Cultural Differences Between US and UK

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK Summer smells like salt in the air and warm sand. Restore your sense of place with Pura's new summer fragrance collllection. Discover transansportive clean scents at pura. com L It our tour again lost in the songs you love to sing with special guests for nine ter and Timothy Wayne in seelect Cities, tickets on sale now at liive nation. com. Hello, it's Anthony, and you're about to hear Americast. and we're delighted to have you with us. And if you enjoy what you hear, please do consider subscribing to the podcast. That way you'll never miss an episode Now On with today Is Donald Trump about to be defeated, not in Congress, but by algae in a pool That's one of the questions we turn to in this edition of America Answers. We're usually with Matt Chaley and five live on a Monday, aren't we? But Matt is unusually busy because as you may have heard, the UK Prime Minister has resigned. But don't worry, we are still going to answer a range of questions. Ali is certainly among those questions. so is JD Vance and his view on Donald Trump's IQ and that fallout that there has been between Italy's Georgia Meloni and the president, the two of them fighting on social media. So welcome to America Answers Ameraast from BBC News. You hear that J?. I think when I hear that sound, it reminds me of money. We didn't start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it. This is a big cover up, and this administration is engaged in it. This guy has Trump arrangement syndrome. I have for you turn the volume up. Hello it's Justin in the worldwide headquarters of Americast in London, England. And it is Marianna sitting next to Justin in the Worldwide headquarters in London. And it is Sarah here in the heart of it all in Washington, DC. OkayK, let's go straight to the questions. This from Graham in Weymouth. Recently my social media feed, Graham says, has been showing posts about a reflection pool in Washington The Donald J. Trump ordered that either failed or alge is covering as well as costing millions of dollars. What is the truth behind this? Well, it's not just any old reflection pool, is it? Indeed its real name isn't refflection pool at all, is it? Sarah? Fill us in on what the thing is that we're talking about here Yeah, it's known as the Reflecting Pool or the Relecting pond initially and it's a body of water right in the sort of ceremonial heart of Washington where the monuments and memorials are. and it's meant to reflect things like the Washington Monument in it. But it's always been a little bit dingy, blind with grreay concrete, ofen the water has appeared a little bit dirty. It hasn't really fulfilled its mission reflecting. So Donald Trump decided, as he has done with so many things in Washington, he was going to beautify it. He was going to fix it in time for America's two hundred fiftieth birthday, but it hasn't quite worked out like that Yeah. And so they thought that they had beautified it and then either paint job wasn't Terribly well done or the stuff that they use to kill the algi has also damaged the paint. So there are now apparently bits of the paint Mariana just floating of blue paint. It's desperately sad because we posed, I thought very attractive next year, didn't we? when we were And was freezing cold it was beautiful. Yeah, it was very beautiful. We were there for the I've never I mean, I've been there a thousand times, but I've never really looked into it because exactly as Sarah says, it's never reflected anythingthing. Really And I think the idea that Donald Trump could get it reflect was always going to be a bit far fetched. Yeah, I think it's one of those things that was best left alone And in a slightly more simple state. But as you might imagine, all of the content showing this water going like very green has been all over yeah, exactly as Grim pointed out, all over social media. And yeah, lots of speculation about exactly why. So there's the paint kind of peeling off. and then there's also the algae bloom and then Apparently officials have been using chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide to try to treat the algae. And then Donald Trump pososted this thing on Truth Social, saying actually, it's none of those things. It's to do with vandals. He said, workork will begin immediately on fixing the seriously vandalized reflecting pool. I just inspected it and could only say to myself and those gathered around me, wow, who would do such a thing? Sick deranged people capitals. We will fix it questuion M you seen to a question market? Have you seen the vandals at work, Sar Well, there are all sorts of stories about who the vandals could be. I've even seen mentioned online that it's actually a plot by Antifa to come and destroy the good work that had been done by Donald Trump in the reflecting pool in order to make him look bad. But this story is not just traveveling on social media. it's absolutely captivated America. And you might think of all of the things that are going on in this country It truly is the most important thing whether or not there is algae blooming in this pool in the middle of Washington. But it is being seen as a metaphor for the way Donald Trump approaches everything. He took something that wasn't a huge problem. I mean, okay, maybe it could have