Shanal Otchere

A group of children gathers in a forest clearing. Before anything else begins, they check in—with themselves, with one another, and with the world around them. Each child is invited, but never required, to share how they are feeling, something they are grateful for, and what they hope the day might hold. From there, the day unfolds. Some children wander toward a creek, asking where the water comes from. Others begin building shelters from fallen branches.

The Trump administration has failed to move the needle on its goal of boosting US declining birth rates and reversing the “fertility crisis,” which Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy recently called “a threat not only to our economy, to our national security,” and Dr. Oz said has left a third of Americans “under-babied.” Falling birth rates are not a crisis, but rather a positive result of greater reproductive choice.

Recorded on: Jun 29, 2026 | As America marks its 250th birthday, Nate takes a moment to step outside of the celebrations to seek out a wider boundary perspective on this milestone holiday. He poses the question of whether the United States has truly matured as a nation over two and a half centuries, particularly through the lenses of energy, ecology, history, and culture.