In short
America’s 250th birthday celebrations in Washington, D.C., and how political division is shaping events—Freedom 250 concerts, performer cancellations, and a UFC fight on Trump’s birthday near the White House.
Guests/backgrounds
Kathleen Goldhar hosts Crime Story. The episode also features CBC Washington correspondents Katie Simpson, Willie Lowry, and Paul Hunter (discussing from Jerusalem and Washington).
Key claims
America 250 (congressionally approved) is meant to be nonpolitical, but Freedom 250 is widely seen as Trump-branded; performers withdrew over politicization. Vanilla Ice argues the event is apolitical and says he doesn’t vote. From abroad, Lowry says the world focuses more on U.S. foreign policy than the anniversary. The UFC event is not taxpayer-funded (UFC pays) but is controversial, including military attendance requirements.
Notable examples
cancelled acts (Martina McBride, Milli Vanilli, Young MC, Brett Michaels, Commodores); Bono’s Canada 150 political moment; Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” nostalgia pitch; UFC octagon on the White House South Lawn with a large lighting grid; Smithsonian museum discussion (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Zoo, Slave Museum).
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOPolitical Tensions Surrounding America 250
0:36 to 2:33
Discussion on the political climate affecting the 250th anniversary celebrations in America.
“Paul, Willie, if you were to take a guess, what would you say or who would you say is the number one attraction anywhere in the world?”
Divided Perspectives on Freedom 250
2:33 to 4:32
Exploration of the division between America 250 and Freedom 250 and its implications for performers.
“We're CBC's Washington Correspondents, two blocks from the UFC ring being built behind the White House.”
Vanilla Ice's Perspective on Celebration
4:32 to 10:01
Vanilla Ice discusses his view on celebrating America without politics, contrasting with broader political sentiments.
“And as a result, all these performers that Willie is big fans of, they have pulled out.”
Global Perspective on America's 250th Birthday
10:01 to 12:19
Insights on how the world views America as it approaches its 250th birthday amidst political challenges.
“Maybe I'm just too cynical and we can all get behind Ice Ice Baby.”
Changes in Washington D.C. Leading to July 4th
13:28 to 14:01
Discussion on the physical changes in Washington D.C. in anticipation of America’s 250th birthday celebration.
“Katie, a few weeks ago, we were talking about how Washington, D.C., as a city, has changed in Trump's second term.”
UFC Fight on the White House Lawn
14:01 to 18:46
Discussing the upcoming UFC fight on the White House lawn and its significance.
“If you've ever driven by Canada's Wonderland north of Toronto, this big amusement park, you see these sort of like huge structures that are roller coaster tracks, obviously.”
Divisive Celebrations for America's 250th
18:47 to 23:00
Exploring the potential impact of political divisions on the 250th birthday celebrations.
“And they might have to move the show up by two hours or they might delay it by two hours.”
Smithsonian Museums and Personal Favorites
23:01 to 24:48
A conversation about favorite Smithsonian museums and their significance.
“So we will, from our bureau here, two blocks from the White House, we, of course, will be keeping an eye on the 250th plans as the 4th of July approaches.”
Engaging with History at Ford's Theater
24:49 to 28:00
Discussing the historical relevance and experiences at Ford's Theater in Washington.
“which echoes the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, which was also designed by Cardinal.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Katie Simpson:Wallace Souza was a Brazilian TV host and crime reporter who always managed to arrive at a murder scene before the police. Cameras rolling, exclusive footage, and sky-high ratings.
0:13Paul Hunter:But how was he always in the right place at the perfect time?
0:17Katie Simpson:Was his inside information more inside than he wanted to let on? I'm Kathleen Goldhar, and this week on Crime Story, we dig into the story of Wallace Souza's killer ratings. Find us wherever you get your podcasts. This is a CBC Podcast. Paul, Willie, if you were to take a guess,
0:40Paul Hunter:what would you say or who would you say is the number one attraction anywhere in the world? Paul, you go first.
0:46Willy Lowry:In the world? Well, Canadian, obviously. So I would say either Drake, The Weeknd, or Willie Lowry.
0:53Katie Simpson:Willie? Paul, I was going to say you were Katie. But if we're talking about attraction, I was going to maybe say, I don't know, the pyramids of Giza. But that just might be, you know, because of my current location in Jerusalem and my, you know, interest in the Middle East. So I might be a little biased on that one.