reflected better, but it wasn't a substantial issue. insisted that he could quickly and cheaply fix this. He said it was going to take twoks one and a half million pares It has taken considerably longer than that and probably upwards of about fifteen million pounds so far. as he insisted on doing it his way and making it into what he thought it should always have been. So it was going to be painted blue on the bottom, American flag blue, he said. It was going to be done by a pal of his in a no bid contract, even though this is federal government work Someone who'd done swimming pools for him in other properties was going to fix the reflecting pool. And then weeks late, what happens is within ours of it being reopened, you've got this green algae blooming all over it, the pool doesn't look blue anymore, and it would appear to be something of a disaster considerably worse than it was before Donald Trump ever got involved in the first place. So while you might think, heaven's sake, you know we're dealing with Iran and the conflict there. Why are we worrying about a reflecting pool? Well, people are seeing a lot of parallels between the way Donald Trump has handled things like the war with Iran and this pool in the middle of DC. But it's wed like something quite small and quite simple becomes reflective of a wider thing that people are worried and concerned about and is quite visible as well. I mean, I think that's thing about the pool, right?' like the images are very obvious and very shareable and therefore trigger a conversation. Some of the other things we're talking about, including around geopolitics are perhaps visually harder to depict, not at least when there's not really access to a lot of the places where this stuff is happen when we live in such a visual society too, you talk about this a lot and it really does matter, doesn't it? If we're in a post literate society and a more visual society Things like what happens to the reflecting pool does suddenly take this extraordinary ance But that's also the kind of irony of all this that actually Donald Trump knows that. He knows how visual this age is. and that's why he was trying to do what he was doing to the reflecting pool because he wanted it to give a certain impression of the United States There's another aspect though, about this reflecting pool, which I think also is illustrative of some of the things people care a lot about during the Trump administration, and that is the way the justice system gets involved. How on earth, you might be wondering, could that come into the question of refurbishing a pool in the middle of Washington? Well, Since Donald Trump said it was vandalism that had caused the lining on the bottom to be breaking apart and this algae to start blooming green, he says it was vandalism and people have been arrested for that. with it would appear very little evidence for what they had actually done wrong One of them who's been interviewed by American media, turns out to be an Olympian canoeist who represented the United States several times at the Olympics also says he's a material scientist who knows a thing or two about how this could have happened. He was cycling past pool stopped to have a look to try and work out what was going on touched piece of the lining that was floating on the surface, but he says he didn't break, dislodge, destroy harm in any way, any of it. He was arrested, held for five hours and may well be prosecuted for this with a charge that could carry a ten year sentence. Now, I imagine it's probably not going to come to that because his arrest is being sort of rather widely mocked. But the idea that you've got people being held in jail cells for supposedly vandalizing something that's just because the president is upset that the renovation didn't work terribly well Well, that's something else that in a very small way tells you quite a lot about how people feel about living in Donald Trump's America at the moment. Okay thanks to Graham and Wymouth. Let's turn to the next question. It's a voice note actually from Robert in Malmsbury in North Wiltsshire. Hello, Americast team. I have a simple question. I saw JD Vance being interviewed Last week And his whole message was how intelligent Donald Trump was one of the most intelligent presidents in the history of the United States I was just wondering ed him to feel he had to say that So, you know, Obviously, I question The message Why did Vance feel he had to say that? Well, before we answer that question, let's have a listen to what Vance did say about the president. He was speaking to Stephen Bartlet on the Diary of a CEO podcast. The thing I say about Donald Trump is I remember this in twenty sixteen And in hindsight, it's just so so dumb People would say that he was dumb or that he wasn't very smart He's super smart He reads a lot He understands people at an instinctual level better than anybody that I've ever known, but he is a very, very like from a pure IQ perspective, he's a very smart person. And it's interesting that so many people, like If you give Donald Trump an IQ test with the other forty five, forty six presidents that the United States has had. I guarantee he'd be either near the top or at the top. and the entire American media in twenty sixteen had convinced me at least, that he was not a sport person. Yeah, that's really interesting, isn't