WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.620 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we are tackling 00:00:02.620 --> 00:00:06.459 a subject that feels incredibly familiar, yet 00:00:06.459 --> 00:00:08.960 when you actually start to peel back the layers, 00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:11.740 it is just full of surprises. It really is. We 00:00:11.740 --> 00:00:14.580 are talking about the United States of America. 00:00:14.740 --> 00:00:16.620 It's the topic everyone thinks they know. Yeah. 00:00:16.989 --> 00:00:19.089 Until they really look at the data. It's the 00:00:19.089 --> 00:00:22.350 elephant in the room of global geopolitics. Totally. 00:00:22.429 --> 00:00:24.230 Everyone has an opinion on the U .S. Everyone 00:00:24.230 --> 00:00:26.570 watches its movies. They use its currency or 00:00:26.570 --> 00:00:29.149 they follow its elections. But very few people 00:00:29.149 --> 00:00:32.469 actually stop and look at the structural reality 00:00:32.469 --> 00:00:35.609 of the country, especially now. Especially now 00:00:35.609 --> 00:00:38.429 that we're settled into early 2020 psychs. Exactly. 00:00:38.630 --> 00:00:40.590 Exactly. I mean, we live in a world where American 00:00:40.590 --> 00:00:42.850 culture, American politics, American economics, 00:00:43.030 --> 00:00:45.329 it's just it's part of the background noise of 00:00:45.329 --> 00:00:47.530 daily life. You know, it's everywhere. It is. 00:00:47.649 --> 00:00:49.450 But today we're doing something a little different. 00:00:49.509 --> 00:00:52.060 We're taking a snapshot. of the U .S. as it stands 00:00:52.060 --> 00:00:56.079 right now on Monday, February 16th, 2026. And 00:00:56.079 --> 00:00:58.659 that date is so important because the landscape 00:00:58.659 --> 00:01:00.460 has really shifted. We aren't talking about the 00:01:00.460 --> 00:01:04.319 America of 2020 or even, you know, 2024. Not 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:06.700 at all. We're looking at a nation under the administration 00:01:06.700 --> 00:01:08.900 of President Donald Trump and Vice President 00:01:08.900 --> 00:01:12.239 J .D. Vance, a nation that has for the first 00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:14.920 time officially declared a national language. 00:01:15.390 --> 00:01:18.430 A nation grappling with economic paradoxes that 00:01:18.430 --> 00:01:20.870 would just make your head spin. That is the mission 00:01:20.870 --> 00:01:23.829 today. We are going to unpack the machinery of 00:01:23.829 --> 00:01:26.810 this superpower. We're going to look at the physical 00:01:26.810 --> 00:01:28.909 reality of the land, the shifting demographics 00:01:28.909 --> 00:01:32.549 of 2025, the economic engine that, and this is 00:01:32.549 --> 00:01:34.890 a spoiler alert, is currently sitting at over 00:01:34.890 --> 00:01:37.349 $30 trillion, and the political tensions that 00:01:37.349 --> 00:01:40.049 are really defining this moment. It is a massive 00:01:40.049 --> 00:01:41.730 subject. I mean, you have to remember, we're 00:01:41.730 --> 00:01:44.129 talking about the oldest surviving federation 00:01:44.129 --> 00:01:46.950 in the entire world. The oldest. Yeah, and it's 00:01:46.950 --> 00:01:50.180 a megadiverse. entity, a country that holds the 00:01:50.180 --> 00:01:52.780 world's largest economy, while at the same time 00:01:52.780 --> 00:01:54.659 dealing with some of the most significant internal 00:01:54.659 --> 00:01:57.180 polarization in its history. So let's not waste 00:01:57.180 --> 00:01:58.780 any more time. Let's start with the physical 00:01:58.780 --> 00:02:01.180 reality, because before you can get to the politics 00:02:01.180 --> 00:02:04.260 or the money or the people, you have the land 00:02:04.260 --> 00:02:06.739 itself. And I think we forget just how big this 00:02:06.739 --> 00:02:09.759 place actually is. Oh, it's massive. It's easy 00:02:09.759 --> 00:02:12.000 to lose perspective on the scale. We're talking 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:14.680 about the third largest nation by land area in 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:17.919 the world. But it's not just about. The square 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:20.300 mileage. Right. It's about what's inside those 00:02:20.300 --> 00:02:23.460 borders. The United States is officially designated 00:02:23.460 --> 00:02:27.800 as a mega diverse country. Mega diverse. That 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:29.479 sounds like a term out of a comic book. What 00:02:29.479 --> 00:02:32.599 does that actually mean in a scientific context? 00:02:32.860 --> 00:02:34.819 It's a very specific biological designation. 00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:37.599 There are only 17 countries on Earth that actually 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:41.210 qualify for this title. Only 17? Only 17. And 00:02:41.210 --> 00:02:43.270 it refers to nations that harbor the majority 00:02:43.270 --> 00:02:46.129 of Earth's species and also have high numbers 00:02:46.129 --> 00:02:48.849 of endemic species. So plants and animals you 00:02:48.849 --> 00:02:51.509 can't find anywhere else. Precisely. To give 00:02:51.509 --> 00:02:53.270 you a sense of the scale, the U .S. is home to 00:02:53.270 --> 00:02:56.490 roughly 17 ,000 species of vascular plants. Wow. 00:02:56.750 --> 00:02:59.349 And over 400 mammal species. The biodiversity 00:02:59.349 --> 00:03:02.979 is just... It's off the charts. And the reason 00:03:02.979 --> 00:03:04.840 for that is because the geography covers almost 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:07.400 every single climate type imaginable. Right, 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:08.900 because you have everything from the Atlantic 00:03:08.900 --> 00:03:10.939 coastal plain all the way to the highest peaks 00:03:10.939 --> 00:03:13.800 of the Rockies. Exactly. I mean, think about 00:03:13.800 --> 00:03:15.759 it. If you were to walk across the country, you'd 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:18.419 start in the east with the rolling hills of the 00:03:18.419 --> 00:03:21.039 Piedmont and the Appalachian Mountains, which 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:22.439 are, by the way, some of the oldest mountains 00:03:22.439 --> 00:03:24.039 on the planet. Older than the Himalayas, right. 