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Searching for America with Robyn Curnow

Searching for America with Robyn Curnow

By: Robyn Curnow Bleav
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About this listen

A podcast about American culture, identity, and everyday life — seen through the eyes of an outsider. A South African foreign correspondent — who spent 20 years covering conflicts and change around the world, interviewing Mandela and presidents, and winning awards — moved to suburban Atlanta, looked around, and started taking notes. Searching for America is what she found. It's part cultural anthropology, part love letter, part field guide. If David Attenborough narrated suburban America — observing the rituals of the tailgate, the mating display of the sororities, the great seasonal migration to Costco — it would sound something like this. Except she's South African, she lives in it, and she's not whispering from behind a bush. She's in the drive-through line, observing and listening. New episodes every week. Subscribe now.2025 Robyn Curnow Political Science Politics & Government Social Sciences
Episodes
  • I Don't Want My Daughters to be Plumbers
    Mar 24 2026

    What's causing anxiety in America right now? No, it's not Iran, Trump or Gavin Newsom's hair. It's what Andrew Yang calls "The Fuckening." As a mother of two daughters choosing their courses right now, I'm standing in the middle of it — holding a course catalogue, trying to figure out what my teenage daughters should study in an age of AI.

    Anthropic's latest research says the most AI-exposed jobs are programmers, analysts, and customer service reps. The safest? Bartenders and dishwashers. For the first time in modern history, the safest place is not at a desk.

    So what do you tell your kids to study? In this episode, I take an AI course at Georgia Tech, revisit Aristotle, remember my father's hands — and land on an answer that surprised me: in a world of infinite answers, taste and judgment become the scarce resources. We're not educating our kids for subjects anymore. We're educating them for judgment.

    Listen on Youtube http://youtube.com/@therobyncurnow

    Free newsletter http://robyncurnow.substack.com

    http://instagram.com/robyncurnow

    http://x.com/robyncurnow

    more about Robyn http://robycurnow.net

    • Got a great idea for an episode? Drop Robyn a message here with the subject line PODCAST IDEA
      Subscribe to Robyn's Substack.
    • Visit her website here.
    • To book Robyn to speak at your event, get in touch here.

    More about Robyn's public speaking
    Robyn Curnow is a sought-after public speaker on what it takes to create positive leadership in complicated times. As a South African now living in the American South, Robyn is determined to bring a hopeful and light-hearted tone to all conversations.

    She reflects on her interviews with U.S. Presidents Bush, Clinton and Carter and First Lady Michelle Obama. She has impactful stories of working alongside Nobel Peace Prize Lauretes Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu

    She has delivered talks and hosted events around the Blue Economy in the Principality of Monaco where she introduced Prince Albert of Monaco and Prince William, Prince of Wales and French President Emmanuel Macron, the Lincoln Centre in New York, the Science Museum in London, the Swedish Royal Palace in Stockholm, the YPO annual conference in Cape Town, the United Nations, a Haaretz newspaper panel in Jerusalem, the Nantucket Yacht club and many more.

    She has recently worked with Prince Albert II Foundation in Monaco and Philadelphia, the Swedish royal family in Stockholm, Made by Dyslexia in London, the Red Cross of Georgia in Atlanta alongside Delta Airlines.


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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    9 mins
  • Why Some Americans Think AI is the Devil
    Mar 16 2026

    Artificial intelligence may be the most powerful technology humans have ever built - but many Americans don’t trust it.

    After taking an AI course at Georgia Institute of Technology, Robyn Curnow explores why voters across the political spectrum are uneasy about AI, from job fears to electricity-hungry data centers.

    From a conversation with an HVAC technician who believes the “devil’s number” is hidden inside computer chips to a classroom discussion about white-collar job disruption, this episode explores the deeper anxieties shaping America’s response to artificial intelligence.

    And the political landmines that will determine who triumphs at the ballot box in this year's midterms.

