Searching for America with Robyn Curnow

America braced again. Another winter storm. Another week of breathless warnings. Another round of stockpiling flashlights, firewood — and nerves.

In this episode of Searching for America, I reflect on how weather in the United States isn’t just something that happens — it’s something that comes for you. Storms don’t pass, they threaten. They don’t dissipate, they devastate. And over time, that language of catastrophe has bled from meteorology into politics.

From red alert weather graphics to cable-news outrage cycles, from snow-mageddons to democratic doomsdays, this episode explores how fear has become a performance — and how a nation perpetually bracing for disaster risks losing its sense of proportion.

Recorded from Atlanta, as another storm approached, this is a meditation on weather, media, politics, and America’s addiction to catastrophe.

 

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Got a great idea for an episode? Drop Robyn a message here with the subject line PODCAST IDEA
Subscribe to Robyn's Substack.
Visit her website here.
To book Robyn to speak at your event, get in touch here.
More about Robyn's public speaking
Robyn Curnow is a sought-after public speaker on what it takes to create positive leadership in complicated times. As a South African now living in the American South, Robyn is determined to bring a hopeful and light-hearted tone to all conversations.
She reflects on her interviews with U.S. Presidents Bush, Clinton and Carter and First Lady Michelle Obama. She has impactful stories of working alongside Nobel Peace Prize Lauretes Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu
She has delivered talks and hosted events around the Blue Economy in the Principality of Monaco where she introduced Prince Albert of Monaco and Prince William, Prince of Wales and French President Emmanuel Macron, the Lincoln Centre in New York, the Science Museum in London, the Swedish Royal Palace in Stockholm, the YPO annual conference in Cape Town, the United Nations, a Haaretz newspaper panel in Jerusalem, the Nantucket Yacht club and many more.
She has recently worked with Prince Albert II Foundation in Monaco and Philadelphia, the Swedish royal family in Stockholm, Made by Dyslexia in London, the Red Cross of Georgia in Atlanta alongside Delta Airlines.

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I was driving through Atlanta when she stopped at a red light behind a car with a bumper sticker that read: “I miss Ronald Reagan.”

And it made me wonder — do Americans really miss Ronald Reagan… or do they miss the simpler idea of America his presidency has come to represent?

Because nostalgia has become one of the most powerful political drugs in the United States. It doesn’t ask for accuracy. It offers comfort. It smooths over complexity and turns anxiety about the present into longing for the past.

In this episode of Searching for America, I explore how nostalgia is shaping American politics — from Reagan’s mythologized 1980s and the fantasy of the 1950s, to Donald Trump’s mastery of “Make America Great Again.” She looks at how both the left and the right reach backward when the present feels unstable, and why curated memory is often more persuasive than facts.

This isn’t really about Reagan.
Or even about Trump.

It’s about how Americans cope when the country no longer feels familiar — and why nostalgia, when weaponized, can be comforting, seductive… and dangerous.

Takeaways

Nostalgia in politics is often about the present, not the past.

Trump's slogan is a memory trigger, allowing personal projection.

Political nostalgia can sanitize and simplify complex histories.

Both left and right use nostalgia to connect with voters.

Nostalgia can anesthetize critical engagement with history.

Chapters

00:00 The Power of Nostalgia in Politics

05:42 Nostalgia's Role in Political Identity

10:09 Trumpism: Nostalgia and Future Projections

15:49 Reimagining the Future Through Nostalgia

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WATCH ON YOUTUBE

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Got a great idea for an episode? Drop Robyn a message here with the subject line PODCAST IDEA
Subscribe to Robyn's Substack.
Visit her website here.
To book Robyn to speak at your event, get in touch here.
More about Robyn's public speaking
Robyn Curnow is a sought-after public speaker on what it takes to create positive leadership in complicated times. As a South African now living in the American South, Robyn is determined to bring a hopeful and light-hearted tone to all conversations.
She reflects on her interviews with U.S. Presidents Bush, Clinton and Carter and First Lady Michelle Obama. She has impactful stories of working alongside Nobel Peace Prize Lauretes Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu
She has delivered talks and hosted events around the Blue Economy in the Principality of Monaco where she introduced Prince Albert of Monaco and Prince William, Prince of Wales and French President Emmanuel Macron, the Lincoln Centre in New York, the Science Museum in London, the Swedish Royal Palace in Stockholm, the YPO annual conference in Cape Town, the United Nations, a Haaretz newspaper panel in Jerusalem, the Nantucket Yacht club and many more.
She has recently worked with Prince Albert II Foundation in Monaco and Philadelphia, the Swedish royal family in Stockholm, Made by Dyslexia in London, the Red Cross of Georgia in Atlanta alongside Delta Airlines.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why has Greenland suddenly become central to American power — and what does the Arctic reveal about the limits of U.S. strategy?

In this episode of Searching for America, I explore how the High North has moved from geopolitical afterthought to strategic test case. As the United States revives a hemispheric, Monroe-Doctrine-style focus under Trump, I look at why allies in Denmark and Greenland have been shocked by the tone — even as Russia rebuilds its Arctic military posture and China quietly shapes the region through trade, science, and infrastructure.

I separate fact from hype, examining what is verified — and what is not — about Russian and Chinese activity in the Arctic, why NATO is poorly equipped to operate in Greenland, and how years of Western neglect allowed leverage to accumulate in the north.