it? Because the question from Robert was, why did JD Vance feel that he had to say that? And I think he almost answered that for himself, which was he was trying to explain why he himself had changed his mind so much Fr going from saying that Donald Trump could be like America's Hitler, which was his criticism of him before the twenty sixteen election to obviously now serving as his vice president and bicging him up the whole time. So I think that's got as much to do with how bright he thinks Donald Trump is with also sort of trying to justify his own intellectual position there. But I think he has a point, notot maybe that Donald Trump is the most intelligent president the United States has ever had people underestimate Donald Trump, they think he's stupid and that he's really not. I think that the bit that actually stood out to me of I listened to some of that Stehen Bartlet episode. So Steven B Butartlet is, I would say sort of in the kind of he's not the same as, but he's probably Joe Rogan adjacent in the UK for people that don't listen to Diver CEO. And he has a similar format, which is interviewing people in these quite sort of discursive discussion kn type ways And when I was listening to it, the thing that actuallyuck stayed with me was this sort of understanding people on an instinctual level. Like a lot of what feels clever about Donald Trump is his ability to game or read situations and people and end up sort of manipulating is maybe the wrong word, Whever you want to call it, sort of strategizing in such a way that they end up coming out to his advantage. I've had exactly that experience with a senior British politician I was talking to who's been in the room with Donald Trump and we were talking about Trump this was a year or so ago I was talking this person and they said he spots in the room powerful and who isn't? instinctively And presumably who he could get to respond in theays he'd like, etcetera. whichich is so much about sort of emotional intelligence more than anything. And this person was saying he has to be advised kind of whispered in his ear almost literally what's actually going on in terms of kind of world affairs, but they absolutely understood who he could get to do what in the room and what his instincts told him was the right thing to do. and this whole discussion about, I mean I agree with Sarah, the whole discussion about whether he was dumb or not, whether he is dumb or not seems itself a dumb discussion actually, and a kind of a place that his opponents should not ever have got themselves into because he represented a strand of thinking, E that first time when he didn't win a majority of the vote, but he still obviously did incredibly well and beat Hillary Clinton and all the rest of it. So the idea of o what? arere you saying that Hillary Clinton is Cleveverr than his, Well Who knows? Maybe she is, mayaybe she isn't. Does it matter? No He won the election, second time round And of course, there are really clever presidents often have to pretend that they're dumb, don't they in order to ingratiate themselves with the American people. Yeah, and it always comes across as incredibly inauthentic as well. Whereas with Donald Trump, he communicates in a certain way. and of course, it doesn't sound tremendously highly educated or very aerudite or eloquent, notot like Barack Obama, for instance, who couldn't have been more different in his style in office. That's been very helpful too. I think it's deliberate as well as instinctive because then he doesn't sound as though he's part of an Ivy leeague educated elite who have nothing to do with the electorate he's appealing to. You A lot of this, I think, has been instinctively but carefully crafted around appealing to a certain segment of America who felt incredibly left behind, whom Donald Trump does not belong to, never has, never will but yet is able to make common calluse with in a way that other presidents, who you might automatically consider to be terribly, terribly intelligent or intellectual were just fundamentally unable to do. When it comes to Jedy Vance, saying this. I mean, one of the things that always interests me is how much, obviously in this context he was referring to what he sees as misconceptions about Donald Trump I always wonder how well Donald Trump actually responds to this slightly like sicophantic, like, he's the cleverest person ever in the whole world. because you sometimes feel like think of, for example, Donald Trump and Mandami, he almost has a sort of more of a respect for people that don't try to suck up to him and be like, you're the cleverest person ever. but then also he absolutely hates if people donon't say that it's a bit of a no win, isn't it? Like a double bind What are you supposed to do? So was he impressed or not? because we should play this clip of him at a press conference on Wednesday. So this is a joke that possibly Robert in Malmsbury is important for the answer to your question because this is a joke very much about VAance and about what would happen to Vance if the Iran deal fails. You send the vice president If it works out, Great. You look like a genius for sending him. And if it doesn't work out It's the V vice presresident. I like that idea, sh This way if it works out I'm going to take the credit. If it doesn't work out, I'm Blaming JD. You better be careful, JD