1:13Paul Hunter:OK, so over the weekend, Donald Trump wrote on True Social that he is, quote, the number one attraction anywhere in the world. The man who gets a much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime. And he does so without a guitar.
1:28Willy Lowry:Without a guitar. Yeah, it looks like Trump may now be headlining the Freedom 250 concerts that will be held here in Washington starting later this month. That's because performer after performer has withdrawn from the concert series.
1:42Katie Simpson:Yeah, as of today, guys, that's today, Tuesday, Martina McBride, Millie Vanilli, Young MC, Brett Michaels, and a soul fund group called the Commodores have all canceled their appearances. I'm just going to interject here quickly. I don't know who most of those people are, but that might be a me thing. Fully aware of that. What are you, 12 years old? Some of them are citing concerns that this event has been politicized.
2:12Paul Hunter:Well, performers are bailing on the big party. That's just one thing that's going on here in Washington. In many ways, this 250th anniversary, it's like holding up a mirror to America, revealing the tensions in politics of the moment and how they're sort of taking over almost all aspects of life here in America. So today we are asking, how do you have a birthday party if no one's in the mood to celebrate? I'm Katie Simpson.
2:40Willy Lowry:I'm Willie Lowry. And I'm Paul Hunter. We're CBC's Washington Correspondents, two blocks from the UFC ring being built behind the White House.
2:56Paul Hunter:now paul conservative commentator scott jennings told cnn that critics of the 250th plans for america's 250th birthday people who are critics they are quote fun haters and quote fun vacuums who don't love america as much as donald trump um is is that what's going on here paul or or You know, why are people so concerned?
3:19Willy Lowry:Do I get to explain this? You sure do. I'm so glad it lands on my desk today. Look, I mean, this is the whole holding a mirror to America thing that you were talking about a second ago, Katie. Because how you feel about it, how Americans feel about all of this depends which side you're on, you know, which team you're on, which is the way politics here feels these days. Like two things off the top to just to underline. There's America 250, and that is the congressionally approved national celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the signing of Declaration of Independence. And then there is Freedom 250, and that is a series of concerts that we referenced there, which is led sort of organized by a group started by Trump, led by a Trump appointee with some suggestion that if you make donations, you're going to get access to Trump.
4:21Willy Lowry:It's all very – the vibe of Freedom 250 is that it is political. It feels political. It feels associated with Trump. It is not America 250. It is Freedom 250. And as a result, all these performers that Willie is big fans of, they have pulled out. Big fans, big fans. Because they have said they do not want to be part of something that is political, that the celebration of the 250th anniversary of America is not a political thing. It's an American thing, and they don't want any part of it. It's weird. The divide is so stark. You really do have people who are going to oppose this kind of thing and this branding of Trump's name on everything to do with America 250, with the Freedom 250, and there are going to be people who despise Trump and everything he stands for because of that, and there are going to be an X percentage of the country that just says, Yeah, I love it.
5:19Katie Simpson:But also, you know, 250, it's a big deal. Yes. It's a big number. I mean, listen, I remember, I can't believe it's almost 10 years ago now, but Canada won 50 celebrations, obviously on a kind of Canadian scale compared to what we're seeing or what we will see play out. But these are all big milestones and democracies and the US in particular, these are imperfect unions, but they – at the same time, there is reason to celebrate. As the US will often say, it is the world's oldest democracy. Yeah, but you know what?
5:58Willy Lowry:So in 2017, I went to Ottawa specifically because of the Canada 150.
6:07Paul Hunter:So patriotic. Well, thank you.
6:10Willy Lowry:I felt patriotic, though, because it is. Count of 150 was a big deal. Because they matter. America 250 is a big deal. They do. It is a big deal. And it ought to be celebratory, right? And the expectation is that it be celebratory and that politics not be a part of it. But you know what happened at Count of 150? Why did my voice go up? And I have an octave there. I'm not sure why. You're heated, Paul. You're heated. I'm heated now. Because, you know, it was Justin Trudeau was prime minister at the time. And on stage, on Parliament Hill, walks Bono. And spoiler alert, it got political. Bono starts going on about how this and Trump was six months, Trump 1.0.
6:45Willy Lowry:We were six months in at the time. It was summer of 2017. And Bono gets out on stage and he goes.
6:52Katie Simpson:When others build walls, you open doors. When others divide, your arms are open wide. Where you lead, others follow.