This isn’t a story of invasion or panic.
It’s about geography, trust, and why Greenland now sits at the center of a new Cold War unfolding quietly at the top of the world.

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More on Robyn

http://www.robyncurnow.net

Got a great idea for an episode? Drop Robyn a message here with the subject line PODCAST IDEA
Subscribe to Robyn's Substack.
Visit her website here.
To book Robyn to speak at your event, get in touch here.
More about Robyn's public speaking
Robyn Curnow is a sought-after public speaker on what it takes to create positive leadership in complicated times. As a South African now living in the American South, Robyn is determined to bring a hopeful and light-hearted tone to all conversations.
She reflects on her interviews with U.S. Presidents Bush, Clinton and Carter and First Lady Michelle Obama. She has impactful stories of working alongside Nobel Peace Prize Lauretes Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu
She has delivered talks and hosted events around the Blue Economy in the Principality of Monaco where she introduced Prince Albert of Monaco and Prince William, Prince of Wales and French President Emmanuel Macron, the Lincoln Centre in New York, the Science Museum in London, the Swedish Royal Palace in Stockholm, the YPO annual conference in Cape Town, the United Nations, a Haaretz newspaper panel in Jerusalem, the Nantucket Yacht club and many more.
She has recently worked with Prince Albert II Foundation in Monaco and Philadelphia, the Swedish royal family in Stockholm, Made by Dyslexia in London, the Red Cross of Georgia in Atlanta alongside Delta Airlines.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I want to look at Venezuela not as a failed state or a morality tale, but as a map.

When I zoom out, what I see isn’t just Caracas or Maduro — I see oil, ports, shipping lanes, and a quiet power struggle playing out very close to home. Venezuela sits only about 1,300 miles from the United States, right on the edge of the Caribbean basin, and over the past two decades China, Russia, and Iran have all embedded themselves there in different ways.

In this episode, Robyn Curnow explores why geography matters again, why control of chokepoints now shapes security more than armies do, and how the Trump corollary to the Monroe Doctrine signals a return to enforcing old hemispheric lines — just in a much more direct way.

This isn’t about ideology or personalities. It’s about infrastructure, leverage, and how power actually moves in the world we’re living in now.

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Got a great idea for an episode? Drop Robyn a message here with the subject line PODCAST IDEA
Subscribe to Robyn's Substack.
Visit her website here.
To book Robyn to speak at your event, get in touch here.
More about Robyn's public speaking
Robyn Curnow is a sought-after public speaker on what it takes to create positive leadership in complicated times. As a South African now living in the American South, Robyn is determined to bring a hopeful and light-hearted tone to all conversations.
She reflects on her interviews with U.S. Presidents Bush, Clinton and Carter and First Lady Michelle Obama. She has impactful stories of working alongside Nobel Peace Prize Lauretes Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu
She has delivered talks and hosted events around the Blue Economy in the Principality of Monaco where she introduced Prince Albert of Monaco and Prince William, Prince of Wales and French President Emmanuel Macron, the Lincoln Centre in New York, the Science Museum in London, the Swedish Royal Palace in Stockholm, the YPO annual conference in Cape Town, the United Nations, a Haaretz newspaper panel in Jerusalem, the Nantucket Yacht club and many more.
She has recently worked with Prince Albert II Foundation in Monaco and Philadelphia, the Swedish royal family in Stockholm, Made by Dyslexia in London, the Red Cross of Georgia in Atlanta alongside Delta Airlines.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When I first moved to the US, I didn’t fully understand Thanksgiving. Now, after years of living here, this holiday reveals more about America than almost anything else.

In this episode, I unpack the history, the travel madness, the affordability of the classic Thanksgiving meal, and the national instinct toward connection that defines this time of year. I also share my own Thanksgiving list—why I’m grateful for America’s opportunity culture, its democratic protections, and its deep spirit of generosity.

Listen and subscribe to Searching for America, and explore more of my work on Substack, YouTube, and beyond.

Got a great idea for an episode? Drop Robyn a message here with the subject line PODCAST IDEA
Subscribe to Robyn's Substack.
Visit her website here.
To book Robyn to speak at your event, get in touch here.
More about Robyn's public speaking
Robyn Curnow is a sought-after public speaker on what it takes to create positive leadership in complicated times. As a South African now living in the American South, Robyn is determined to bring a hopeful and light-hearted tone to all conversations.
She reflects on her interviews with U.S. Presidents Bush, Clinton and Carter and First Lady Michelle Obama. She has impactful stories of working alongside Nobel Peace Prize Lauretes Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu
She has delivered talks and hosted events around the Blue Economy in the Principality of Monaco where she introduced Prince Albert of Monaco and Prince William, Prince of Wales and French President Emmanuel Macron, the Lincoln Centre in New York, the Science Museum in London, the Swedish Royal Palace in Stockholm, the YPO annual conference in Cape Town, the United Nations, a Haaretz newspaper panel in Jerusalem, the Nantucket Yacht club and many more.
She has recently worked with Prince Albert II Foundation in Monaco and Philadelphia, the Swedish royal family in Stockholm, Made by Dyslexia in London, the Red Cross of Georgia in Atlanta alongside Delta Airlines.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.