He's going to turn his plane around and get the hell out of here. Yeah, I like that idea. I think it's a good idea. Thank you very much. I know it's astonishing, isn't it? that you would think that that would sink him. And he said something very similar even before he returned to the White House about the twenty twenty two midterms that if the Republicans do well, he'll take all the credit and if they don't, then he'll accept none of blame, but it's one of these other Trumpisms. You wonder if anybody else could get away with it, but people love him for it, well, a certain section of the electorate love him for it. Other people are pretty contemptuous of it, but they're not people who were ever going to agree with Donald Trump in the first place. And part of it also, I think is another mistake people make. they underestimate his intelligence, but also they don't understand the joke. And it works two ways. It's appealing to those who already like him and you know reinforcing his bond with them whilst really, really, really irritating people who don't like. And so he manages to make a joke and score a troll all at the same time. And in Trump world, that is, as he would say, a big win Isn't this also just the eternal curse of being the vice president? Like you are the one lumped with sort of all of the rubbish and being particularly the vice president of Donald Trump. It's kind of like, well, you are a very conveniently placed scapegoat. should you be needed? I'd also say to further answer Robert Malmsbury's question about why he felt it necessary to say it. Number one, he's got to say it because he's got to suck up to Trump, etcera, etcera. But number two I wonder if Vance was also answering a question that wasn't asked in that way that politicians do, and as much as he's talking an awful lot about his intelligence But as Sarah reminded us, what he'd originally said all those years ago was effectively Donald Trump seemed evil It's the question he didn't answer is why he seems to have changed his mind. Is his moral compassather than his intelligity. on his morality. So it's fine to go into this great screed about how clever he is or not his IQ and all the rest of it, but actually it's a way of avoiding. the central question, which is Wh did you think he was a bad? I didn't think he was evil but now you think he's great. Yeah Okay, ono our next topic. On the Discord, there has been a lot of chatter about the Italian PM, Georgia Maloney and her rle with Donald Trump over the weekend So this all started with Donald Trump and Maloney being they were pictured in close conversation at this G seven summit And then on Friday, Donald Trump did a phone interview with an Italian TV channel in which he alleged She begged me to take a photo with her. I felt sorry for her And then Maloney was not having any of that, and she hit back with this video on Instagram She's speaking in Italian, but what she's saying is, so some things deserve an immediate reply. Donald Trump's comments are completely made up. I'm frankly appalled. I don't know why the Pident of the United States behaves that way with his own allies, not that it's the first time it's happened I can only say that it's a pity he doesn't have the same resolve when dealing with the enemies of the West, with the enemies of the United States and with their leaders, with whom instead he shows himself to be much more amenable, but he needs to bear one thing in mind. I never beg and nor does Italy Yo, Eitaria, Non in Poram Mi Well, it's not a bad line, is it? And I think Giorgio Maloney thinks this is not going to do her too much harm in Italy, which is of course what matters far more to her than how she's seen in the White House, because she also in some other posts said, look, that in fact, it hadn't been that helpful to her politically to have been seen to be particularly friendly with Donald Trump. And you know, they were ideologically aligned on a number of things. It was a fairly natural relationship He used to say how beautiful she was as well, how much he liked her. I'm not allowed to say it because usually it's the end of your political career, if you say it. She's a beautiful young woman. Now if you use the word beautiful in the United States, About a woman, that's the end of your political career, but I'll take my chances Where is she? there she is? You don't mind being all beautiful, right because you are Thank you very much for coming. We appreciate it. She wanted to be here and she's incredible. and they really respect her and Ital is is She's a very successful very suc. she doesn't seem to think that there's much jeopardy in falling out with him. And I think we're starting to see this right across Europe that leaders who worked incredibly hard in Trump's first term in office, Kerce Armor included, to stay on the right side of him and think that that meant that they could get things done. They wouldn't be able to if they had fallen out with him perfectly happy now actually to have public disagreements and even to fuel public spats with them because Obviously, they think that is more politically helpful than being seen to be on the same side. Boy, that's a change, isn't it? I mean It's really fascinating that that you could now have over the course of the next couple of years, particularly if everything goes wrong in the midterms for the Republicans, which