7:05Willy Lowry:And by the way, he made his point in English and in French. So again, it depends which side of the ideological divide you're on. People agreed with Bono there and they cheered. It's like, yes, right. Yes, we don't build walls. We open doors. So everything was okay to sort of bring politics into the celebration that was Canada 150. But here, for many millions of Americans who can't stand Trump, right? Now he's politicizing it and that's wrong. And it should be more celebratory. So, again, it's all about, in my view, I'm not defending Trump. Don't, you know, I'm just saying that it depends on the perspective.
7:43Willy Lowry:And the bottom line here, though, is, is that all these performers do not want to be a part of something they deem political at this time.
7:51Paul Hunter:Now, one performer who doesn't think this is political, it is Vanilla Ice. People may remember him from the 90s from Ice, Ice Baby.
8:05Paul Hunter:uh willie uh i don't know i'm actually really how could you not be thinking
8:11Katie Simpson:i was born katie and of course i remember don't get willie going i know continue so he did this
8:18Paul Hunter:interview on cnn defending his decision to to stay i'm ice ice baby i'm go ninja go how can
8:27Katie Simpson:you take this serious this has got to be fun we're just going back to the fanny packs and the crazy neon colors and having fun and enjoying our country that I was born in. I want to celebrate the birthday of my country, and I'm honored to be here and do this. And I think it's a great event.
8:42Paul Hunter:And I think people to put the musicians on a spotlight like they are is not fair to us as musicians on both sides. So in this interview, he revealed he does not vote. He does not see, essentially makes the argument he does not see a role for politics, at least in his music. Other people maybe, but himself, no. And he made the argument that we need to go back to the mentality of the 90s. And it's that right now, the way that social media and computers are making life too stressful for young people and politics. But, you know, I heard him talk like that. And it was just sort of some, it struck me as spoken like someone who's never had to fight to advance rights for themselves or fight to push back against the rollback of rights.
9:33Paul Hunter:Because who doesn't need to get political? People who have their rights and freedoms guaranteed. And, you know, it sort of reminded me of the Mark Carney speech in Davos where he said, nostalgia is not a strategy. So whether Vanilla Ice likes it or not, the world is political. America is political and it's deeply divided. And I don't know if Ice Ice Baby is the anthem to bring everyone back together. Or maybe it is. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I'm just too cynical and we can all get behind Ice Ice Baby. Or maybe Under Pressure by David Bowie and Queen, where he may or may not have borrowed some of that.
10:11Paul Hunter:Early sampling. No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, exactly. So, Willie, as we're having this conversation about the big celebrations that are expected in Washington, you are joining us from Jerusalem today. And you've got this perspective on the country right now from the outside. What do you think about how the rest of the world is looking at America heading into its 250th birthday?
10:33Katie Simpson:Yeah, I don't think they're paying a whole lot of attention to this 250th birthday celebration. What they are paying attention to is American foreign policy. And right now, what does the U.S. have to show for it? You know, this supposed president of peace has started a war with Iran that he seems thus far incapable of ending his early foreign policy achievements, mostly that ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, is incredibly, I would say, under duress. We've seen since I've been here multiple Israeli strikes on Gaza. So, you know, not a whole lot of foreign policy achievements wins for this administration right now from a kind of outsider's perspective.
11:20Paul Hunter:You know, this has been said before by people other than me, but it's almost as if the FIFA Peace Prize means nothing.
11:29Willy Lowry:If I could just throw one more comment from the outside looking in to go north of here. You mentioned Carney a few minutes ago. You know, I'm old enough to remember 1976 and the bicentennial and the celebratoriness of that. And in June of almost exactly 50 years ago, Pierre Trudeau came to Washington to give Canada's gift to America celebrating the bicentennial, which was a photo book called Between Friends, Entre Amis, celebrating the border. And the longest undefended border in the world and all that stuff that we used to applaud. And here we are 50 years later. And I suspect Mark Carney is not coming down with a picture book celebrating the relationship between the two countries right now.
12:18Willy Lowry:It's a very different time. And the celebratoriness that I think Canada felt in 1976 and at other times, post 9-11, for example. It's just, it's a different time now.
12:33Paul Hunter:On Monday night, Donald Trump reposted an article about Canada going into a technical recession, and he wrote on the caption, 51st state.
12:43Willy Lowry:So that's where, again, again, it's not gone away.