00:03:24.219 --> 00:03:26.759 Much older. Yeah. Then you hit the Great Plains, 00:03:26.819 --> 00:03:30.840 this vast, flat... incredibly fertile prairie 00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:33.659 that effectively feeds a huge chunk of the world. 00:03:34.460 --> 00:03:36.979 It's the breadbasket. The breadbasket. And you 00:03:36.979 --> 00:03:39.199 keep going west and the land just shoots up. 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:43.039 The Rocky Mountains peak at over 14 ,000 feet. 00:03:43.259 --> 00:03:45.860 And buried deep within those mountains, specifically 00:03:45.860 --> 00:03:48.319 in Wyoming, you have the Yellowstone Caldera. 00:03:48.419 --> 00:03:51.379 Which is the continent's largest volcanic feature. 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:53.219 That always freaks me out a little bit, to be 00:03:53.219 --> 00:03:55.819 honest. It should. It's a genuine super volcano. 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:59.419 A sleeping giant. But the drama. of the American 00:03:59.419 --> 00:04:02.780 landscape isn't just geological, it's also meteorological. 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:04.979 Right. We really have to talk about the weather. 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:07.159 The extremes. The extremes. Because the source 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:08.879 material highlights something that I found quite 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:11.800 startling. What's that? The U .S. receives more 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:15.439 high -impact extreme weather incidents than any 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:18.199 other country on Earth. Wait, really? More than 00:04:18.199 --> 00:04:20.879 anywhere else. Not China, not Russia, not Brazil. 00:04:21.160 --> 00:04:23.779 More than anywhere else. It's a direct consequence 00:04:23.779 --> 00:04:27.129 of its unique geography. Think about it. You 00:04:27.129 --> 00:04:29.389 have this warm, moist air coming up from the 00:04:29.389 --> 00:04:32.329 Gulf of Mexico. And it collides with this cold, 00:04:32.389 --> 00:04:34.910 dry air coming down from Canada right over the 00:04:34.910 --> 00:04:37.870 Great Plains. And that collision creates the 00:04:37.870 --> 00:04:40.550 perfect conditions for supercells, which in turn 00:04:40.550 --> 00:04:42.930 create Tornado Alley. The most volatile weather 00:04:42.930 --> 00:04:44.949 on the planet, basically. Basically. And that's 00:04:44.949 --> 00:04:46.430 just the middle of the country. You also have 00:04:46.430 --> 00:04:48.449 hurricanes that consistently batter the Gulf 00:04:48.449 --> 00:04:51.569 and Atlantic coasts. And recently... Looking 00:04:51.569 --> 00:04:53.670 at the data from the last few decades leading 00:04:53.670 --> 00:04:57.449 up to 2026, the trends are just undeniable. Heat 00:04:57.449 --> 00:04:59.410 waves are reported as being three times more 00:04:59.410 --> 00:05:01.750 frequent now than they were back in the 1960s. 00:05:01.810 --> 00:05:04.069 Three times. And we've all seen the news about 00:05:04.069 --> 00:05:06.149 the persistent drought in the southwest, too. 00:05:06.310 --> 00:05:09.050 The Colorado River issues, Lake Mead. Correct. 00:05:09.149 --> 00:05:11.689 It's a landscape of intense, breathtaking beauty, 00:05:11.850 --> 00:05:14.430 but also of intense volatility. But here's the 00:05:14.430 --> 00:05:16.649 flip side of that coin. While the environment 00:05:16.649 --> 00:05:19.470 is volatile, the U .S. has this massive, deliberate 00:05:19.470 --> 00:05:22.300 system of conservation. The national parks? The 00:05:22.300 --> 00:05:24.300 national parks, exactly. There are 58 of them, 00:05:24.360 --> 00:05:27.579 plus vast wilderness areas. But what's really 00:05:27.579 --> 00:05:31.360 interesting is that about 28 % of all land in 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:34.399 the United States is publicly owned and federally 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:37.060 managed. That is a huge percentage. A quarter 00:05:37.060 --> 00:05:38.779 of the entire country is basically government 00:05:38.779 --> 00:05:41.000 land. It is, and it's primarily concentrated 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:44.620 in the West. States like Nevada, Utah, Idaho. 00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:48.160 A huge portion of their land is federal. And 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:50.500 this creates this constant tension between conservation 00:05:50.500 --> 00:05:53.959 and utilization. What do you mean? Well, we preserve 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:56.620 the wilderness and parks, but we also lease other 00:05:56.620 --> 00:05:59.379 federal land for commercial use, for things like 00:05:59.379 --> 00:06:02.160 logging, mining, or grazing. It's a constant 00:06:02.160 --> 00:06:04.300 push and pull. That makes sense. Oh, and here's 00:06:04.300 --> 00:06:05.699 a fun little update from the sources, a bit of 00:06:05.699 --> 00:06:08.279 trivia for you. Did you know the bald eagle wasn't 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:10.540 officially the national bird until just recently? 00:06:10.939 --> 00:06:12.540 No, I thought the bald eagle has been on the 00:06:12.540 --> 00:06:15.139 Great Seal since like the very beginning. It 00:06:15.139 --> 00:06:18.519 has been the national emblem since 1782. But 00:06:18.519 --> 00:06:21.339 it was only in 2024 that a law was finally passed 00:06:21.339 --> 00:06:24.000 to officially declare the bald eagle the national 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:26.220 bird of the United States. That is one of those 00:06:26.220 --> 00:06:28.740 classic bureaucratic things that just slipped 00:06:28.740 --> 00:06:31.040 through the cracks for almost 250 years. Someone 00:06:31.040 --> 00:06:33.860 in an office was like, hey, did we ever actually 00:06:33.860 --> 00:06:36.240 write that down? Exactly. It just codifies the 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:38.259 symbol that everyone already accepted. So you 00:06:38.259 --> 00:06:41.000 have this massive, physically diverse and sometimes 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:44.000 dangerous stage. Now we need to populate it. 