we probablyably will, Well, certainly in the House of Representatives and possibly in the Senate as well. If Donald Trump's presidency is really on the ropes, The extent to which people turn against him, other world leaders turn against him, just say openly I' f enough of this nonsense, I no longer need to cow how to you. I regret doing it in the past. That's the other thing Sarah, isn't it? extent to which people begin, I don't know if Kir Starmer is yet in a position to write his memoirs, but you know there are all sorts of things that could come out, arere they? Given how indis Donald Trump was posed about Stara. Yeah, I was going to say, Given how indiscreet Trump is about them And it's not the first time he's done that just before Kama resigned. ye on T social, didn't he Post oncial saying he's going to go. He's going to go and he's kind of a loser. sorry about that. Which is an extraordinary kind of lapse of diplomatic form to put it mildly. But he's done it before, hasasn't? he's posted messages he's had from people before Yeah, and I think it's going to be really interesting to watch which issues matter the most because I think what we learned with Kar Starmer was you can be charming and flattering to Donald Trump as Kir Starmer was and he became known as the Trump whisperer as they enjoyed this extremely unlikely romance for like about eighteen months or so when they were going around being best friends, even though they couldn't be more unlike each other in personality or in policies And then It all fell apart over the Chagos Islands and Iran effectively. So yes, you'll probably have to try and charm him personally because personal relationships matter a great deal to Trump, but issues will be important And you've got Donald Trump in that trrue social that he posted on Sunday night, saying that Kir Starmer failed badly on two important subjects, immigration and energy, brackets open North Sea oil. That's what Donald Trump goes on all the time about what's wrong with the UK, how it's being run badly That's not something that any UK Pime Minister is necessarily going to take lessons from Donald Trump about. Then there's the key issues about defense spending, obviously, you know at the heart of a row in the British government. att the moment, that matters to Donald Trump because the commitment of NATO member countries to spend three percent on GDP on defense is very, very important And he was very critical of British Armed Forces and its defense posture when Kir St Aarmer initially refused to allow U.S bases to be used in the war in Iran. So you've got really sensitive defense issues, plus these other things where Donald Trump thinks he can tell the UK what its immigration policy should be. It's not a comfortable place for a new Prime Minister to wade in and try find their way through this relationship. Do they need allies? Sarah? I suppose that's the other question. I mean, Georgia Maloney was such a big one. She went to the inauguration, didn't she? She's so important. Sen is so important in Trump's outreach to Europe or Europe's outreach to Trump, whichever way round it is. and if that Bidgees is now burned? does it really matter? Well, I think that's something that Donald Trump is testing, isn't it? whether or not the US. can operate without allies? because he has, as we know, an expansive foreign policy that he thinks he can operate without any of the normal Carttesies are alliances, whether it's from his threats to leave NATO or his threats against them. Greenland that you know I don't think he's entirely given up on his idea that he wants to take over Greenland or at least increase the American footprint there. And he's been trampling over alliances and destroying America's soft power around the world He's got clients. So in Venezuela, you could say, Ohh well, you know, he's got a very firm ally there, but that's because he Delsa Rodriguez in charge of that country and probably thinks that he controls her fate It's you know, things are working out very differently for Donald Trump in the second year back in the White House than they did in his first. And I think he maybe came away from the lesson of the first twelve months being that no he didn't need any allies. He could say what he wanted to other countries and he could manage without them because America was the greatest and strongest nation on earth. I think we might see as things are going less well in the course of this year whether or not he has tested to destruction the idea that America can operate without allies Okay, next up Allg allegiance United States of America As you know, we're making our very own United States of Americaas. Basically, we're building a map of Americaast listeners state by state and we want to hear from all fifty states. Today, Hans Rip, who's actually from rural Herefordshire here in England has senters this voice note I remember the United States as it was in the early nineteen sixties For a few years, I lived in Evanston, Illinois with my father who was originally from Holland and later became an American citizen Life then seemed simple and optimistic Junior highigh school, teenage fun paper route and cleaning cars to earn a few dollars Looking at America today, I'm glad I made the decision to return to Europe in nineteen sixty three The USA remains today A great nation when you are young