12:57Katie Simpson:A History of the United States in 100 Objects is a brand new podcast from 99 % Invisible and BBC Studios. Each week, we're looking at a different object from across American history with a unique story to tell about who we've been, what we've built, and what we've allowed ourselves to forget. Some of these objects are well known. Many are not. But all of them carry the story of how we got to this moment. Find a history of the United States and 100 objects on the 99 % Invisible feed wherever you get your podcasts.
13:28Willy Lowry:Katie, a few weeks ago, we were talking about how Washington, D.C., as a city, has changed in Trump's second term. And now we've got the 250th that we've been talking about. But when you walk around Washington, what do you see that's different in the lead up to the big day coming up July 4th?
13:45Paul Hunter:So this is such an Ontario reference. But any time you sort of walk near the White House where there has been massive construction underway, there is this huge sort of structure that reminds me of Canada's Wonderland. If you've ever driven by Canada's Wonderland north of Toronto, this big amusement park, you see these sort of like huge structures that are roller coaster tracks, obviously. And when you go near the White House, there's this huge structure that's being built to host a UFC fight on Donald Trump's birthday on the south lawn of the White House. And when you sort of see it, it sort of looks like this big, it's this big hulking sort of structure, this cylinder that looks like an amusement park roller coaster track.
14:29Paul Hunter:That's at least what it looks to me.
Read the full transcript
14:31Willy Lowry:I just want to throw one thing just on the way Washington looks, just because we were talking about a couple of weeks ago from the Department of Win Some, Lose Some. The Trump name is coming off the Kennedy Center. I don't know if they're actually physically pulling it off right now, but that has that we were talking about a couple of weeks ago and has now been, I guess, reversed.
14:51Paul Hunter:Willie, the 4th of July is so intertwined with American military patriotism, yet, you know, three months into this war, the U.S. and Israel's attacks on Iran. Public opinions show that support for this war, it's not very strong among the public. You know, could that, do you think, have any sort of impact on the celebrations, you know? And what is this sort of conflict in this moment, this war revealing about the U.S. in this moment?
15:46Katie Simpson:Yeah, absolutely. a bit of symmetry with the fact that this is a nation born out of war, and 250 years later, it remains at war, obviously a different war. But, you know, it is undeniable that this country has a pugilistic history. Whether those wars often, you know, in the name of freedom or not, it has a long military track record.
16:14Willy Lowry:I would just note that back to 1976, and the bicentennial, the Vietnam War had just ended. Nixon had just, relatively speaking, just left office, which I think contributed then to, you know, there was a rebirth or a restart, I guess, to American politics at that time, or at least a transition time. And that may well have contributed to the sort of celebratory nature of 1976. So again, to your point, Willie, if Trump can somehow get to the end line with the Iran war, that may well change the vibe July 4th, 2026.
16:48Paul Hunter:One thing I want to say, though, I wonder if Americans can afford to come to D.C. Like if you're driving from out of town and gas prices are still close to five bucks a gallon in this area, if you're thinking about that road trip and it's just far more expensive, if you're thinking about flying here, airline tickets are so expensive. And in this moment where gas prices are incredibly high, where plane tickets are incredibly high, where the headlining musical acts are not like, hop on a, like, man, I can't wait to go see Simon and Garfunkel in Central Park, or I can't wait to go see Lady Gaga on the steps of the Capitol.
17:21Paul Hunter:Or like, name me a band that people would travel for. That's not these headlines. Again, I don't think America is uniting behind Vanilla Ice. I don't know why I have such a hate for Vanilla Ice. I don't know. I am going to get hate mail from the Vanilla Ice fan club. And I honestly, like, that's okay. That's okay.
17:39Willy Lowry:And yet you love the UFC fight. Your front row tickets, is that what's going on?
17:42Paul Hunter:I have accreditation to go to the UFC fight, so I got my credentials approved. So essentially, on Trump's birthday, which is in the lead up to the 4th of July, it's June 14th. I believe it's a Sunday. It's June 14th. And it is going to be this massive spectacle on the South Lawn. This one is controversial, but for different reasons. The UFC is picking up the tab on this. This is not a taxpayer-funded thing. At least that's what we understand at this point. That's what the UFC has said on the record. They're expecting just over 4 ,000 people on the south lawn for this massive fight in an octagon.
18:21Paul Hunter:And that big thing that looks like a roller coaster track that I talked about, it's this massive lighting. It's a lighting grid.