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:46.480 All right. Let's move into segment two, the people. 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:50.500 Who is living on this land in early 2026? What 00:06:50.500 --> 00:06:53.480 does the population look like? So as of the 2025 00:06:53.480 --> 00:06:56.139 estimates, the total population is sitting at 00:06:56.139 --> 00:07:00.519 approximately 341 .8 million people. That is 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:02.740 a lot of people. It is. It's the third largest 00:07:02.740 --> 00:07:04.680 population in the world, right behind India and 00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:07.439 China. And it is still growing. The population 00:07:07.439 --> 00:07:10.199 clock shows a net gain of one person every 16 00:07:10.199 --> 00:07:12.819 seconds. Every 16 seconds. That's a steady clip. 00:07:12.939 --> 00:07:14.959 Where is everyone coming from? I mean, what's 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:17.279 the actual demographic breakdown look like now? 00:07:17.420 --> 00:07:20.019 It is incredibly diverse and it's constantly 00:07:20.019 --> 00:07:23.310 changing. If we look at the 2025 data. The white 00:07:23.310 --> 00:07:27.250 population is about 61 .6%. The Hispanic or Latino 00:07:27.250 --> 00:07:30.189 population is roughly 18 .7%. And growing fast, 00:07:30.310 --> 00:07:32.709 I imagine. The fastest growing major demographic 00:07:32.709 --> 00:07:35.470 group, yes. The black population is around 12 00:07:35.470 --> 00:07:40.029 .4%. Asians are now at 6%. And Native Americans 00:07:40.029 --> 00:07:43.230 make up about 1 .1 % of the total. And it's important 00:07:43.230 --> 00:07:45.189 to remember, most of these people aren't living 00:07:45.189 --> 00:07:47.870 in those vast, empty rural spaces we just talked 00:07:47.870 --> 00:07:50.920 about. No, not at all. That is a major misconception, 00:07:51.300 --> 00:07:54.920 one that's often fueled by Hollywood westerns 00:07:54.920 --> 00:07:57.920 or movies about small -town America. Right. The 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:01.240 U .S. is a heavily urbanized nation. Eighty -two 00:08:01.240 --> 00:08:02.860 percent of the population lives in metropolitan 00:08:02.860 --> 00:08:06.740 areas. And get this, half of those people, so 00:08:06.740 --> 00:08:09.259 over 40 percent of the entire country, live in 00:08:09.259 --> 00:08:12.000 cities with over 50 ,000 residents. So the small 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:14.620 -town image of America is more of a cultural 00:08:14.620 --> 00:08:17.860 touchstone than a demographic reality? Precisely. 00:08:18.110 --> 00:08:21.189 Culturally, it's incredibly powerful. But demographically, 00:08:21.290 --> 00:08:23.970 America is a nation of suburbs and large cities. 00:08:24.170 --> 00:08:26.050 I want to touch on the family unit for a second 00:08:26.050 --> 00:08:27.610 because there was a stat in our source material 00:08:27.610 --> 00:08:29.529 that really, really stuck out to me regarding 00:08:29.529 --> 00:08:31.670 households. I think I know which one you're talking 00:08:31.670 --> 00:08:33.070 about. You're looking at the single parent household 00:08:33.070 --> 00:08:35.110 statistic. Yeah, I had to read that one twice. 00:08:35.309 --> 00:08:38.429 It is staggering. As of the most recent comparative 00:08:38.429 --> 00:08:42.009 data from 2019, the U .S. has the world's highest 00:08:42.009 --> 00:08:44.570 rate of children living in single parent households. 00:08:45.210 --> 00:08:47.029 The highest in the world. In the world. About 00:08:47.029 --> 00:08:50.429 23%. That fundamentally shapes the social fabric. 00:08:50.629 --> 00:08:53.110 It changes the economic challenges many families 00:08:53.110 --> 00:08:55.889 face. It changes how education works, how childcare 00:08:55.889 --> 00:08:59.629 works, how poverty manifests itself. It's a hugely 00:08:59.629 --> 00:09:02.490 important data point. Absolutely. Now we have 00:09:02.490 --> 00:09:04.809 to talk about language. Because this is probably 00:09:04.809 --> 00:09:07.250 one of the biggest news items from our source 00:09:07.250 --> 00:09:09.529 material, something that's happened in just the 00:09:09.529 --> 00:09:12.169 last year or so. This is a critical update for 00:09:12.169 --> 00:09:14.029 anyone trying to understand the United States 00:09:14.029 --> 00:09:17.409 in 2026. Historically, the United States has 00:09:17.409 --> 00:09:20.190 never had a de jure, a legally mandated official 00:09:20.190 --> 00:09:22.090 language at the federal level. Right. The founding 00:09:22.090 --> 00:09:23.690 fathers just didn't put it in the Constitution. 00:09:23.909 --> 00:09:25.549 It was sort of understood that English was the 00:09:25.549 --> 00:09:27.990 common language of business and government, but 00:09:27.990 --> 00:09:30.230 it was never made into a law. Exactly. It was 00:09:30.230 --> 00:09:32.389 a de facto official language, not to sure. Until 00:09:32.389 --> 00:09:36.740 2025. Until 2025, President Donald Trump signed 00:09:36.740 --> 00:09:40.779 Executive Order 12224, which officially declared 00:09:40.779 --> 00:09:43.360 English the official language of the United States. 00:09:43.759 --> 00:09:45.820 That is a huge shift, at least symbolically. 