4th of July Episode Genizus Podcast

"In this special 250th Anniversary episode, Jon the Boomer and Julia the Boomer Producer take a trip down memory lane to 1976 — the last time America threw itself a really big birthday party. They share memories of a simpler, more innocent time, then fast forward to where America stands today at 250 years old. The two go head-to-head with Independence Day trivia to see how much they really know about the holiday they've been celebrating their whole lives, and close out with a man-on-the-street segment putting everyday Americans to the test. How much do we really know about the country we love?"

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

Welcome to Jim and Zusk Podcast, where we dive into the dynamic world generational conversation with your host John the Baby Boomer, along with Jessica the Millennial, and Joey the Gem B.

SPEAKER_03 0:20

Hello everybody, this is um 250th anniversary special.

SPEAKER_04 0:44

Hello, this is Genesis Us Podcast. We have a very special episode for you. Over the weekend, we did uh Man on the Street. We went out, we asked people trivia questions. It was a lot of fun. Um unfortunately, we didn't get a lot of traffic. We were in a location where I thought it was going to be a lot of traffic, but uh there wasn't. Uh it was in Plainfield, Illinois, in the heartland of America, and we thought we'd get uh uh to see what Americans uh thought of the 250th, but also uh asked them trivia questions about America, how much they knew about American history. It was pretty funny. Uh some of them were really good, some of them were really not good. Uh, but today's special is really kind of intertwined with uh what we did over the weekend and also talk about uh the 250th anniversary of our nation's birthday. But um I've got Julia, the producer, uh, with me today. Uh our cast of cohorts are not with me today. They are off doing other things, you know, being that it's uh close to the 4th of July, they've got a lot of things going on, and they'll join us. Some of us, uh some of them will join us next week for uh next episode. So, but today we are gonna talk about the 4th of July, 250th anniversary. We're kind of gonna go back in nostalgia and talk about uh what happened 200. All right, so 50 years ago. Some of us were around as a boomer. I definitely was around. Uh so uh Julia, who um also was around. We are both boomers, so we're gonna talk about uh our memories of the 200th birthday celebration, and also we're gonna talk about where America is going, what what's going on, what what was the contrast between back then and today? So let's start with uh Julia. Julia, our producer. What do you remember of the 200th bicentennial?

SPEAKER_05 2:44

The 1976. That year, I was only about 12 years old. And for the 4th of July, my family would typically, we didn't have like the we lived in a city, the core, the heart of the city. So we did not, we lived in an apartment, we did not have a backyard to have our own little barbecues. So what we would do is we would go to a local park, a public park, and we would have picnics uh for the holidays, uh for the warm holidays. For for 1776, we went to Soldier Field. Soldier Field used to the old Soldier Field, um, used to host and blow off fireworks before they started doing them over the lakefront. And I remember being on the outside of the building. We picnicked like by the museum grass uh that is adjacent to Soldier Field. And I remember seeing the fireworks there, and I thought it was so cool because you were like in the heart of them blowing up the the where you can actually smell the smoke. You saw some of the debris coming down, and we thought it was the coolest thing because we were right underneath of the falling stars. Um, everything was flags and patriotic um motifs and clothing, wore the red, white, and blues. We always had our little flags. We we celebrated it to the core. I mean, you know, we of course we made our own traditional food, but we still had our hamburgers and our hot dogs and um, you know, very patriotic um celebrating it. And it was just so fun being there by Soldier Field um and and having a picnic with the family. We would take the neighborhood kids with us if their families weren't planning anything. So we would have a pretty big, you know, 10 to 16 people group at times.

SPEAKER_04 4:39

Yeah, you know, our our 4th of July, we were out in suburbs, uh opposed to what you did. We were uh the whole family, it was only uh obviously nine of us, and we were small. Uh I was 15, 14, 15, I think that age. And my sister, my older sister Beatrice, which is no longer she's no longer with us, um, she was I think 16 or 17. A year later, in 1977, is when Elvis died. So I kind of remember the whole the those two, three years. 76, I was in military school, and that summer came home, and uh it was it was chaotic, but it was a lot of fun because we had just moved in to a new house, and we ended up going to um we we lived in Glen Ellen, that was our new uh new house. So we were kind of experimenting, kind of going into the city or the town and checking it out. So that particular summer, we went into Glen Allen, they had a big park and we celebrated, we picnicked. Um we didn't we didn't um really kind of picnic, we actually went to um a place that was selling hamburgers and hot dogs for like 25 cents. I mean, when's the last time you bought a burger for 25 cents, right? And even back then, they were a little bit more expensive, but they were doing a special for uh the bicentennial. Now, the bicentennial, uh from what I remember, was special. It was it was really kind of cool because you know, many people uh obviously they weren't around during the revolution, but it it was or the declaration, but it was a time of celebration. Everybody thought it was uh a feat for American history and America itself. So it was it was really kind of special.

SPEAKER_05 6:25

And uh a special time in history, right?

SPEAKER_04 6:28

Right, right. And um you know, even the government and all that made a big deal about it, the bicentennial. It was cool. That that uh special quarters. The what?

SPEAKER_05 6:38

They had special quarters.

SPEAKER_04 6:39

Oh, that's right. They had special, yeah, that's right. They did the they had the special quarters, the bicentennial. And it was a special time. I really thought this year, and we'll go we'll go into it a little later, but this year it's a little different, you know, being the semicientennial. Uh, I think that's what it is, right? Oh no, it's semi-quincentennial.

SPEAKER_05 7:00

It's it's quincenar.

