywhere is so diminished by the stranglehold that the radical right has on the House of Representatives, the weakness of the speaker of the House. That's politics today. Immigration seems to be going the same direction.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

Well, and Ryan, I want to ask you about the immigration issue since you wrote your big piece about it and that is directly part of this bigger discussion.

[Ryan Lizza]

You know, I'm sort of a bore on the subject at this point, but all of the themes that Obama ran on in 2008 about a post racial America and delivering America away from the polarized politics of the past, you know, obviously all of that proved be fantasy and we now are living under the most both politically polarized times, but also the electorate is more racially polarized than it's ever been. And why did Barack Obama win in 2012? He won because of a massive turnout among non white Americans for him. And he got one of the lowest shares of the white vote of any victorious president. And I think it's more likely that that's the future for our politics than the past. And just look at this immigration debate right after the election. The Republican Party at the elite level have this conversation looking at those demographic trends and saying, my God, sure, we've lost African American voters, we're not getting them back anytime soon, but maybe we can make inroads with Hispanic voters. Right? And that really kind of drove that immigration bill in the Senate, or at least it drove some of the senators, some of the Republican senators who voted for it and pushed it. As soon as the conversation moved to the House, there was a rethinking of that entire strategy and this argument that, hey, let's look at these numbers. Wait a Second, we won 60% of the white vote in 2012. Maybe we can win 65% of the white vote next time and then we.

[David Remnick]

Don'T have to worry about the Hispanics, especially in Congress. Remember, the congressional picture is deeply influenced by gerrymandered districts, whereas the presidency is a national election.

[Ryan Lizza]

Yep. I looked at the math of this, the 200. I hope I get this right. 233 Republicans, 90% of the electorate that voted for those Republicans in 2012 were white. So if you look at it from their perspective, they're being rational in a sense on this.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

David, wasn't it just a little crass to invoke his daughters at the end of the statement on Friday to say that their generation is better than we were at race relations? Sasha and Malia are hardly representative teenagers.

[David Remnick]

I didn't think it was crass in the least.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

You did?

[David Remnick]

No, I think it, I think it was both politically true and needed and also factually true that we are no long, this is no longer 1963. There's assaults on things like, as we know, on Voting Rights act, but we are not living in the world of Bull Connor. It's better in many ways, and in many ways it's insufficient.

[Ryan Lizza]

There's two sort of contradictory trends. And hopefully, you know, what Obama pointed out is true, that the next generation is really, really more colorblind than the generations that came before. But at the same time, the country, at least politically and the way it votes is becoming more, more and more racially polarized than at any time.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

And the other, I guess my other point there is that it is becoming more economically polarized and this isn't Obama's fault.

[David Remnick]

But that's not purely black and white.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

No, it's not. But it's just as alarming in its own way.

[David Remnick]

Absolutely. That to me is a related but different matter, economic division and especially this kind of skybox super, super duper elite which is so pervasive in our public life and can hardly see what a middle class looks like, much less the poor. The poor, of course, of whom we just don't speak in a national political campaign.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

Okay, David Remnick is signing off and we're going to talk now about Obama and the economy and the speech he just gave in Illinois.

[Barack Obama]

I have now run my last campaign. I do not intend to wait until the next campaign or the next president before tackling the issues that matter. I care about one thing and one thing only, and that's how to use every minute. The only thing I care about is how to use every minute of the remaining 1,276 days of my term to make this country work for working Americans again.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

Ryan, what did Obama set out to achieve with a speech and how effective was it?

[Ryan Lizza]

Well, I don't think we'll know how effective it is for a little while, but I think what he set out to achieve is this is his opening argument in the resumption of the economic battles in Washington. The sequester and the debt limit and the budget battles are all set to return in September. And he's laying out his argument for what he wants out of these coming budget negotiations.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

And it seemed very consistent with what he said in 2011 in Osawatomie, Kansas when he gave a very similar big overview of his economic policy.