00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:48.600 But does an executive order actually change the 00:09:48.600 --> 00:09:50.200 reality on the ground? I mean, does it change 00:09:50.200 --> 00:09:51.980 what people are speaking in their homes? And 00:09:51.980 --> 00:09:54.100 that is the great American paradox, isn't it? 00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:56.559 You can sign an order, but the linguistic reality 00:09:56.559 --> 00:09:59.519 of the country is stubborn. It's organic. And 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:02.720 despite that order, the U .S. remains incredibly 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:05.860 profoundly linguistically diverse. So what do 00:10:05.860 --> 00:10:08.700 the numbers say? You have over 41 .2 million 00:10:08.700 --> 00:10:11.299 people who speak Spanish at home. 41 million. 00:10:11.820 --> 00:10:13.360 Just to put that in perspective, that's more 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:15.779 than the entire population of most countries 00:10:15.779 --> 00:10:18.740 on Earth, more than Canada. It absolutely is. 00:10:18.820 --> 00:10:20.620 And it's not just Spanish. You have significant 00:10:20.620 --> 00:10:23.580 populations speaking Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, 00:10:23.779 --> 00:10:25.899 and Arabic. And that's not even mentioning the 00:10:25.899 --> 00:10:28.940 indigenous languages. Right. There are 169 Native 00:10:28.940 --> 00:10:30.840 American languages that are still spoken today. 00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:33.779 In fact, in some states, indigenous languages 00:10:33.779 --> 00:10:36.519 have official status. Like where? Places like 00:10:36.519 --> 00:10:39.529 Alaska, Hawaii, and South Dakota. So while the 00:10:39.529 --> 00:10:41.210 federal government has now made this official 00:10:41.210 --> 00:10:44.429 declaration about English, the streets and homes 00:10:44.429 --> 00:10:47.009 of America tell a much more polyglot, a much 00:10:47.009 --> 00:10:50.269 more complicated story. It seems like that tension 00:10:50.269 --> 00:10:52.830 between the official identity and the organic 00:10:52.830 --> 00:10:56.190 reality is, well, it's a recurring theme here, 00:10:56.269 --> 00:10:57.750 isn't it? It is the defining theme of American 00:10:57.750 --> 00:11:00.490 history, I would argue. And you see it just as 00:11:00.490 --> 00:11:02.549 clearly in immigration. OK, let's talk about 00:11:02.549 --> 00:11:04.789 that. The U .S. has the world's largest immigrant 00:11:04.789 --> 00:11:08.940 population in absolute terms. No other country 00:11:08.940 --> 00:11:11.519 comes close. If you combine first generation 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:14.639 immigrants and their U .S. born children, you're 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:17.220 looking at nearly 27 percent of the total population 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:19.879 as of 2022. More than one in four people. More 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:21.559 than one in four. Yeah. And then you have the 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:23.379 undocumented population. What's the latest number 00:11:23.379 --> 00:11:25.480 on that? Our source material says that it reached 00:11:25.480 --> 00:11:29.100 a record high of 14 million in 2023. So you have 00:11:29.100 --> 00:11:31.700 this constant dynamic. A nation built by immigrants, 00:11:31.940 --> 00:11:34.779 a nation defined by immigration, yet a nation 00:11:34.779 --> 00:11:37.340 that is constantly struggling with how to manage, 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:41.019 categorize, and legislate that very flow of people. 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:43.379 It's a permanent debate. It's the permanent debate. 00:11:43.620 --> 00:11:45.720 Okay, let's pivot. Let's talk about the engine 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:48.000 that keeps this whole massive, complicated thing 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:51.740 running. Segment three, the economic juggernaut. 00:11:51.940 --> 00:11:54.389 Because the numbers here are just... They're 00:11:54.389 --> 00:11:56.470 truly hard to comprehend. They are astronomical. 00:11:56.850 --> 00:11:59.169 I mean, there's no other word for it. The U .S. 00:11:59.169 --> 00:12:01.889 economy is, quite simply, the largest in the 00:12:01.889 --> 00:12:04.330 world in nominal terms. And it has been since 00:12:04.330 --> 00:12:07.690 about 1890. Since 1890. That's a long run at 00:12:07.690 --> 00:12:10.230 the top. A very long run. In 2025, the nominal 00:12:10.230 --> 00:12:15.320 GDP is estimated at 30 .6. trillion. 30 .6 trillion. 00:12:15.580 --> 00:12:18.740 30 .6 trillion. To put that in perspective for 00:12:18.740 --> 00:12:21.000 everyone listening, that single number accounts 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:23.639 for over a quarter of the entire world's economic 00:12:23.639 --> 00:12:26.399 output. Wow. One country generating more than 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:30.690 25 percent of the global GDP. That is just. And 00:12:30.690 --> 00:12:32.889 it's not just about the raw numbers. It's about 00:12:32.889 --> 00:12:36.049 dominance in specific crucial sectors of the 00:12:36.049 --> 00:12:38.629 global system. Correct. The U .S. dollar remains 00:12:38.629 --> 00:12:41.110 the world's foremost reserve currency. It's what 00:12:41.110 --> 00:12:43.149 oil is priced in. It's what central banks hold. 00:12:43.409 --> 00:12:45.629 If you look at the corporate landscape, the U 00:12:45.629 --> 00:12:47.590 .S. is honed to the highest number of the world's 00:12:47.590 --> 00:12:51.159 500 largest companies. 138 of them are headquartered 00:12:51.159 --> 00:12:54.039 in the U .S. as of 2025. So more than a quarter 00:12:54.039 --> 00:12:56.600 of the biggest companies on the planet are American. 00:12:56.840 --> 00:12:59.419 Yes. And we're talking about the big innovators. 00:12:59.879 --> 00:13:02.919 Silicon Valley is still the undisputed king of 00:13:02.919 --> 00:13:05.259 technological innovation. For sure. The U .S. 00:13:05.259 --> 00:13:07.899 is the leader in AI and pharmaceuticals and aerospace. 