America250 - Part 2: The Chaos, Change & Legacy of the 2020s

**Sharon McMahon** (0:00)
We don't get to choose the reality that we've inherited from the people who have come before us, but we do get to choose what the future will inherit from us.

**Erica Mandy** (0:14)
Today is Thursday, July 2nd, and instead of our regular news roundup today, we're continuing our America250 special series, looking at the past, present and future of America, as the country marks its 250th birthday this weekend. Yesterday, we looked back at what life was really like in 1776 Today, we're asking how will history remember us? What will people 250 years from now think when they look back at the 2020s? There's actually a national time capsule set up to be buried this July 4th, not to be opened until the year 2276
So today, we're doing a version of that exercise, thinking about what belongs inside a time capsule of this moment and what it would say about us. Today's guest is Sharon McMahon, a history and civics educator and the author of two number one New York Times bestsellers, The Small and The Mighty, and it's children's adaptation, We Are Mighty. She also writes the popular daily newsletter, The Preamble. Her work focuses on history, civic engagement, and the power of ordinary people to shape the country. So she's helping us put today's era into context, from the chaos and innovation of the 2020s, to how social media changes our shared reality, to why the country is bigger than any one president or administration. She reminds us that history is not just something that happens to us, it's something we help create.
Sharon McMahon, thank you so much for joining us here on The News Worthy once again.

**Sharon McMahon** (1:34)
I'm so happy to be here. Thanks for having me.

**Erica Mandy** (1:36)
When historians look back on the 2020s, what do you think they'll notice first?

**Sharon McMahon** (1:41)
I have thought about this question so many times, because of course, I'm curious about it. When we look back at, say, the Great Depression, the roaring 20s, what are the predominant features that we are trying to convey to students about, what types of feelings and events best describe and embody that time period? I think one of the overwhelming things that children 50 years from now will learn about the 2020s is chaos. It's going to be chaos.

**Erica Mandy** (2:11)
More so than other times in history?

**Sharon McMahon** (2:14)
Yes, because of the pandemic. The pandemic is really the huge confounding variable. When we look back to say, what we refer to as the Spanish flu pandemic, it's not really the Spanish flu, but the worldwide flu pandemic of 1917, 1918, which killed 50 million people around the world, it was not nearly as well documented as the COVID-19 pandemic was. The pandemic is going to be the backdrop against which all of the other events to the 2020s will be anchored. So not only do we have a lot of political controversy, we also have people who have lost family members, a million Americans who have died, people who are very angry about vaccine requirements or masking in public. I really do think that is going to be one of the predominant themes. But here's my last little caveat. History is shaped by what happens next.
So we don't know exactly how the people who come after us will view the 2020s until more history has elapsed. You know, we look back at World War II now, looking at the horrific tragedies that happened in the Holocaust, what was happening in Japan, what happened in Pearl Harbor. But we ultimately look back on that period in American history through a lens of American contribution, American strength, our ability to help win the war for the Allies, our defense production, and then this post-World War II time period of peace and prosperity for some Americans, not all Americans, but for some Americans in the 1950s. Had things gone differently in the 1950s, we might view the time period of World War II differently.
So how we view the 2020s will depend somewhat on what happens next in American history.

**Erica Mandy** (4:13)
It's such a good point. And so when I'm thinking about that, obviously we can't know for sure what they'll think. But there is actually a national time capsule that has been sealed, and it's going to be buried on July 4th. From your perspective, what are a few things that you would want to go into that time capsule to help future Americans understand everyday life in the 2020s when they open it 250 years from now?

**Sharon McMahon** (4:37)
I would definitely have some screenshots of social media content.
Because Instagram and Facebook, Twitter, those things are not going to exist 200 years from now in the form that they exist today. Just like when we look back at old movies, we're like, what is happening? As technology continues to progress, people will be very fascinated by early social media. So I would definitely want some kind of documentation of what the average American was viewing on social media during this time period, because we were spending so much time on it.