SPEAKER_04 7:01

Yeah, it's a quincenita. Yeah, so we'll we'll throw a Hispanic thing in there. But but yeah, so it was um it was a different time, and um, I I just remember having the greatest time that, you know, as a kid, just celebrating America and all the parades, the fireworks, like you were talking about at Soldier Field. I really remember a year where we went there and celebrated um the 4th of July. I think that's when we lived in in Villa Park. And it was it was a lot of fun to go to Soldier Field. But I remember it wasn't as hectic. If you went there today, it's hectic. It's it's hard to get in, hard to get out. I mean, that's one of the biggest gripes about Soldier Field. That's why they want to move. So um, but yeah, so it was it was a lot of fun. It uh it just made me feel like family was so together and the bicentennial, made us all feel like we were all one nation under God, under everything that we were going through. And and back then there was a lot of um upheaval because of we had just gone, I think, through Watergate, and there was a lot of uh government um anarchy and stuff like that going on. In fact, I mean, even today that that's the case. There's a lot of stuff going on today, and again, we'll cover that a little later, but um the government was you know trying to get into the bicentennial with all sorts of parades and all sorts of events going on throughout the nation, specials throughout the activity. Right, and you know, there was like like I said, it was a special food thing, whatever. There was like a restaurant that was giving away burgers and hot dogs, 25 cents. And it was just like I still remember that. And those burgers, for whatever reason, were so good. I can still remember that 50 years later. You know, now obviously we don't have uh some of our family members with us, they're not gonna celebrate because they're they passed on. Um, and I think that's the the hardest part of living this long is um you know missing celebrating another milestone without them. Right, right. I mean, 250th anniversary. I feel kind of choked up, but 250th anniversary, not having my mom and dad and my my older sister to celebrate this moment. And even though things have changed, and you know, obviously family's a little thin now, and now it's just um core family, you know, like my daughter and her family and all that. Um it's it's it's difficult to think about that, you know, time has has has gone by and and kind of left a lot of those souls behind. And um and it's sad, it kind of is sad. And to think about here's here's something to think about even worse. 50 years from now, we won't be around.

SPEAKER_05 9:49

Most likely, no. I don't I don't see myself here.

SPEAKER_04 9:52

No, no, I mean, I mean, I I'm I'm 60 some years old right now. I don't see myself living another 50 years.

SPEAKER_05 9:59

Nope.

SPEAKER_04 10:00

You know, I mean, health-wise, I don't think that's gonna happen. I mean, even longevity-wise, it's not gonna happen. So whoever celebrates, and my daughter will hopefully be around, and her kids will be around to celebrate the 300th anniversary of of America, and that'll be a milestone, you know. But as time goes on, I mean, that's part of life. You know, we we you know, we go on and we celebrate uh the milestones, and you know, time passes us by. And that's an unfortunate, and you know, I I kind of feel myself getting all choked up about you know those people that, like I said, have passed on and we're not gonna get to celebrate with them. Um, but you know, it's 250 years of our nation, and we should be very thankful that we have freedoms that allow us to be who we are, what we want to do, uh, what we want to think. You know, obviously there's some chaos going on uh in today's um Oh my god, the world today is so much different than from 1976. It is. It I mean it is, yeah. It it felt like a more innocent time, obviously because I was younger. You know, I was 14, 15 years old. And um today uh the reality of of our government and what's going on with our government is it's pretty hard. You know, it's pretty hard to say, you know, what direction we're gonna go because you know we have a president that uh doesn't think about the people. In fact, he said it he doesn't care about you know inflation, doesn't care about gas, he doesn't care about you know us, basically. You know, in fact he's trying to take away our rights, and the only thing that's kind of stopping him from doing that is is our court system, you know. Uh yesterday It's about time. Yeah, but I mean still it is a Trump-picked uh Supreme Court, and unfortunately, they still make some pretty, you know, dire decisions in favor of Trump, which is sad because But we we need to stay focused and celebrate our democracy and our independence outside of his idiocy.

SPEAKER_03 12:03

Right.

SPEAKER_05 12:04

And remember that we are here to celebrate us, the nation, of our birthday, of this country being here, and he doesn't make or break this country. Hopefully he's not gonna break this country. I think there are a lot of people who are starting to wake up and realize what democracy stands for. We haven't been here 250 years for this, let this man come in and destroy it as he is trying to do, and trying to be an author authoritarian, or how do you say it? Authoritarian. That that thing.

SPEAKER_04 12:35

Or is he like to call the now he's uh their big the Republicans' big thing now is saying that the Democrats are communists. Well, I I got some news for the Republicans, they're more communist than any at any time in our nation.

SPEAKER_05 12:49

Yep, because they want you to to practice religious the way they practice religion. Right religion. They want you to um uh there's they're trying to stop freedom of speech. You can't have a thought, you can't think on your own. They they want a white America, they don't want any other nationality here other than white America. So they are more communistic and trying to control the people and not being there to help the people.

SPEAKER_04 13:16

There was actually a senator or congressman, I don't know who it was, some ding-dong Republican that came out um uh that came out and said that religion um is a part of the constitution. And it's not. There's uh uh separation of church and state, yep, and these uh religious fanatics It's no different in cult leaders. Right. Absolutely. I mean, that's what MAGA is, it's a cult, it really is. It's not it's not anything uh political. It's we want our way because we think that we're white, we're we're better than anybody else, you know, and we are one nation. That's why our forefathers, you know, created the Declaration of Independence uh to get away from a tyrant, uh King George III, uh, that was um imposing his will on uh on America. So one thing that, you know, like what would you think uh the forefathers would think about today?

SPEAKER_05 14:10

Oh, I'm sure they would be um, you know, very upset because those the terms that they put into the Constitution, I believe it's like the Ten Commandments. I believe Trump has already broken at least half of them. Yeah. You know, I mean he's gone through everything and is trying to overturn every item in the Constitution, you know, birthright citizenship. He wants another third term. I mean, so this whole check and balance that the forefathers built into the system, he is abolishing it little by little because he wants to make the choices, he wants to be in control and he wants to no one can override him. He's the president and he's the final say so. He wants to be king. He does not, even the king has a parliament in in England. I mean, so he wants to go above and beyond being a king, he just wants to be a Hitler, right?

