President Donald Trump stands beside photos of Kennedy Center Honors nominees from left showing actor-singer Michael Crawford and “Rocky” actor Sylvester Stallone, on Aug. 13, 2025.
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Alex Brandon/AP
President Trump has made unprecedented moves to influence American culture, from taking broadcast corporations to court to his efforts to control the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Smithsonian Institution. We discuss what could be motivating these efforts and what impact they’re having on arts and culture.
This episode: White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram, critic-at-large Eric Deggans, and senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro.
This podcast was produced by Casey Morell & Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.
Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.
Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics.
