What can The Masters teach us about America’s $30+ trillion debt? Quite a lot. Augusta’s polished traditions, booming merchandise sales, and open-wallet culture offer a surprisingly sharp metaphor for Washington’s spending habits.

Robyn Curnow is a foreign correspondent living the American South - this is her outsider/insider take on life in America.

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More about Robyn here http://www.robyncurnow.net

• Got a great idea for an episode? Drop Robyn a message here with the subject line PODCAST IDEA
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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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America is built on freedom. So why are there still more than 500 places where you can’t legally buy a drink?

In this episode of Searching for America, Robyn Curnow explores the strange, contradictory world of American drinking laws - from Utah’s strict alcohol rules and ID checks to dry counties that still exist nearly a century after Prohibition.

Why can you drive at 16 but not buy a beer until you're 21?
Why do some towns still ban alcohol?
And what do puritanical drinking laws reveal about American culture, religion, and power?

From the infamous Zion Curtain in Utah to Prohibition, this is a story about alcohol - but really, it’s about how America works.

Subscribe to http://robyncurnow.substack.com for sharp, global insights on the United States in a weekly newsletter

• 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.

American presidents love dogs. The optics are perfect: loyal, friendly, impossible to fact-check.

From White House photo ops to wartime morale, First Dogs have always helped sell the presidency.

And then came the no-dog presidency.

Which tells you… quite a lot about the Presidency of Donald Trump and why so many Americans voted for him.

http://robyncurnow.substack.com

READ MORE ABOUT ROBYN

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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.

Atlanta's pollen season arrives like a political crisis: overnight, everywhere, impossible to breathe through. At Easter-time, I'm thinking about what renewal actually looks like when it's happening to you - not the soft-focus version, but the detonation.

Which means thinking about China's stranglehold on rare earths, Russia's gas leash on Europe, Iran's proxy franchise. Three decades of "order" produced strategic dependency on America's principal adversaries. Something had to change. Whether what's changing now produces something better, or just produces more mess, is the question none of us can answer yet.

We're still in the pollen.

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more about robyn curnow

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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.

What's causing anxiety in America right now? No, it's not Iran, Trump or Gavin Newsom's hair. It's what Andrew Yang calls "The Fuckening." As a mother of two daughters choosing their courses right now, I'm standing in the middle of it — holding a course catalogue, trying to figure out what my teenage daughters should study in an age of AI.

Anthropic's latest research says the most AI-exposed jobs are programmers, analysts, and customer service reps. The safest? Bartenders and dishwashers. For the first time in modern history, the safest place is not at a desk.

So what do you tell your kids to study? In this episode, I take an AI course at Georgia Tech, revisit Aristotle, remember my father's hands — and land on an answer that surprised me: in a world of infinite answers, taste and judgment become the scarce resources. We're not educating our kids for subjects anymore. We're educating them for judgment.

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more about Robyn http://robycurnow.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.

Artificial intelligence may be the most powerful technology humans have ever built - but many Americans don’t trust it.

After taking an AI course at Georgia Institute of Technology, Robyn Curnow explores why voters across the political spectrum are uneasy about AI, from job fears to electricity-hungry data centers.

From a conversation with an HVAC technician who believes the “devil’s number” is hidden inside computer chips to a classroom discussion about white-collar job disruption, this episode explores the deeper anxieties shaping America’s response to artificial intelligence.

And the political landmines that will determine who triumphs at the ballot box in this year's midterms.

Join the Searching for America community and a free weekly newsletter. HERE http://robyncurnow.substack.com

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More about Robyn

http://www.robyncurnow.net

http://www.instagram.com/robyncurnow

http://x.com/robyncurnow

• 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.

In the American South, an insult doesn’t always sound like an insult.

Sometimes it sounds polite. "I"ll pray for you."
Sometimes it sounds sympathetic. "You sweet thing."
And sometimes it sounds like three very gentle words:

“Bless your heart.”

In this episode of Searching for America, Robyn Curnow explores one of the South’s most fascinating cultural phrases - a sentence that can express genuine kindness or deliver a devastatingly polite takedown.

From small towns in Mississippi to suburban Atlanta, Southern language has evolved its own code of diplomacy. Criticism is rarely shouted. Instead, it’s softened, wrapped in manners, and delivered with a smile.

Because in the South, people often say exactly what they mean.

They just say it… politely.

Three little words.

Bless Your Heart

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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.

Early in January, the White House released a video from the movie Gladiator.

Russell Crowe’s character, Maximus, turning to his men before battle:
“At my signal, unleash hell.”

It felt theatrical at the time. Symbolic. A meme.

But in the months since, American and Israeli strikes on Iran have made that line feel less like metaphor or meme and more like policy.

This isn’t Iraq. There’s no talk of occupation or reconstruction. The stated objective is narrower: degrade Iran’s nuclear capacity, weaken its proxy networks, restore deterrence.

But the stakes are anything but narrow.

This is a high-risk wager — regionally, politically, and globally.

If it works, the rewards are significant: a weaker hostile regime, stronger regional alignment, reinforced deterrence.

If it fails, escalation spreads — oil shocks, proxy retaliation, hardliner consolidation, and a presidency defined by unintended consequences.

And hovering over all of it is a larger question: is this just about Iran — or part of a broader strategic contest reshaping the 21st century order?

I’m Robyn Curnow, and this is Searching for America — where we step back from the headlines to ask what the United States is really doing, and what it might cost.

Let’s begin.

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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.