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:11.139 The New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ are. 00:13:11.629 --> 00:13:14.429 by a huge margin the two largest stock exchanges 00:13:14.429 --> 00:13:17.789 in the world by market capitalization it is a 00:13:17.789 --> 00:13:19.850 machine that is designed to generate wealth and 00:13:19.850 --> 00:13:22.549 innovation on a scale that's unprecedented in 00:13:22.549 --> 00:13:25.309 human history but and you knew this was coming 00:13:25.309 --> 00:13:28.889 there's always a but with the us we have to talk 00:13:28.889 --> 00:13:31.850 about the wealth paradox this was the real aha 00:13:32.630 --> 00:13:34.429 Moment for me in the reading. This is where the 00:13:34.429 --> 00:13:36.690 aggregate numbers, the big shiny $30 trillion 00:13:36.690 --> 00:13:39.450 number, can actually hide the human reality on 00:13:39.450 --> 00:13:41.669 the ground. Tell us what you mean. Yes. The U 00:13:41.669 --> 00:13:43.769 .S. has the highest disposable household income 00:13:43.769 --> 00:13:47.090 per capita in the OECD, which means on average, 00:13:47.169 --> 00:13:50.090 Americans are incredibly rich. On average. That's 00:13:50.090 --> 00:13:53.149 the key phrase. That is the key phrase. Because 00:13:53.149 --> 00:13:55.309 the distribution of that incredible wealth is 00:13:55.309 --> 00:13:57.629 one of the most unequal in the developed world. 00:13:57.950 --> 00:14:02.230 The top 10 % of the population. owns 72 % of 00:14:02.230 --> 00:14:05.549 the nation's wealth. 72 % for just one -tenth 00:14:05.549 --> 00:14:07.470 of the people. And this is the number that really 00:14:07.470 --> 00:14:10.909 gets me. The bottom 50%, half the entire country 00:14:10.909 --> 00:14:14.529 owns just 2%. Half the country owns 2 % of the 00:14:14.529 --> 00:14:16.029 wealth. That is the statistic from the source. 00:14:16.250 --> 00:14:18.929 And income inequality, the gap between the highest 00:14:18.929 --> 00:14:21.250 and lowest earners, has reached record highs 00:14:21.250 --> 00:14:24.070 in recent years. This creates a really jarring 00:14:24.070 --> 00:14:26.620 situation. How so? You have the richest economy 00:14:26.620 --> 00:14:30.899 in history, but in 2022, 11 .5 % of the population, 00:14:31.179 --> 00:14:33.940 more than 37 million people, lived in poverty. 00:14:34.500 --> 00:14:37.080 You have food insecurity affecting 13 million 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:40.159 children. 13 million. That's one in five kids 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:42.259 in the United States experiencing hunger. In 00:14:42.259 --> 00:14:44.720 a $30 trillion economy, it just doesn't compute. 00:14:45.100 --> 00:14:48.440 Precisely. And in 2024, there were about 771 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:50.620 ,000 homeless persons in the country on any given 00:14:50.620 --> 00:14:53.639 night. The expert analysis in our sources points 00:14:53.639 --> 00:14:56.820 directly to the social safety net or, more accurately, 00:14:57.019 --> 00:14:59.220 the lack thereof. Compared to other rich countries, 00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:02.559 you mean? Yes. Compared to its peer nations in 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:06.120 Europe or Asia, the U .S. is a complete outlier. 00:15:06.590 --> 00:15:09.769 It has no federal mandate for paid family leave. 00:15:10.049 --> 00:15:13.070 It has no universal health care system. It's 00:15:13.070 --> 00:15:15.590 a system with a much higher tolerance for risk 00:15:15.590 --> 00:15:18.230 and inequality. It's high risk, high reward. 00:15:18.470 --> 00:15:20.409 But the fall is a lot harder if you don't make 00:15:20.409 --> 00:15:23.190 it. A much harder fall. It is an economic model 00:15:23.190 --> 00:15:26.649 that prioritizes dynamism and growth, often at 00:15:26.649 --> 00:15:29.659 the expense of security and equity. It manages 00:15:29.659 --> 00:15:32.039 to be the wealthiest nation on Earth while having 00:15:32.039 --> 00:15:35.200 these deep pockets of intense first world vulnerability. 00:15:35.460 --> 00:15:37.679 That leads us directly into how this country 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:39.259 is governed, because you'd think a government 00:15:39.259 --> 00:15:42.080 overseeing this kind of paradox would be, well, 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:44.639 very busy. So let's talk segment four, government 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:46.879 and the political landscape. Well, getting into 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:49.580 the 2026 context, the basic structure is familiar 00:15:49.580 --> 00:15:51.919 to most people. It's a federal presidential republic. 00:15:52.100 --> 00:15:54.139 You have the three branches, the president, the 00:15:54.139 --> 00:15:56.720 Congress. The judiciary. As we mentioned at the 00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:58.480 top, the current administration is President 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:00.759 Donald Trump and Vice President J .D. Vance. 00:16:00.860 --> 00:16:03.320 Right. And looking at the broader political health 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:05.460 of the nation, we have to discuss polarization. 00:16:05.899 --> 00:16:07.799 This isn't just a feeling people have anymore. 00:16:08.019 --> 00:16:10.360 It's being actively measured by international 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:13.460 observers. What are they finding? Indices like 00:16:13.460 --> 00:16:16.179 Freedom House and the V Dem Institute have actually 00:16:16.179 --> 00:16:18.879 downgraded the U .S.'s democratic status in recent 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:21.159 years. Downgraded to what? I mean, it's still 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:23.879 a democracy, isn't it? They use terms like illiberal 00:16:23.879 --> 00:16:27.200 democracy or mixed regime. That's a very significant 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:30.639 shift for a country that has historically framed 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:33.419 itself as the beacon of democracy for the rest 00:16:33.419 --> 00:16:35.480 of the world. And the source material we're looking 00:16:35.480 --> 00:16:39.379 at explicitly brings up January 6th, 2021 in 00:16:39.379 --> 00:16:41.799 this