SPEAKER_04 15:07

Right, right. Well, and I and I think things have changed since uh the revolutionary times with uh Britain being in charge. It was King George III who basically ruled. There was no parliamentarian, I don't think. He had his staff and he ruled with an iron fist. And he ruled from uh obviously Britain, but he ruled uh us like his servants. So that was the whole idea of the Declaration of Independence. Um, that, you know, we we needed to secede from from King George. And right now we have a situation where we have somebody who is like that, but the forefathers did write some some safeguards in order to make sure that a King George III would not rise. I mean, they are being tested, those safeguards are being tested quite a bit with with Trump, and hopefully the courts will see that um this this tyrant uh authoritarian wannabe Trump is stopped. Um the problem is that he he it's not by it's not a bipartisan um Supreme Court.

SPEAKER_05 16:19

And neither is Congress.

SPEAKER_04 16:20

And neither is Congress. Well, Congress has got Republicans and Democrats, okay? So they they look out for the party's party's ruling. Well, the part the problem with uh Republicans is they don't think about the people, they think about themselves and the special interest groups that they represent. And so they're getting money from um all these different factions to sway decisions their way because let's face it, they just want to make money, they don't give a crap about you know uh health care or gas.

SPEAKER_05 16:50

That's what Trump's doing. He's profiting off of the presidency.

SPEAKER_04 16:52

Right. They said that what he is since he took presidency, the the presidency, uh, the second term, he has made $1.4 billion in cryptocurrency. Now, five years ago, if any president, even longer, if any president would have taken that kind of money, they would have been thrown in jail. They would have been prosecuted and impeached. And I guarantee you that uh reason why Trump is trying to safeguard himself with getting all these pardons, uh, all this the IRS giving him a walk or whatever, because he knows it's coming. He knows that eventually the Democrats will take over or something, someone's gonna have the light bulb moment where they're gonna be like, okay, enough's enough. We gotta, we gotta do something about this this out-of-control president, and um think about the nation. Because he's breaking us right now. Our debt has increased trillions since he took over. Now, he was supposed to bring down cost, he was supposed to bring down gas, groceries, cost of living, affordability. None of that has happened. So right now, it is it is worse than Biden, and it's even worse than his first term. And obviously the polls show that. So that's why um, you know, something has got to happen. And I'm I'm hoping that in November people will see the light and that um he's gonna get his his due because the Republicans need to be ousted from governing because all they govern is for themselves and for their uh diaper wearing Trump.

SPEAKER_05 18:30

There's been 10 presidents. So Gerald Ford was a president 74 to 77, then Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W.

SPEAKER_04 18:45

Bush. But what what's the reference? Ten presidents from what?

SPEAKER_05 18:49

Since 1976.

SPEAKER_04 18:50

Oh, okay. Oh, okay, yeah, right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 18:52

Um, then we had after George W. Bush, Barack Obama, then the Trumpster. They didn't learn their lesson the first time, right? Joy Bo Joe Biden, right, and Donald Trump again now, who is just trying to destroy our democracy and does not represent uh uh the you know the United States as uh a true president should. I mean, we've had previous Republican uh uh presidents. I I can't believe anyone has despised a Republican president as much as they have Trump. Yeah, and I don't believe he is representing a Republican people uh properly. He is out for himself, he wants minions under him, and he's just using them to do his evil bidding.

SPEAKER_04 19:41

That's all it is. Well, this is not the Republican party of uh Reagan or uh Bush.

SPEAKER_05 19:48

Look how he is always with Obama. I love that. Yeah, I know I love that they have such a great friendship because you can have a difference as a party, but you're still um focused on the people, you know. You're you're still there to represent and do the job as the nation and represent them well to to not only to your people but to the world. And he is destroying our reputation, right?

SPEAKER_04 20:14

I mean, uh we're a laughing stock throughout the world. I mean, and anytime that uh Trump goes to the G7 or any world conference, they don't look at him with respect like they look at Obama or even George Bush. George Bush, uh I don't think he was a great president, but he wasn't a horrible president either.

SPEAKER_05 20:34

No, he's well, he got us through 9-11.

SPEAKER_04 20:36

He got us through 9-11, and let's face it, he just he did the whole weapons of mass destruction thing. There was no weapons of mass destruction, and again, it was an unwarranted war. And it was an unexpected event.

SPEAKER_05 20:47

Right. I mean, really, it caught all of us off guard. Right. So you gotta give him some.

SPEAKER_04 20:52

Well, I think he was pissed. We were all pissed about 9-11.

SPEAKER_05 20:56

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:56

So yeah, so I mean, in that context, yes, I think it was kind of one of those situations where we had to respond.

SPEAKER_05 21:04

Yeah, but you know what? It brought us together as a nation.

SPEAKER_04 21:08

It did. It did.

SPEAKER_05 21:09

You know, because we knew we were never vulnerable before. Right. And when that happened, it brought us together as Americans.

SPEAKER_04 21:18

Yeah, that was the first time that uh we were attacked in the actual uh United States.

SPEAKER_05 21:23

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 21:23

Yeah, I mean, World War II started with uh Pearl Harbor for us, but uh that was in an island and that was away from America outside of the mainland. This was in our mainland, it was in New York, which is um unimaginable that they got on planes and used them as weapons. So I mean, yeah, it brought us together. George Bush got us out of that.

SPEAKER_05 21:45

He wasn't scary because Chicago was a target that didn't make they didn't make it.

SPEAKER_04 21:49

Right, right. Yeah, if they had made it, wow.

SPEAKER_05 21:51

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:52

But yeah, so I mean, Trump used and and you know, with George Bush is different because he at least wrote a story. Through that situation. Um Trump created a an unwarranted war. He added trillions and billions to the national debt because Israel told him to do it, basically. That's that's the only reason.

