Iconic America

"We, as Americans, have the power, and the ability, and the talent to create marvels in this world and the ingenuity to do it. So, I think about, what's the Golden Gate Bridge of the future? What new technology or new ways of seeing, or doing, or being can help us advance from one place to the next?"

- Katherine Toy, Deputy Secretary for Access at California Natural Resources Agency.

The Golden Gate bridge is an engineering marvel that symbolizes America’s can-do spirit. Can America continue to execute bold and ambitious infrastructure projects in the 21st century?

Historically, freeway development in the U.S. was often made without adequate consideration of the social and environmental consequences on BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities. This has caused systemic inequalities in BIPOC communities and contributed to significant and long-lasting negative impacts including displacement, economic disinvestment and health disparities.

From its unprecedented length (for a suspension bridge), to enormous geological and financial hurdles, the plan to construct the Golden Gate Bridge was met with scores of naysayers.

“I don’t see the carving being removed… I don’t see pleasing everybody because you’re not going to please everybody. I’d rather be agitating on the inside than be on the outside looking in."

- Rev. Abraham Mosely, Chairman of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, discusses plans for the future that he hopes will alleviate some of the controversy surrounding the Confederate monument.

Gloria Brown tells David Rubenstein about the hope and disappointment she experienced in the immediate aftermath of desegregation.

Should Confederate leaders remain on places like Stone Mountain, or should they be erased? As Confederate statues are torn down across the country and the nation wrestles with its past, David Rubenstein looks at the origin, the impact and the future of Stone Mountain Georgia's problematic monument to the Civil War.

"It's a very scary thing to live in a space that is whispering to you, 'You don't belong. You're not authorized.' There are forces that will roughly remind you of what you can and can't do."

U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith discusses the possible psychological toll on Black people living in the shadow of a Confederate monument like Stone Mountain.

This clip takes a look at The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the pivotal role that they played in memorializing Confederate soldiers. This organization, originally comprising female relatives of Civil War soldiers who fought for The South, was instrumental in propagandizing the war and reframing its origins by coining phrases such as “The War of Northern aggression.”

“In order to believe that the Confederacy and these Confederates were noble, you have to have this myth of victimization of white Southerners that they are the real victims during the Civil War... And any effort to redeem them ought to be considered heroic.”
– History Professor Hasan Jeffries explaining how attempts to reframe the causes of the Civil War gained traction in The South.

An American Bald Eagle's nest, also known as an eyrie, is an awe-inspiring structure that reflects the grandeur and strength of these majestic birds. Typically located in tall trees near bodies of water, the nest is an expansive platform constructed with meticulous care and precision. In this clip, David Rubenstein is show a Bald Eagle's nest that is estimated to weigh around 1000 pounds.

David Rubenstein talks to Peter Nye, an esteemed eagle biologist, retired from the Department of Environmental Conservation in New York. Nye gained national recognition for his expertise in eagle research, and he developed a technique called hacking which played a pivotal role in reviving the bald eagle population following a drastic decline caused by the pesticide DDT.