context. It does. And we need to be very 00:16:41.799 --> 00:16:44.159 precise. here sticking to the factual description 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:46.559 that is in the historical record provided in 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:49.120 our source. The source characterizes the January 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:51.679 6th attack on the Capitol as an attempted self 00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:54.840 -coup and an insurrection intended to prevent 00:16:54.840 --> 00:16:57.620 the peaceful transfer of power. It's really interesting 00:16:57.620 --> 00:16:59.480 to see that language codified in the history 00:16:59.480 --> 00:17:02.059 books now. It's not just opinion anymore. It's 00:17:02.059 --> 00:17:04.319 part of the permanent record of the nation's 00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:07.279 political volatility. It absolutely is. And it 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:09.359 sets the context for the current political environment. 00:17:10.190 --> 00:17:13.269 The system is clearly under a great deal of strain. 00:17:13.470 --> 00:17:15.170 And the Supreme Court plays a huge role here, 00:17:15.190 --> 00:17:18.150 too. A massive role. With life tenure justices, 00:17:18.250 --> 00:17:21.609 the court has a significant, often final influence 00:17:21.609 --> 00:17:25.069 on constitutional interpretation. It frequently 00:17:25.069 --> 00:17:27.289 decides the most contentious cultural and political 00:17:27.289 --> 00:17:30.150 issues of the day, from abortion to voting rights. 00:17:30.369 --> 00:17:32.430 Let's look outward for a second. Foreign relations. 00:17:32.509 --> 00:17:35.849 It's 2026. What is the United States doing on 00:17:35.849 --> 00:17:38.779 the world stage under this administration? Well, 00:17:38.839 --> 00:17:41.119 the focus has definitely shifted. Relations with 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:43.740 China remain very strained. That's been a consistent 00:17:43.740 --> 00:17:46.140 trend for a while now. The special relationship 00:17:46.140 --> 00:17:48.000 with the United Kingdom is still there, at least 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:50.579 formally. And the military integration with NATO 00:17:50.579 --> 00:17:53.140 remains strong. But the big story, according 00:17:53.140 --> 00:17:55.980 to the source, has been Ukraine. The big story 00:17:55.980 --> 00:17:58.180 has absolutely been Ukraine. There was a major 00:17:58.180 --> 00:18:01.160 policy shift in 2025. Right. What happened? In 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:04.279 March of 2025, President Trump paused all military 00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:06.900 aid to Ukraine and also ended the sharing of 00:18:06.900 --> 00:18:08.740 intelligence with them. That must have sent a 00:18:08.740 --> 00:18:11.160 massive shockwave through the system in Europe. 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:14.279 A seismic shockwave. Now, the source does note 00:18:14.279 --> 00:18:16.299 that both the aid and the intelligence sharing 00:18:16.299 --> 00:18:21.140 were eventually restored. But that pause, that 00:18:21.140 --> 00:18:23.779 signals a new kind of volatility in U .S. foreign 00:18:23.779 --> 00:18:26.240 policy. It's unpredictable. Deeply unpredictable. 00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:29.319 It shows that alliances and longstanding commitments 00:18:29.319 --> 00:18:31.799 can fluctuate wildly depending on who is sitting 00:18:31.799 --> 00:18:34.609 in the Oval Office. It's a clear move away from 00:18:34.609 --> 00:18:36.490 the more predictable, consistent foreign policy 00:18:36.490 --> 00:18:39.910 of the post -Cold War era. OK, let's take a breath 00:18:39.910 --> 00:18:43.130 here. We've done the land, the people, the money 00:18:43.130 --> 00:18:45.769 and the politics. Let's talk about the soul of 00:18:45.769 --> 00:18:49.400 the place. Segment five. Society, culture, and 00:18:49.400 --> 00:18:51.380 values. Because for all the political drama, 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:53.859 American culture is still a global juggernaut. 00:18:53.960 --> 00:18:56.220 It is the ultimate soft power. You have this 00:18:56.220 --> 00:18:58.779 concept of the American creed, this deep -seated, 00:18:58.779 --> 00:19:01.299 almost religious belief in liberty, equality 00:19:01.299 --> 00:19:04.220 under the law, and especially individualism. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:06.900 Individualism is key. It is. And that individualism 00:19:06.900 --> 00:19:09.279 manifests in really interesting ways. For example, 00:19:09.380 --> 00:19:11.660 philanthropy. Americans give a lot of money away 00:19:11.660 --> 00:19:15.119 to charity. A huge amount. They donate 1 .44 00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:18.079 % of the national GDP to charity. That is by 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:20.980 far the highest rate in the world. And it connects 00:19:20.980 --> 00:19:22.579 directly back to what we were saying about the 00:19:22.579 --> 00:19:25.319 lack of a government safety net. Oh, so? Well, 00:19:25.420 --> 00:19:27.720 where the government steps back, there's a cultural 00:19:27.720 --> 00:19:30.759 expectation that private individuals and organizations 00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:33.500 will step in. It's a different approach to social 00:19:33.500 --> 00:19:36.259 welfare. And religion plays a huge role here, 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:38.680 too, doesn't it? Compared to other wealthy Western 00:19:38.680 --> 00:19:41.589 nations, the U .S. is a massive outlier. It was 00:19:41.589 --> 00:19:43.609 a highly religious nation. Still, I feel like 00:19:43.609 --> 00:19:46.130 I hear a lot about secularization. It is becoming 00:19:46.130 --> 00:19:48.549 more secular, but from a very high starting point. 