SPEAKER_05 22:16

Yes. He got into this stupid war just because Israel told him to.

SPEAKER_04 22:20

Right, basically, yeah. And and and they said Obama said, Bush said, that Israel wanted us to do that in the past. They said no. But because Trump is so gullible and uh He wants to show that he's badass. Yeah. And he's not. He's not. No. He's someone comes and pushes him, he's gonna fall in his little roly tush. Yeah, he's Taco Tuesday. That's that's all he is. But yeah, I mean that that right now, you know, if the foe four uh founding fathers were around, they would definitely be rolling in their graves because I don't think they having a UFC fight on the White House lawn, right? That's a joke.

SPEAKER_05 22:57

Yeah, and he only did that because they profited from it. Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 23:00

Well, and other companies were gonna get marketing and they were gonna get they were gonna pay for it. So why not? He's not doing anything about America. He thinks nothing about it. And look, look at uh the the the Great American State Fair. 46 people a couple days ago, that was the entry, that was the entrance to to uh the state state of uh the Great American Huh?

SPEAKER_05 23:25

Should they fight?

SPEAKER_04 23:26

Uh no, not to fight. That was the state fair. You know, they got the state fair international uh mall where they have all the stands of the different uh uh states. So they have booths for different states and they have the food and highlight uh what the state does and all that. Some states, Democratic states mostly, uh decided they pulled out. Yeah, they pulled out, they passed on it. And it's funny because when they show highlights of the the state fair, they're like, nobody's there. It's like almost completely empty. In fact, there's the it somebody on TikTok uh put on there that there were more people on stage than watching them. And that's hilarious because again, another failure, just like the uh the national pool or whatever, the what is it, what do they call that? Is it the national pool? Where it's green. And you know, one of my questions that I had out in the um uh that I had for uh people uh in playing field was okay, what what color is the uh the pool gonna be next? You know what I mean? But unfortunately I didn't get a chance to ask.

SPEAKER_05 24:30

But um that uh But they they finally cleared it, they put some chemical in there to get rid of the algae.

SPEAKER_04 24:35

No, but it's it's bringing up the paint.

SPEAKER_05 24:37

The latest No, that the paint they I think they've scraped it off. They were saying it looks clear enough.

SPEAKER_04 24:42

They had to drain it, but they didn't, I didn't see the thing.

SPEAKER_05 24:44

They put a chemical or something in there that's supposed to eat the algae. Uh, but I think they had to take the paint out.

SPEAKER_04 24:50

Yeah, they had to take the paint out because it came. And and you know, Trump's thing was like, okay, we had vandals that go in there and and cut up the the the the bottom for the paint to come up. That's that's almost that's impossible. That's I mean, literally that's impossible.

SPEAKER_05 25:03

He drove his car over it. Huh? Remember they he drove over it.

SPEAKER_03 25:08

Who did?

SPEAKER_05 25:09

They had him in the car and they drove over it. He had like uh one of the presidential cars drove over it before they filled it up. I didn't see I didn't see that. And it was like you drove over it, you probably damaged the damn paint then, and then when you filled it up, and how do you get your how do you get a limousine in there? Oh, I don't know. They were saying that they drove over it, and I was like, this isn't it.

SPEAKER_04 25:30

But anyway, that would be funny.

SPEAKER_05 25:34

So who made the U.S. flag?

SPEAKER_04 25:36

Uh uh Betsy Ross. Nope. Oh, who did?

SPEAKER_05 25:40

It was they said she sewed it. Betsy Ross uh sold the first flag. Modern historians generally view this as a unverified legend popularized by her family a century later. Many historians believe the first stars and stripes were designed by a New Jersey congressman, Francis Hopkinson.

SPEAKER_07 26:01

Really?

SPEAKER_05 26:02

Yep. And then the official flag uh with the 50 stars was created uh by a school as a school project, accepting that Alaska and Hawaii would soon join the union. Uh history teacher originally gave this j this boy a B minus on his assignment, but promised to raise the grade to an A if he can get Congress to adopt the design, and they did.

SPEAKER_07 26:29

Really?

SPEAKER_05 26:30

Yep. It was a gentleman 17-year-old high school student named Robert G. Heft. Isn't that interesting? Who is that again? Robert G. Heft. He was a 17-year-old student. It was a high school project, and he had a fight with uh or kind of get Congress to join in on the design. And that was right before Alaska and Hawaii's joined the union.

SPEAKER_04 26:53

Well, that's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_05 26:54

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 26:55

All right, I got some questions for you now since we're doing trivia. Uh this is off my off my brainage uh because we did some of these questions in uh in plain field.

SPEAKER_05 27:06

Oh all right. What if I don't know this?

SPEAKER_04 27:08

How many delegates signed the Declaration of Independence? I know this. Tell me when you're ready.

SPEAKER_05 27:18

I'm Googling.

SPEAKER_04 27:19

Oh, you're Googling? Oh, that's not that's not right.

SPEAKER_05 27:22

I can't Google fast now. That's not right. I'll take a shot in the dark. I'm gonna say um 15.

SPEAKER_04 27:27

15? No. Really? 15 delegates?

SPEAKER_05 27:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 27:33

56. 56.

SPEAKER_05 27:35

Okay, well, that's an odd number.

SPEAKER_04 27:37

Okay, so who was the youngest delegate who actually wrote was one of the was the original author of the Declaration of Independence?

SPEAKER_05 27:47

Oh, geez, you must have had to look this up. I know you did not know this.

SPEAKER_04 27:50

I actually did not know this. I looked it up and now it's in my brain.

SPEAKER_05 27:54

Hamilton?

SPEAKER_04 27:55

No, that's no. But there's an interesting story about Hamilton, aside from the play.

