S3 Ep. 3 The Broken Heart of America ft. Walter Johnson

ArchCity Defenders and Action St. Louis present the premiere collaborative podcast, "Under The Arch." Your hosts Blake Strode, Executive Director of ArchCity Defenders, and Kayla Reed, Director of Action St. Louis, explore the issues facing our community and the people working to transform them.

Our next episode features a special conversation with author and professor Walter Johnson discussing his book "The Broken Heart of America: St. Louis and the Violent History of the United States," which was published in 2020. In this highly acclaimed book, Johnson challenges readers to think analytically about racial capitalism by joining the history of the US Empire to the history of anti-Black racism, suggesting that St. Louis's own anti-Black racial history is influenced by the extermination and removal of Native American populations.

Join the conversation around this week's episode using #UnderTheArch and send us your feedback at underthearchpod@gmail.com. This week's Music Minute features the song "Today" by Scott Hewitt. Stream the full song at unitedmasters.com/m/Scott-Hewitt-Today and find more of Scott Hewitt's music on your favorite streaming platform. Know a local artist who'd like to feature their song in our Music Minute segment? Email us with subject "Music Minute".

Chapters

• 0:16 Introduction
• 6:54 How did Walter began writing the book?
• 11:53 What is the underlying story of the book?
• 17:42 The design of racism built into St. Louis.
• 24:33 How did the stages removalism manifest?
• 36:10 The removal of information as a tool.
• 42:17 Music Minute
• 43:22 Segment 2
• 46:29 The history of political radicalism in St. Louis
• 54:19 The convergence of activist organizations
• 1:03:24 BS Word of Curse
• 1:05:20 The uncanny connections between history and structures
• 1:11:49 Learning to listen, to be present
• 1:13:42 Wrap up with Walter Johnson
• 1:17:19 Start of Post-Interview Wrap