[Ryan Lizza]

Yeah, it was, it had the same format as that speech. Right. He sort of gives a history lesson on the American economy. Right. And talks about the post war era as a sort of high point of how the American, when the American economy was really working. Right. And then he brings you up to the crash that came with the Great Recession. And as he always says, that period sort of laid bare a lot of the underlying problems of the economy. And then he goes through in these speeches how we've recovered. And he ticks off some of the positive developments like the unemployment rate coming down and manufacturing being up.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

And there were quite a few more accomplishments.

[Ryan Lizza]

Yeah. Because the deficit has actually improved. Right. Our annual deficit is now below a trillion dollars for the first time in a long time. And then, you know, he always has this part of the speech about what still needs to be done. And then there's always the part about the big obstacle and the wa. Getting this done, which is, you know, during the campaign it was Mitt Romney and the Republicans. Now it's very specifically the House Republicans. And interestingly, he sort of talked about how things have improved in the Senate, how there's a group of senators with who he actually thinks he can get work done with and that the problem really is now located in the House.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

He also talked about how he wants to work around the Congress. He has no, he has no choice. He's got his executive authority and that's it at this point. And he talked about ways that he could employ that working with businesses and so on. What else can he do at this point?

[Ryan Lizza]

The truth of the matter is, of course, without Congress's assent, he can't do a whole lot. That's not the way our system works. You know, he's very limited in the powers that he has on his own I think it's a fine speech. It was a little less populist than the Kansas speech in 2011. The Kansas speech, but unlike previous other economic speeches, he did talk about inequality quite a bit. And he has consistently, since the Kansas speech, put inequality at the center of his story about what's wrong with the economy. That's not something he talked about really pre2011 as much. That's really now his. One of his main explanations for what's getting in the way of the economy taking off.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

Well, I want to end by talking about his peroration, invoking Carl Sandburg, the American prairie and new industries, and quoting Carl Sandberg.

[Barack Obama]

He said, the past is a bucket of ashes. Yesterday is a wind gone down, a sun dropped in the west. There is only an ocean of tomorrows, a sky of tomorrows.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

So there he was also, it seemed to me, as he has before, following the inspirational genius of Ronald Reagan with his John Winthrop and the shining city on the Hill. And we don't usually think of Obama as a romantic, and he's not, but he has this ability, as Reagan did as a politician, to know how to get Americans to believe in what they like best about their past and about themselves. Don't you think?

[Ryan Lizza]

Yeah, it was a very original illusion, one that you don't see politicians make. Right. Carl Sandburg, of all people, in this very poetic line about an ocean of tomorrows, a sky of tomorrows, you know, a lovely literary illusion to end the speech. But these speeches, unfortunately, don't change the math in Congress.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

They don't change the math in Congress, but they do. And this is. He is so aware of his legacy, and he's also. That's what he's working on right now, too.

[Ryan Lizza]

Yeah, I agree with you. I feel like, you know, we were talking about race earlier. I feel like a lot of the decisions presidents make in the second term are really with an eye towards. I want to look back and be able to say, oh, when the George Zimmerman verdict came out, I was there and said something, you know, I want history to record that. And I think on the economy, he wants to make sure that history records the. That even if he can't get something through Congress, he pushed and he spoke out and he laid out his vision. Even though he realizes the math in Congress makes getting any of this stuff into law very difficult.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

Okay, we're going to leave it there. Ryan Lizza is a staff writer and David Remnick is the editor of the New Yorker and the author of the the Life and Rise of Barack Obama. This has been the political Scene from the New Yorker. I'm Dorothy Wickenden.

[Ryan Lizza]

You could subscribe to this and other free New Yorker podcasts in the itunes store. The weekly audio edition of the magazine is available at audible.com Subscribers can read the magazine online at new yorker.com and also in the tablet edition on the iPad and the Kindle Fire.

[Mint Mobile Advertiser]

America is changing, and so is the world.

[David Remnick]

But what's happening in America isn't just a cause of global upheaval. It's also a symptom of disruption that's happening everywhere.

[Mint Mobile Advertiser]

I'm Asma Khalid in Washington, D.C. i'm.

[David Remnick]

Tristan Redman in London, and this is the Global Story.

[Mint Mobile Advertiser]

Every weekday, we'll bring you a story from this intersection where the world and America meet.

[David Remnick]

Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dorothy Wickenden]

From.

[Ryan Lizza]

PRX.