18:29Willy Lowry:You can see it from the other side of the White House. It's so big.
18:31Paul Hunter:Yes. Yes. And so it's this massive thing. And it's a really high tech lighting grid so that when this goes on that Sunday, rain or shine, they can do it. The only thing that will prevent it from happening is lightning. And they might have to move the show up by two hours or they might delay it by two hours. But anyway, this thing is a go. And of course, this is a nod to the politics that helped get Donald Trump elected.
19:26Paul Hunter:Very MAGA. and getting booed or some other prominent Democrat going into a venue like that and being booed. But Donald Trump is embraced. And so this is a nod to that voter group, to Donald Trump supporters and to this, you know, this event that he likes, this deeply popular, massively American event. But it is controversial in a number of ways, one of which is that members of the military are being invited to attend. So I believe there's like 4 ,300 people who are allowed to go. But members of the military have to pay their own way and they have to meet certain height and physical, the visual check.
20:05Paul Hunter:They got to look good. You know how Donald Trump likes to talk about handsome men and how he likes to be around all of these handsome guys and military guys and that kind of thing.
20:14Willy Lowry:Pete takes it.
20:15Paul Hunter:There you go. And so you got to look the part. You got to be central casting. And so that's that's there's been some reporting around that. And that, of course, is controversial. But some people don't like UFC fighting because it's so violent. But a lot of Americans do. It is a very popular, very wealthy sport. So people are into it. And so I work on Sunday. So that is my shift to cover. So I'm going to see some super interesting things. So at this point in our wonderful conversation, gentlemen, you know, do you think it is, you know, a possibility to celebrate 250 years of America's independence in this moment?
20:57Paul Hunter:And are people going to feel like celebrating? Paul, you go first.
21:04Willy Lowry:I think the bottom line here is that will be a sour taste in the mouths of a lot of Americans in a year and a date in which theoretically all of this should have been able to have been put aside. I think it's a reminder that politics has become very messy in this country, and it's a reminder that elections matter and votings matter. But the bottom line is I think it's going to be a very unusual July 4th.
21:35Katie Simpson:Willie? Yeah, I have to agree with what Paul said. I think, as I said earlier, 250 is a big number, but the divisiveness of the current political landscape and, quite frankly, of the president who resides in the Oval Office makes this, you know, a kind of very strange vibe, a strange July 4th and a strange birthday, I think. A strange semi-quincentennial.
22:05Paul Hunter:I think that what we've seen in this moment and nothing in this moment, I think, should surprise anyone. I think that this is holding a mirror up to America. And this is the state of this moment. You have part of the population that fears for the future or the current state of democracy in America. and then you have people that absolutely love it and think that for the first time in a long time that the country's headed in the right track. There are people. Exactly. And of course we're having this moment where people can't figure out whether they want to celebrate or want to protest or whatever it is.
22:43Paul Hunter:This is a mirror moment for America and I think it's absolutely reflective and expected and an appropriate example of, you know, what is making, what is happening in this country right now.
22:59Willy Lowry:Of this country at this moment. Yeah. I agree.
23:01Paul Hunter:So we will, from our bureau here, two blocks from the White House, we, of course, will be keeping an eye on the 250th plans as the 4th of July approaches. And before we sign off today, we have a nice question from Justin Margolis, who says he used to live in Washington and he misses all the free museums. So in D.C., the Smithsonian museums, There's quite a few of them. I believe it's 17 of them. And they're free to the public because, you know, in America, they want to educate kids and get families to come to D.C. and make sure that they know the story of America. We can talk about that. There's a bit of controversy around that in this moment.
23:40Paul Hunter:But Justin says his favorite museum is the National Portrait Gallery. And he asks us, which Smithsonian museum is your favorite? Willie, you go first.
23:51Katie Simpson:Oh, me first. So I am the son and brother of two art historians. I'm not much of a museum goer, though. So I'm going to go with the zoo. The Smithsonian Zoo. I love the zoo. I went and saw the baby elephant, by the way. It is free, and it's a great time. We go with the kids. They love it. It's a big hill. You don't think of that as a Smithsonian. And right in the city.
24:21Paul Hunter:Paul, what do you say?
