2019 started on a note of fakery, as we made sense of the conspiracies and simulacra that distort our information field. It's ending with a similar air of surreality, with impeachment proceedings bringing the dynamics of the Trump presidency into stark relief. Along the way, we've examined forces, deconstructed narratives, and found the racist core at the heart of so much of the American project. And as we've come to look differently at the world, we've come to look differently at ourselves.

With excerpts from:

1. When The Internet is Mostly Fake, January 11th, 2019
2. United States of Conspiracy, May 17th, 2019
3. Trump Sees Conspiracies Everywhere, October 4th, 2019
4. Understanding the White Power Movement, March 22nd, 2019
5. Why "Send Her Back" Reverberated So Loudly, July 19th, 2019
6. The Scarlet E, Part II: 40 Acres, June 14th, 2019
7. Part 1: The Myth Of The Frontier, March 29th, 2019
8. Empire State of Mind, April 5th, 2019
9. The Perils of Laundering Hot Takes Through History, March 1st, 2019

Music:

Sentimental Journey by Hal McIntyre and his OrchestraNewsreel by Randy NewmanString Quartet No. 5 (II) by Kronos Quartet & Philip Glass8½ by Rino NotaSongs of War by United States Old Guard fife and Drum CorpsThe Water Rises / Our Street Is a Black River by Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet Marc Phillips Tribute To America (Medley) by The O’Neill BrothersTomorrow Never Knows by  Quartetto d’Archi Dell’Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe VerdiMerkabah by John Zorn