The Forum: What does it mean to be an American?

The Forum: What does it mean to be an American?

June 22, 2026 · 1h 3m · Episode 1

About this episode

The episode explores the components of American civilization through various lenses, including history and personal ancestry.

Welcome to The Forum! Host Marshall LeMert examines what the key components that make up the American "civilization" are, through the lens of Sid Meier's Civilization video game series, and the framework of sociologist V. Gordon Childe's definition of civilization. George Mason University Professor of History Michael O'Malley joins to discuss Americans' fascination with their ancestry, and shares a wild story from his own family history, detailed further in his book The Color of Family. Read Karin Wulf's article on Hannah Waterman's family history for Smithsonian Magazine HERE . What do you think makes Americans Americans? Email Marshall at Wlemert@cvillemedia.com Use of audio and media clips in this episode is protecting under Fair Use. Thanks for visiting The Forum, follow the podcast at Cvillerightnow.com!

People in this episode

Host: Marshall LeMert

Guest: Michael O'Malley

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: George Mason University, Smithsonian Magazine

Products: Sid Meier's Civilization

Books & works: The Color of Family, Hannah Waterman's family history

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