SPEAKER_05 28:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:00

All right.

SPEAKER_05 28:01

I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 28:02

I just said all right, uh, Thomas Jefferson. He was 33 years old when he um wrote, yeah. And he was yeah, I mean, they all have interesting stories. They really do. Um How did Alexander Hamilton die? This is easy.

SPEAKER_05 28:19

Oh, there was an uh wasn't it in um uh pistol um yeah, duel. Yeah. I guess how was that was in the play. Right.

SPEAKER_04 28:27

That's what I said. You'll get this. Okay, so how did his son die?

SPEAKER_05 28:35

Didn't his woman shoot him?

SPEAKER_04 28:37

Uh also a duel.

SPEAKER_05 28:39

Okay. She did over her, right?

SPEAKER_04 28:41

Uh over her, yes. Yeah, okay. It was over a woman, yeah. So, all right. I got I got I got a lot of them.

SPEAKER_05 28:48

Oh no.

SPEAKER_04 28:49

Uh Benjamin Franklin suggested a different bird as the national bird. What did he come up with? This is a really good one. A turkey. Yes, it was the turkey. I think I asked this question out in the street and uh nobody got it. Yeah, nobody got it.

SPEAKER_05 29:07

I mean, well, yeah, I just figured that was like one of the first birds that that's why they used that one for Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_04 29:13

Right, right. Uh, true or false. One of the original drafts of the Declaration of Independence was written on hem paper. True or false? True, absolutely. Yes, it was. So they were they were gonna roll up the Declaration of Independence and smoke it.

SPEAKER_05 29:30

Oh, well, didn't they do like pipes and stuff back then?

SPEAKER_04 29:32

Oh, yeah, they are well, yeah. You know, here's something to look up. Um all the men back then in the 1700s, I mean the the important guys, they all wore white hats or white wigs. Why? I think I know this quite I I think I know this. But it it's it's interesting um to know why they wore the white wigs.

SPEAKER_05 29:59

I'm pretty sure it's because to conceal hair loss uh from syphilis, protect himself against lice, and signal extreme wealth.

SPEAKER_04 30:10

Right. I kind of yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:13

Because bathing was discouraged, right? Wigs absorbed the scalp oils while scented powders mass orders. Ooh.

SPEAKER_04 30:22

Right, and I thought it was something like that. I thought it was because of hygiene. Because they're their hair stunk or something like that. So they put on powdered wigs to mass the smell.

SPEAKER_05 30:33

And they don't they do they still wear those over there in?

SPEAKER_04 30:36

No, they don't. I think it's more decorative.

SPEAKER_05 30:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 30:39

Now it's more decorative. Obviously.

SPEAKER_05 30:42

Well, they do that in the courts as a representative representing history.

SPEAKER_04 30:45

Yeah, well, no, no, it's not so much. I think in the courts they still wear the hats or the wigs, but I think it's more tradition to honor the the courts back then, because that's that's what they did. Um, yeah. So, okay, here's here's another one. What happened to the original Declaration of Independence during the War of 1812? You'll never get this one. This is one that I I really wouldn't have known. I don't know, it got burnt. It was rolled up, stuffed in a linen sack, and smuggled out of Washington, D.C. in a wagon to hide it from the British, who then who then burned the city anyway. America's most important documents spent part of the war hiding in someone's bag like a stolen sandwich. Oh, yeah, that's cool. See, I never knew that. Yeah, I never knew that. Um, yeah, I got a lot of questions.

SPEAKER_05 31:38

Anyway, think about it, like we went and saw Mount Rushmore. That was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_04 31:43

That was very cool.

SPEAKER_05 31:44

I mean, that is something I think that um is very patriotic. Right. Seeing the president on the mountain. And I I didn't think I was gonna be as in awe uh until I saw it.

SPEAKER_03 32:01

Right.

SPEAKER_05 32:01

You know, because you know it's there, you've seen it through history books, you've seen pictures of it, but when you see it in person, it's just that's more magnificent.

SPEAKER_04 32:10

Well, that's something that I always wanted to do all my life is go to Mount Rushmore. I never got to do with my family, but we did it together and I thought it was it was one of the best trips that we ever took. It was just it was so cool. The only obviously problem was that we had difficulty walking and stuff like that, all the all the walking that we had to do.

SPEAKER_05 32:27

Well, we couldn't go, there is a back path to actually see it closer. We were on the main level where it was for the public to to there's a platform, a concrete, um kind of like what is that called? A long path that we can see it from. There is a more wilderness path that you can take to see it better, but we couldn't do that.

SPEAKER_04 32:50

Um, and I think they they offer helicopter rides to go all the way up to that, would be kind of cool, but I don't know if I wanted to do that.

SPEAKER_05 32:57

I mean, I think that's one of the great things that we can still enjoy and see a lot of the historic monuments, you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:07

I mean, that that would be, you know, if we could do if if this podcast took off and we had sponsorship uh to do that, like to do like a Genesis Us generational podcast where we take it on the road and we go and we stop at different uh historical locations. Yes, like I would love to go see Salem, uh New England, Boston.

SPEAKER_05 33:28

I want to go down to New York. I would like to go down to the memorial.

SPEAKER_04 33:32

Yeah, I would yeah, I mean, I'm not a big fan of going to New York only because it's so it's more crowded than than Illinois, than Chicago.

SPEAKER_05 33:40

Yeah, I mean, and see the Statue of Liberty.

SPEAKER_04 33:43

Right, right. I mean, I'm very patriotic, even though I diss our current government, I'm very patriotic. I love my country. I love that I was born here, and I think my parents that uh they allowed me the freedoms to uh live in this country or the the ability to live in this country, uh to be an American, to be part of something, this experiment that's called America. And um I think that we as Americans, if you're black, white, green, red, whatever, it doesn't matter. We all are a melting pot, and we are all here because we deserve to be.