and healthy and financially secure But life can look very different on the other side of the equation. It seems deeply rooted in the American character to resist welfare and collective social provision whether in healthcare, infrastructure or public services suuggestions of higher taxation too support such things are often dismissed as Marxist Cby or liberal And as a result country appears to be increasingly divided and polarized Britain, in my opinion, comes a lot closer to finding the right balance A balanced society after all is one in which most people feel reasonably secure and content Yeah, I think what Hans is saying there, the idea that Britain is a more balanced society a lot of Brits would agree with, but I think exactly that characterization is what sounds to Americans as though Britain is a little bit Go that everything's just a bit gray and that there the optimism and excitement that a lot of Americans still feel for their country and for the future does come with a less balanced society with a lot of people feeling less secure, but it's that dynamism that's the other side of that, which is what Americans pprise so much about their own society. I would challenge you hands on two fronts. number one. Evanston, Illinois in the early nineteen sixties probably felt like a great place to live as a youngster There are all sorts of things about America in the early nineteen sixties, certainly to the south of Illinois and in the southern states that would not have been much fun and particularly for certain segments of the population. In other words, America's a story. it's always on the march and although certain segments of society feel at any one stage, goodness, this is wonderful. other segments will not feel the same way. And it was the case in the nineteen sixties and it's still the case now. So I don't think necessarily that looking back with sort of sePia tinged views of the nineteen sixties necessarily is the right way to look at the U.S. But the flip side of all the incredible driving ambition and success. And just can do attitude that there is there is also that there's less of a safety net And I suspect that the two have to go together to the extent that they have to go together, then America is always going to feel very different. this cultural divide that Hans remembers and brings up now It's just always going to be with us isn't it Yes, We think British and American societies people and cultures are much closer together because we share this common language and we share so many cultural touch points in TV shows and movies and music and books Actually, we're very, very different people and it would be easier to tell the difference if we didn't speak the same language. In fact, the former bureau chief here in the BBC Washington Bureau used to say if only they didn't speak English Otherwise, we wouldn't be so confused when we realize just quite how different they are from us. I think it took me twelve, eighteen months of living in America to really understand. It's a very, very different place from the United Kingdom and we shouldn't be so surprised by that. And in some ways we should embrace and celebrate that. lot ique of American society, I think, comes from the fact that they're not as like us as we think they ought to be. and we need to separate that idea Okay, thanks to Hans. it is time now to take stock. Thank you to all of you who have already contributed. The aim, of course to hear from as many of you as possible and from all fifty states. And we've already had messages from Texas, Ohio, Massachusetts, California and Washington. And last week we received our first correspondence from West Virginia, Rhode Island and Tennessee. Here is a taster in thirty seconds of what we've had so far Hi, I Americcast, Longtime Listener. My name is Estevon. I live in Sunny California. This is Jane Lveay from Bend in Oregon. This is Melissa from North Dakota. This is Hunter calling in from suunny Central Florida. I live in Houston of all places. This is Manuel from Ohio, specifically the Ohio State University I am from the great state of Idaho, and I would love to represent Illinois for the map of Amerary Castors Thank you so much and all the best. Y, so we're already overwhelmed by the huge response that we've had, covering a great deal of the map of the United States, building up a picture of what our Americas' relationships with different states are. But there are several we haven't heard from yet. so shout out too Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. If you have a connection to any of them, please please, please, do get in touch and join the list of our emmericasters who are telling us of their own personal relationship. You don't need to live in one of those states if you've got some kind of Connection, if you've visited, if you've got family, even if you've just always, always wanted to go there, do please consider this your invitation to make your application to represent one of those fine states on our map of Americasters. And you can email us Americast at bbc dot co dot u or you can send us a message or a voice note via WhatsApp. That's plus four four three three zero one two three nine four eight zero Bye bye. bye Thank you for answering our call and continuing to send your messages to us. We do read every single one. We love to hear your thoughts, your feedback