What Next | What Kids Aren't Learning About US History

What Next | What Kids Aren't Learning About US History

From Slate Race and Identity by Slate Podcasts

December 1, 2025 · 32 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of omitting negative aspects of American history from education.

Conservatives have long complained that teaching American history with slavery and genocide and systemic oppression is just too negative, and the Trump administration has gone as far as attacking the Smithsonian for focusing too much on “how horrible our country is.” But omitting the shameful aspects of America’s past doesn’t just distort history—it impairs our ability to understand the present. Guest: Clint Smith, staff writer at The Atlantic and author of How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America and the new poetry collection Above Ground. Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Guest: Clint Smith

Topics covered

  • US history
  • slavery
  • systemic oppression
  • education

Keywords

  • Trump administration
  • Smithsonian
  • history distortion

Mentioned in this episode

Products: How the Word Is Passed, Above Ground

Books & works: How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America, Above Ground, What Next

Places: US, America

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