SPEAKER_05 34:22

Yeah, exactly. Yes, along with the American Indians who were here long before India.

SPEAKER_04 34:26

Oh, right, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, you know, the government, the current government right now is trying to take away rights, trying to, you know, uh strip uh citizenship, deport uh immigrants. That's not what America is, it's not what the founding fathers meant when they wrote the Declaration of Independence. Yes, they had slaves. Unfortunately, that's a dark cloud on them, but they I think they had the blueprint.

SPEAKER_05 34:51

They don't even acknowledge the June 19th. Right.

SPEAKER_04 34:54

The Juneteenth when the slaves that official word that's yeah, the the administration did away with anything having to do with black history or anything like that. They are complete racist. I mean, they are they are the epitome of uh white supremacist, and that's not who this country is. I mean, from day one, when I was uh I remember, you know, uh being a kid, I know that we went through a lot of, you know, um what do you call it? Um we were Mexicans and uh Mexican Americans, and we weren't treated right. There was a lot of um, what do you call that word? I keep forgetting now. Um discrimination. Discrimination, yes. Uh there was a lot of discrimination at that time because we were brand new to this country or whatever. I don't know. But um, you know, we were different, you know, we were brown, we weren't white, so there was a lot of discrimination. Even the nuns uh didn't uh quite um thinking I think it was based on color.

SPEAKER_05 35:57

Yeah, right. Because my experiences is that my siblings, some of them are darker than I am. I'm very light-complexed, you would not know I'm Hispanic. But when I we were in the same environments, people would treat me differently. They would treat my siblings.

SPEAKER_03 36:12

Right.

SPEAKER_05 36:13

And it was they would it was just be based on not intelligence, not in any type of discussion. It was based on appearance, and that's all it was. We had uh I worked in the same office with my sister, the receptionist hated my sister. And when she found out we were siblings, she then didn't like me. But it was only because she my sister looked Hispanic, she she's Mexican, she looked predominantly Mexican. I'm half and half, um, but I'm half Puerto Rican, half Mexican, but I'm very light-complexed, and even with my younger brother, he's he's darker. Uh, he's also half and half, but he's darker, and the same thing. They treat him differently than they would treat me. Right. And I I've profited that they didn't treat me any less like they do most Hispanics, but you know, they have to understand we're all the same. And it doesn't matter what the color of your skin is, right? We are the same.

SPEAKER_04 37:10

Yeah. I you know, and I and I think here's what I think also we are such a brand new country compared to all the other countries in the world. I mean, Europe is old, uh, Asia's old, Russia's old. We are only 250 years old. We're new.

SPEAKER_06 37:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:28

So we're going through growing pains. We obviously are going to go through our Hitler's, we're going to go through our um Mussolini's or whatever. This is the first time I think we've gone through a president like this, but we are we are going through the experiment. We are still growing as a democracy. And I think that eventually we will learn from that, from the mistakes that we have gone through, and we will make adjustments and try to become a more um giving and a more open society. I mean, we've come a long way in two 250 years.

SPEAKER_05 38:01

Yeah, and you have to realize too, when we've traveled recently, uh, we've taken several road trips. We are not treated badly. No, we've always come across when we went to Branson, everyone was very sweet to us.

unknown 38:17

Right.

SPEAKER_05 38:18

When we went to um Arizona, that we went through the whole old town.

SPEAKER_04 38:23

Yeah. The western town. Yeah, and the ghosts.

SPEAKER_05 38:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 38:26

And they got to talk about they were great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 38:29

Um, you know, Mount Roshmar, when we went through, we were in South Dakota, we went through um uh was that Bill Hitcock? What was it? Wild Bill Hick.

SPEAKER_04 38:37

Wild Bill Hick. Yeah, Wild Bill Hick.

SPEAKER_05 38:39

You went to the cemetery, right? Yeah. Everyone on our travels, even going to Florida, everyone has always treated us well. Right. We well, you know what we the people of the United States are not bigots. Where they are finding these isolated idiots, these Karen's that are creeping out of the cracks, is ridiculous.

SPEAKER_04 39:04

Right.

SPEAKER_05 39:04

But they don't represent the United States.

SPEAKER_04 39:07

No, and I think I think in November, I think people will see that we need to go a different direction and be a little bit more um of a democratic society that opens their arms to everybody. Because look what happened in Minnesota in the winter. It's horrifying to think that you know Americans can kill Americans for protesting. Yeah. What? For what for what our country went through to become uh its own nation, we're killing people because they protested a government. That's not who we are. We can't be like that.

SPEAKER_05 39:47

And I don't believe they would have such an enormous turnout for the Kings rallies if every American felt that way. Right. So we can't blame all Americans. And we can't blame all of the MAGA people, I think they're really disillusioned, but I don't think they're all prejudiced.

SPEAKER_04 40:08

I think they are. Honestly, I think they are. I think that's there's a sect in our society that wants us to go back.

SPEAKER_05 40:16

Republicans are prejudiced.

SPEAKER_04 40:17

Well, no, I don't think all Republicans are prejudiced. I think right now they're led by somebody who pushes divisiveness and wants um the country to be separated by white and other.

SPEAKER_05 40:32

Well, they're listening to a cult leader that is telling them that you need to do this. Now he's you know quoting the whole Democrats are communists, which is BS.

SPEAKER_04 40:40

Right. I mean, look at all the but here's a funny thing, too. Look at all the religious uh zealots out there who support Trump and say he's the God, he's the coming.

SPEAKER_05 40:49

Some of them have turned against him.

SPEAKER_04 40:51

Well, yeah, but there's still some out there that that sit that support him and say, hey, this guy knows what he's doing. He's the coming of the, you know what I mean? Whatever. Yeah, and I'm like, come on, really? If you were religious and of any kind, you'd know that in the Bible, what does it say? Uh, there should be no other, you know, other than me or whatever. Exactly. You know, so yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_05 41:12

You're very religious, right? You're putting an idol in front of everybody.