    Join the Searching for America community and a free weekly newsletter. HERE http://robyncurnow.substack.com

    WATCH ON YOUTUBE

    http://www.youtube.com/@therobyncurnow

    More about Robyn

    http://www.robyncurnow.net

    http://www.instagram.com/robyncurnow

    http://x.com/robyncurnow

    • Got a great idea for an episode? Drop Robyn a message here with the subject line PODCAST IDEA
      Subscribe to Robyn's Substack.
    • Visit her website here.
    • To book Robyn to speak at your event, get in touch here.

    More about Robyn's public speaking
    Robyn Curnow is a sought-after public speaker on what it takes to create positive leadership in complicated times. As a South African now living in the American South, Robyn is determined to bring a hopeful and light-hearted tone to all conversations.

    She reflects on her interviews with U.S. Presidents Bush, Clinton and Carter and First Lady Michelle Obama. She has impactful stories of working alongside Nobel Peace Prize Lauretes Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu

    She has delivered talks and hosted events around the Blue Economy in the Principality of Monaco where she introduced Prince Albert of Monaco and Prince William, Prince of Wales and French President Emmanuel Macron, the Lincoln Centre in New York, the Science Museum in London, the Swedish Royal Palace in Stockholm, the YPO annual conference in Cape Town, the United Nations, a Haaretz newspaper panel in Jerusalem, the Nantucket Yacht club and many more.

    She has recently worked with Prince Albert II Foundation in Monaco and Philadelphia, the Swedish royal family in Stockholm, Made by Dyslexia in London, the Red Cross of Georgia in Atlanta alongside Delta Airlines.


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Show More Show Less
    9 mins
  • "Bless Your Heart" - The South's Sweetest Insult
    Mar 9 2026

    In the American South, an insult doesn’t always sound like an insult.

    Sometimes it sounds polite. "I"ll pray for you."
    Sometimes it sounds sympathetic. "You sweet thing."
    And sometimes it sounds like three very gentle words:

    “Bless your heart.”

    In this episode of Searching for America, Robyn Curnow explores one of the South’s most fascinating cultural phrases - a sentence that can express genuine kindness or deliver a devastatingly polite takedown.

    From small towns in Mississippi to suburban Atlanta, Southern language has evolved its own code of diplomacy. Criticism is rarely shouted. Instead, it’s softened, wrapped in manners, and delivered with a smile.

    Because in the South, people often say exactly what they mean.

    They just say it… politely.

    Three little words.

    Bless Your Heart

    SIGN UP FOR ROBYN'S FREE BLOG ON SUBSTACK

    http://robyncurnow.substack.com

    Watch on Youtube

    http://youtube.com/@therobyncurnow

    http://www.instagram.com/robyncurnow

    http://www.x.com/robyncurnow

    Contact Robyn Curnow

    http://www.robyncurnow.net

    • Got a great idea for an episode? Drop Robyn a message here with the subject line PODCAST IDEA
      Subscribe to Robyn's Substack.
    • Visit her website here.
    • To book Robyn to speak at your event, get in touch here.

    More about Robyn's public speaking
    Robyn Curnow is a sought-after public speaker on what it takes to create positive leadership in complicated times. As a South African now living in the American South, Robyn is determined to bring a hopeful and light-hearted tone to all conversations.

    She reflects on her interviews with U.S. Presidents Bush, Clinton and Carter and First Lady Michelle Obama. She has impactful stories of working alongside Nobel Peace Prize Lauretes Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu

    She has delivered talks and hosted events around the Blue Economy in the Principality of Monaco where she introduced Prince Albert of Monaco and Prince William, Prince of Wales and French President Emmanuel Macron, the Lincoln Centre in New York, the Science Museum in London, the Swedish Royal Palace in Stockholm, the YPO annual conference in Cape Town, the United Nations, a Haaretz newspaper panel in Jerusalem, the Nantucket Yacht club and many more.

    She has recently worked with Prince Albert II Foundation in Monaco and Philadelphia, the Swedish royal family in Stockholm, Made by Dyslexia in London, the Red Cross of Georgia in Atlanta alongside Delta Airlines.


    Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Show More Show Less
    8 mins
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