00:19:48.630 --> 00:19:50.829 It's still majority Christian, pretty evenly 00:19:50.829 --> 00:19:54.009 split between Protestant and Catholic. But you're 00:19:54.009 --> 00:19:56.450 right. There is a rapidly rising demographic 00:19:56.450 --> 00:19:59.289 of unaffiliated people, the so -called nens, 00:19:59.490 --> 00:20:02.160 who are now at about 22 percent. But religion 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:04.519 is still present in public life. Oh, absolutely. 00:20:04.740 --> 00:20:06.599 Even in secular life, you have what's called 00:20:06.599 --> 00:20:09.599 ceremonial deism. Like in God we trust, on the 00:20:09.599 --> 00:20:12.460 currency, or under God, in the pledge. Exactly. 00:20:12.519 --> 00:20:14.920 It's baked into the cultural and political language 00:20:14.920 --> 00:20:17.960 in a way you just don't see in, say, France or 00:20:17.960 --> 00:20:20.619 the UK. And then there's the export of culture. 00:20:21.299 --> 00:20:24.779 Media, sports, technology. You really cannot 00:20:24.779 --> 00:20:27.460 overstate the global dominance of U .S. media. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:30.099 Hollywood is still the world's dream factory. 00:20:30.759 --> 00:20:34.440 American music, pop, hip hop, country, jazz. 00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:37.640 These are global genres. And the Internet itself. 00:20:37.740 --> 00:20:40.460 The Internet is fundamentally an American invention 00:20:40.460 --> 00:20:43.259 that defines how the entire human species now 00:20:43.259 --> 00:20:46.799 communicates. Google, Facebook, YouTube, X, all 00:20:46.799 --> 00:20:49.480 of them. And sports. I saw the NFL revenue number 00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:51.400 in the source material and my jaw dropped. It's 00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:53.279 incredible. The National Football League generated 00:20:53.279 --> 00:20:57.220 over $23 billion in revenue in 2024. It is the 00:20:57.220 --> 00:20:59.619 most valuable and profitable sports league in 00:20:59.619 --> 00:21:01.769 the world. And American football isn't even that 00:21:01.769 --> 00:21:03.970 popular globally. Exactly. And looking ahead, 00:21:04.089 --> 00:21:05.990 the U .S. is very much the center of the sporting 00:21:05.990 --> 00:21:08.869 universe right now. It's co -hosting the 2026 00:21:08.869 --> 00:21:11.789 FIFA World Cup with Canada and Mexico. And Los 00:21:11.789 --> 00:21:14.549 Angeles is gearing up to host the 2028 Summer 00:21:14.549 --> 00:21:16.630 Olympics. So all eyes are on the U .S. for the 00:21:16.630 --> 00:21:18.910 next few years. All eyes. We also have to touch 00:21:18.910 --> 00:21:21.109 on science and tech. We mentioned Silicon Valley, 00:21:21.210 --> 00:21:23.329 but space is still a big deal, a big part of 00:21:23.329 --> 00:21:26.190 the American identity. For sure. The U .S. remains 00:21:26.190 --> 00:21:28.930 the only country to have ever landed humans on 00:21:28.930 --> 00:21:32.390 the moon. But the landscape has changed. Now 00:21:32.390 --> 00:21:34.670 it's a mix of the NASA legacy things like the 00:21:34.670 --> 00:21:36.809 James Webb telescope and the Mars rovers and 00:21:36.809 --> 00:21:41.130 this new era of private sector dominance. SpaceX, 00:21:41.390 --> 00:21:44.470 Blue Origin. Exactly. The private sector is effectively 00:21:44.470 --> 00:21:47.609 running the new space race. It's a very American 00:21:47.609 --> 00:21:50.029 evolution of that dream. And energy. This was 00:21:50.029 --> 00:21:52.970 a surprising stat for me. Nuclear power. Yes. 00:21:53.460 --> 00:21:55.559 Most people think of the U .S. and think of oil 00:21:55.559 --> 00:21:58.079 and gas. But the U .S. is actually the world's 00:21:58.079 --> 00:22:00.160 largest producer of nuclear power. The largest. 00:22:00.420 --> 00:22:02.980 By a lot. It accounts for 30 % of the entire 00:22:02.980 --> 00:22:05.500 global total. And the plan referenced in our 00:22:05.500 --> 00:22:07.519 source is to triple that capacity by the year 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:10.740 2050. So despite the fossil fuel history, there 00:22:10.740 --> 00:22:13.559 is a massive institutional push toward high -output, 00:22:13.619 --> 00:22:15.890 low -carbon energy infrastructure. OK, we're 00:22:15.890 --> 00:22:17.829 coming into the final stretch here. Second six, 00:22:18.009 --> 00:22:20.049 systemic challenges. We've touched on wealth 00:22:20.049 --> 00:22:22.089 inequality, but we need to look at health and 00:22:22.089 --> 00:22:24.369 justice specifically because this is where the 00:22:24.369 --> 00:22:26.970 paradox becomes the most painful. It really is. 00:22:27.349 --> 00:22:29.789 Let's start with health care. The U .S. spends 00:22:29.789 --> 00:22:32.769 more per capita on health care than any other 00:22:32.769 --> 00:22:34.769 nation on the planet. Not just a little more, 00:22:34.910 --> 00:22:37.950 a lot more. A lot more. It has the most advanced 00:22:37.950 --> 00:22:40.690 medical technology, the best research universities 00:22:40.690 --> 00:22:43.730 in the world. Yet it remains the only developed 00:22:43.730 --> 00:22:46.269 country without a system of universal health 00:22:46.269 --> 00:22:49.349 care. And the outcomes? They often don't match 00:22:49.349 --> 00:22:52.150 the spending, do they? In many key metrics, like 00:22:52.150 --> 00:22:55.210 infant mortality or preventable deaths, the outcomes 00:22:55.210 --> 00:22:57.309 are often worse than in countries that spend 00:22:57.309 --> 00:23:00.650 far less. However... And this is a rare piece 00:23:00.650 --> 00:23:04.230 of good news. And the 2026 data life expectancy 00:23:04.230 --> 00:23:06.490 has actually ticked up recently. It hit a record 00:23:06.490 --> 00:23:08.990 high, right? It did. Life expectancy rose to 00:23:08.990 --> 00:23:11.990 79 .0 years in 2024, which is the highest it 00:23:11.990 --> 00:23:14.930 has ever been. And the primary reason cited for 00:23:14.930 --> 00:23:17.490 this increase is a significant fall in fatal 00:23:17.490 --> 00:23:20.410 drug overdoses. That is huge, a really positive 00:23:20.410 --> 00:23:22.750 sign. It is a sign that perhaps some of the major 00:23:22.750 --> 00:23:25.670 public health crises of the 2010s and early 2020s 00:23:25.670 --> 00:23:28.750 are maybe being mitigated to some degree. But 00:23:28.750 --> 00:23:30.670 then we look at the criminal justice system and 00:23:30.670 --> 00:23:32.569 the numbers are just as stark in the other direction. 