SPEAKER_04 41:15

Right. The same guy who cheated on all his wives, the guy who cheated with a um a uh stripper or whatever, paid her off. You know, uh he's cheated on golf, he's cheated on uh his taxes, he's uh been bankrupt six times. This guy shouldn't even be close to any government. Um if he was uh a senator or uh whatever, uh congressman, he would have been kicked out already. Yep. I mean, look what happened to uh Santos. He got kicked out.

SPEAKER_05 41:41

Yeah, but then he what did he do? He still he gave him pardon. He gave him a pardon, but that's because he kissed his horrible man who cheats and is involved with money scandal and everything, Trump pardons. Right. Why is that? Well, because it gets himself in him, and he's probably extorting money from them. Probably, yeah. You know, but we should end on a good note.

SPEAKER_04 42:07

Okay, let's end on a good note. America the beautiful.

SPEAKER_05 42:10

It is. Oh my god. It is I mean, when we travel this country, we see so many beautiful things. We do the land, the people, the food, the differences in every state, right, hospitality, and just the the your neighbors, your neighbors who you enjoy.

SPEAKER_04 42:28

Yeah, I mean, our neighbors here, uh, you know, we live in uh plain field, uh great neighbors, you know, for the most part. Um, I've never had a problem since I've been on my own uh since I was like 20, some years old. I got married and all that. Never had an issue with um people really. I mean, yeah, obviously you're you're gonna run into someone who is you know some idiots. Yeah, some idiots. But for the most part, I love this country. I mean, road trips are are something that I love doing. Like I said, hey, if somebody wants to sponsor us, you know, we'll uh we'll we'll we'll do a show, we'll highlight America, and uh we'll plug you. So I mean, because we I love traveling, I love um what America has to offer. You know, all the sites, all the beautiful uh country and you know, the beaches, the mountains, you know, everything that I've seen in my lifetime is is beautiful.

SPEAKER_05 43:25

I mean, we even visited the corn palace.

SPEAKER_04 43:27

Right, the corn palace. Where was that? That was in um uh was that Iowa? I forgot where that was. Yeah, or was that North Dakota?

SPEAKER_05 43:35

It was on there. South Dakota.

SPEAKER_04 43:37

It was like, yeah, going there.

SPEAKER_05 43:39

Yeah. Because then we stopped at the gopher place too.

SPEAKER_04 43:41

Right, we stopped at the gopher place, right? Yeah, I mean, we've we've seen a lot of stuff. We've gone like Florida to up north to Texas uh down to Arizona, Texas. Well, you know, we've done a lot of things, and thank God that uh you know we have the freedom to be able to do that because we live in a Great country. Unfortunately, right now we're going through some hard times, but we'll get out of it. You know, I know that we're going to get out of it because we always do. You know, America is uh at best, uh, like I said, an experiment that we're going through. We're only 250 years old. And I, even though I won't be around for 300, you know, others will. And hopefully it'll keep going on. Um, part of uh the show, we are gonna have uh the people that I interviewed and asked uh trivia questions as part of uh this uh 250th anniversary. So don't stop watching. We'll be right back with uh those highlights uh from the show and hit the Star Spangled Banner again.

SPEAKER_03 44:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 44:49

And we'll see you next time uh on Genesis Us Podcast. But here are the highlights from our man on the street, uh trivia questions that we ask people about America, see how much they know. It's uh it's a pretty good highlight. There's some pretty funny things and uh pretty interesting people. So till next time, Genesis Us Podcast. Go, America. Happy 4th of July and be safe.

SPEAKER_09 45:20

USA USA.

SPEAKER_04 45:23

It is a special 250th anniversary birthday celebration. We are in Plainfield, Illinois, and we're gonna be asking people questions about America, see how much they know about uh American history. They're gonna win uh American flags, uh commemorative 250th anniversary flags. And uh hopefully we'll get some people that we can stop and ask them how much do they know about American history? Okay, this is real simple. What's your name?

SPEAKER_03 45:49

Ron. Rob.

SPEAKER_04 45:50

I'm John. Okay. Uh what year did America declare independence?

SPEAKER_03 45:55

1775.

SPEAKER_04 45:57

No. Well, it was they declared it. Well, uh, come on. 1776. Actually, some did not sign it. Yeah. Guess when when they actually signed the whole thing, August 8th, 1776. But it's 1776. That's the year of Declaration of Independence.

SPEAKER_08 46:14

That's why it's when they signed it.

SPEAKER_04 46:16

Yeah. That's the Declaration of Clark. You had the different two different things, Declaration and the country. Yes. But uh the actual birthday, the independence, 1776. Give him a flag. Give him a flag. Give him a flag. Here is a trivia question that most people don't know, but some do. Okay. All right. How many delegates signed the Declaration of Independence?

SPEAKER_07 46:44

By the way, what do you mean?

SPEAKER_04 46:45

Uh Jeffrey?

SPEAKER_06 46:46

Jeffrey? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 46:49

It's between 50 and 58.

SPEAKER_09 46:56

Oh boy. Um 50. 53? No. 55? No. 58?

SPEAKER_04 47:02

No.

SPEAKER_09 47:03

57? No. 56?

SPEAKER_04 47:05

Yes. All right. Give him a flag. Awesome. Right. Okay. I'm going to ask you a question. We're doing a special episode of Genesis Podcast. All right. Okay. How much do Americans spend on fireworks every 4th of July?

SPEAKER_02 47:22

$750.

SPEAKER_04 47:24

No. Yes. A little higher. A little higher.

SPEAKER_02 47:27

$1,500.

SPEAKER_04 47:28

No, overall. Overall.