24:23Willy Lowry:I love the portrait gallery as well. I love the president's wing. I love the Clinton portrait by Chuck Close. I love Norman Rockwell's Nixon. The look on Nixon's face in his portrait is from 1968. Nixon's just saying, I'm finally president. It's like, who knows what's to come at that point. But I love the portrait gallery. I love the architecture of the National Museum of the American Indian, designed by Canada's Douglas Cardinal. Pro tip, best food on the National Mall is in the cafeteria at that museum. which echoes the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, which was also designed by Cardinal.
24:58Willy Lowry:But here's the thing. A non-Smithsonian just north of the city in a place called Sandy Spring has the Slave Museum. And it is like the African-American Museum, only smaller and more intimate. And they have like leg shackles that you can touch.
25:16Paul Hunter:Oh, wow.
25:16Willy Lowry:A KKK outfit. I spoke to the curator who said, I said, why isn't it all behind plexiglass? She said, because we want people to touch it, to feel the evil, dark provenance of these things. But the best part of it is the last room has these photos of all these people. And I saw it said Hamilton, Ontario. And I said, what's going on there? And the museum is on the path of the Underground Railroad. And they have these events every couple of years where all the descendants of those who migrated up to Canada come down to Maryland and vice versa. And so there's this crowd of people from Hamilton that had made their way through where this museum stands.
25:56Willy Lowry:It's amazing. I've always wanted to explore on that. It was fantastic. And it's, to go back to the theme of the day, it's very counterintuitively perhaps, but very celebratory room at the end of this sobering place, the Slave Museum just north of D.C.
26:12Paul Hunter:Wow. Okay. So I wish I'd gone first because I don't really have anything to say after that. But I was going to give some snarky answer about how, like, I don't really like to go to the museums because I just, but I'll give one. A great place to take family and friends to. By the way, I took my parents to the zoo, Willie, when they came to visit. We went and saw the baby elephant, went and saw the pandas. It was great. Yeah, it's great. It's great. Is Ford's Theater. It's maybe four blocks from the White House. Yeah, it's two blocks from two blocks. It is. It is. It is. So you go into the museum and it's sort of small and it has it sort of tells the history of Washington, D.C.
26:56Paul Hunter:during the time of Lincoln and what was going on in the Civil War and the building of Washington, all that kind of thing. And then you go into the actual theater where Lincoln was shot and you go and you sit there. There have been some renovations, but the booth itself where he was sitting is still largely sort of intact. And someone from the Parks Department sits up on the stage and they don't reenact it. They're very specific about it. They don't reenact it, but they talk about what happened that night. And sort of you have the opportunity to go see the booth or the area up close. And it is absolutely fascinating.
27:27Paul Hunter:And then you can go across the street up to what was a rooming house at the time where Lincoln died. And it's super interesting to realize that it's not even that many years ago that that incredible thing happened. Paul, like, I just feel like you're very serious and deep answer, like, made, forced me to be authentic. How dare you?
27:49Katie Simpson:Well, I feel like I underperformed with the zoo here, guys.
27:54Willy Lowry:Thanks to Justin for sending us that question. Who knew the conversation that would ensue from it? That was a good one, Justin.
28:00Paul Hunter:Thank you, Justin. If you have something you'd like to ask us or feedback about what you're hearing, you can send an email to WashingtonPod, that's all one word, at cbc.ca. That is WashingtonPod at CBC.ca. If you are a Vanilla Ice or a Vanilla Ice fan, you can just send it directly to me at Katie.Simpson at CBC.ca. Or you can leave us a comment on Spotify.
28:23Katie Simpson:And if you like what you're hearing, spread the word. Tell a friend about us and follow us on your favorite podcasting app so you never miss an episode.
28:32Paul Hunter:Okay. Thank you, you too. Willie, please stay safe.
28:35Willy Lowry:See you too. Hey, sorry about the Habs, Willie.
28:37Katie Simpson:Sorry about the Habs. Yes. Thanks for reminding me, Paul. Let's see you next time.
28:48Katie Simpson:The music excerpt in this episode was Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice, from the album To The Extreme, released by SBK Records.
29:01Katie Simpson:For more CBC Podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.
From the publisher
It’s the 250th anniversary of America’s independence, and so far planned celebrations range from a UFC fight at the White House to a concert series featuring 90s rapper Vanilla Ice. But with musical acts dropping out citing polarization, tension over the ongoing Iran war and sky-high gas prices, Washington correspondents Katie Simpson, Paul Hunter and Willy Lowry ask: How do you have a birthday party if no one’s in the mood to celebrate?