00:23:32.809 --> 00:23:35.849 The incarceration numbers are, frankly, breathtaking. 00:23:36.309 --> 00:23:38.869 The U .S. has the largest prison population in 00:23:38.869 --> 00:23:42.500 the world in absolute numbers. Over 1 .9 million 00:23:42.500 --> 00:23:45.180 people are behind bars. And per capita. Per capita. 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:48.359 It has the sixth highest incarceration rate globally. 00:23:48.759 --> 00:23:51.819 And violence remains a persistent issue. Homicide 00:23:51.819 --> 00:23:54.039 rates are significantly higher than in other 00:23:54.039 --> 00:23:56.319 high -income countries, a difference that is 00:23:56.319 --> 00:23:59.359 largely, almost entirely, driven by gun violence. 00:23:59.619 --> 00:24:01.640 And finally, let's talk about the thing that 00:24:01.640 --> 00:24:04.500 connects this whole massive country, infrastructure. 00:24:04.759 --> 00:24:07.559 We are a car culture through and through. Oh, 00:24:07.579 --> 00:24:10.299 absolutely. The numbers are clear. 850 vehicles 00:24:10.299 --> 00:24:13.839 per 1 ,000 people. Wow. The U .S. has the world's 00:24:13.839 --> 00:24:16.579 longest road network, over 4 million miles of 00:24:16.579 --> 00:24:18.660 road. It is a nation that was physically built 00:24:18.660 --> 00:24:21.019 for the automobile. And that makes the transition 00:24:21.019 --> 00:24:22.680 to different, more efficient modes of transit 00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:25.180 incredibly difficult. Right. Passenger rail is 00:24:25.180 --> 00:24:27.839 very limited compared to Europe or Japan. Very 00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:29.759 limited. Though, interestingly, the freight rail 00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:31.500 system is actually one of the most extensive 00:24:31.500 --> 00:24:33.799 and efficient in the world. So we're great at 00:24:33.799 --> 00:24:36.170 moving goods by train. just not so great at moving 00:24:36.170 --> 00:24:39.609 people. So we have unpacked the machinery. We've 00:24:39.609 --> 00:24:42.150 seen the incredible wealth, the deep poverty, 00:24:42.309 --> 00:24:44.430 the immense power, the intense polarization. 00:24:45.589 --> 00:24:48.490 How do we synthesize all of this? How do we wrap 00:24:48.490 --> 00:24:50.549 it up? I think you have to say that the United 00:24:50.549 --> 00:24:54.190 States is, at its core, a land of superlatives 00:24:54.190 --> 00:24:57.150 and extremes. It is the richest economy in history, 00:24:57.309 --> 00:25:00.329 yet one in five of its children faces hunger. 00:25:00.910 --> 00:25:03.430 It's a nation of immigrants that is constantly 00:25:03.430 --> 00:25:06.069 debating and tightening its borders. It's a beacon 00:25:06.069 --> 00:25:08.269 of democracy that is, according to international 00:25:08.269 --> 00:25:11.289 observers, facing internal democratic backsliding. 00:25:11.410 --> 00:25:14.029 A leader in medical science with a crisis of 00:25:14.029 --> 00:25:15.890 health care access. It's all of those things 00:25:15.890 --> 00:25:17.970 at once. It feels like the American dream itself. 00:25:18.029 --> 00:25:20.910 That central myth is this shimmering concept 00:25:20.910 --> 00:25:24.109 that is incredibly real for some people and at 00:25:24.109 --> 00:25:26.789 the same time incredibly distant and unattainable 00:25:26.789 --> 00:25:29.369 for others. That is the modern reality of social 00:25:29.369 --> 00:25:31.920 mobility in the U .S. The perception, the myth, 00:25:32.039 --> 00:25:34.539 is powerful. It drives people to come here to 00:25:34.539 --> 00:25:37.259 work hard, to innovate. But the data shows that 00:25:37.259 --> 00:25:39.799 climbing that economic ladder is much harder 00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:42.630 than the mythology would suggest. So here is 00:25:42.630 --> 00:25:44.630 the final provocative thought for our listeners 00:25:44.630 --> 00:25:47.349 to take away. We're sitting here in early 2026. 00:25:47.670 --> 00:25:50.410 We have a new declaration of English as the official 00:25:50.410 --> 00:25:53.049 language. We have a Trump -fance administration 00:25:53.049 --> 00:25:55.589 that is actively reshaping foreign and domestic 00:25:55.589 --> 00:25:58.690 policy. The world is changing. We're moving from 00:25:58.690 --> 00:26:01.470 the American century into a much more multipolar 00:26:01.470 --> 00:26:04.690 world. And the question is this. Is the classic 00:26:04.690 --> 00:26:07.299 U .S. model this intense individualism, this 00:26:07.299 --> 00:26:09.579 culture of unchecked growth, this high risk, 00:26:09.640 --> 00:26:12.559 high reward system, is that model sustainable 00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:16.279 in this new century? Or is the mix, the melting 00:26:16.279 --> 00:26:19.380 pot, the diversity, the constant churn and reinvention 00:26:19.380 --> 00:26:21.559 that comes from immigration and new ideas, is 00:26:21.559 --> 00:26:23.500 that actually the nation's ultimate survival 00:26:23.500 --> 00:26:26.660 mechanism? Can the country redefine its identity 00:26:26.660 --> 00:26:28.779 in this new era without tearing itself apart 00:26:28.779 --> 00:26:30.940 from the inside? That is the fundamental question 00:26:30.940 --> 00:26:33.460 for America in 2026. And that is a question that 00:26:33.460 --> 00:26:35.339 will be answered not in podcasts, but in the 00:26:35.339 --> 00:26:37.759 years to come. The United States is a massive, 00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:40.980 complex and contradictory machine, and it never, 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:43.440 ever stops moving. Thank you for listening to 00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:46.440 this deep dive. Our advice, look beyond the daily 00:26:46.440 --> 00:26:48.640 news cycle. See the structure. We'll catch you 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:49.319 on the next one.