SPEAKER_02 47:30

Oh, I thought you meant just like one person. It's like a billion-dollar industry. You're close. Yeah, close. Two billion. Yeah. But what was your name? I'm Sean.

SPEAKER_04 47:38

Sean, nice to meet you. Have a great 4th of July. You take it easy. Give him a flag. Give him a flag. Two flags. Give him two flags. Here's your name. Nina. Nina, I'm John. That's Al. And this is the Genesis Podcast. Yeah. Okay. For a flag. Even if you don't get it right or no wrong. How many original colonies were there in the United States? Original? Original colonies. Thirteen. Absolutely. Give her a flag. Anybody want to answer a question? Who wrote the original Declaration of Independence? Oh.

SPEAKER_07 48:12

Oh man. Oh, it's either John Adams or uh James Madison. No. Oh god. Oh man. I cannot remember. There's so many of them. John Hancock. I cannot remember.

SPEAKER_04 48:29

It's not Mark Hamill.

SPEAKER_07 48:30

It's not Mark Hamill. I can't remember. Oh shit.

SPEAKER_04 48:34

Do you know who it is? No, that's Alexander Hamilton. But that's a good guess. But no. He was one of the original founding fathers. You named two of them. You're missing one of them. Yes. He was only 33 years old.

unknown 48:52

Yeah, he wrote the majority of it.

SPEAKER_04 48:53

Right.

unknown 48:54

Not the guy who shot Alexander Hamilton.

SPEAKER_04 48:56

No, that's yeah. Guess who who shot him?

SPEAKER_00 48:58

We're not making for very Aaron Burr.

SPEAKER_04 49:00

Yes, give her another flag. Aaron Burr is the one that shot Todd Alexander Hamilton. It is Thomas Jefferson. Oh Thomas Jefferson. Give him a flag anyway. Flag. Your name? Alan. Alan, I'm John. That's Al. All right. Here is your question for a flag. How many hot dogs do Americans eat on the 4th of July every year? Rough estimate.

SPEAKER_02 49:30

8 million.

SPEAKER_04 49:32

A little higher.

SPEAKER_02 49:33

10 million.

SPEAKER_04 49:34

A little higher.

SPEAKER_02 49:35

20 million?

SPEAKER_04 49:36

A little higher.

SPEAKER_02 49:38

100 million.

SPEAKER_04 49:39

A little higher.

SPEAKER_02 49:40

200 million.

SPEAKER_04 49:41

A little less, but close. 150 million. It is, right? So what are you going to do for the 4th of July? Probably eat a hot dog, right? There you go. Well, thank you, Al Adn. And you have a good one. Happy 4th of July. What's your name? Dave. Dave, come on in camera here. Dave, we're going to ask you a question, uh trivial question for a flag. Alright? This is easy. How many colonies?

unknown 50:09

13.

SPEAKER_04 50:09

There you go. Alright, let's make it a little difficult. Alright, let's see. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

SPEAKER_08 50:18

Well, American Middle East. The main guy, he was 33 years old. Yeah, Thomas Jefferson.

SPEAKER_04 50:22

Oh man, this guy knows his stuff. Okay. Name the big six founding fathers.

SPEAKER_08 50:31

So you would want to go Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Hamilton, Washington. No, wait, did you already say okay, you said I said Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, Washington, Adams, Payne? No.

SPEAKER_04 50:56

There's a play after H.

SPEAKER_08 50:58

Yeah, I said Hamilton. Did you say Hamilton? I did say Hamilton.

SPEAKER_04 51:01

Alright. Oh, there is one more. It's named after a street in Chicago.

SPEAKER_08 51:07

Monroe?

SPEAKER_04 51:08

No. Go down further.

SPEAKER_08 51:10

Madison?

SPEAKER_04 51:11

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 51:12

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 51:12

Give him two flags. Uh, your name?

unknown 51:14

Haley.

SPEAKER_04 51:15

Haley. Beautiful name.

SPEAKER_01 51:17

Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_04 51:18

Okay, so we're gonna ask you this question, and you're gonna be able to win a flag. You just look at it anyway. Alright. Which founding father is on the hundred dollar bill who was never president?

SPEAKER_01 51:29

Andrew Jackson? No. I always like Try again. Um He is a founding father. Thomas Jefferson? No. I have no idea.

SPEAKER_04 51:38

Okay, Benjamin Franklin. He's on give her a flag. Okay, how about you? Okay, your name?

unknown 51:46

Sloan.

SPEAKER_06 51:47

What's it? Sloane. Sloan.

SPEAKER_04 51:49

Okay, Sloan, I'm John, and you're on the Genesis Podcast. Alright, so here is your question. What country gifted America the Statue of Liberty?

SPEAKER_06 52:00

France.

SPEAKER_04 52:01

Absolutely. Yes. Alright, we got a winner. Give her a flag. Ken, I'm John, and you're on the Genesis Podcast. Alright, you get to win a flag with big deal, huh? All right. Now here's a good one. George Washington was offered a kingship after the revolution. What did he do?

SPEAKER_03 52:23

Did he deny it?

SPEAKER_04 52:25

Yes, he did. He didn't want to be king. That's why the whole idea of becoming uh uh a separate country, right? Right. All right. You got it, absolutely. Give him a flag. Who had the biggest signature in the Declaration of Defense Independence?

SPEAKER_02 52:39

I think I think Ben Franklin.

SPEAKER_04 52:42

No, wow, that's amazing. No. Take another guess. John Hancock. Yes, yes, John Hancock. Give him a flag.

SPEAKER_00 52:59

Listening to the Gen Is Us Podcast. Make sure to subscribe. Everywhere podcasts are available. And follow us on our Instagram and YouTube at Jen Is Us Podcast. We want to hear from you, the listeners. Send us any feedback or questions that you would like three generations to answer at contact at genesus.com. Thank you.