From Silence to Redemption

The Trump administration has gutted U.S. international broadcasting. We need a blueprint for how to build it back better under a future administration.

It is one thing to lament the destruction of American institutions — some physically, such as the White House East Wing. And we can and will continue to mourn their demise. We also need to take inspiration from the last line in the Passover Seder Hagaddah: L’Shana Haba’ah B’Yerushalayim (Next Year in Jerusalem). For nearly two millennia, Jews, mourning their exile from the Holy Land, recited the phrase in hope of return, redemption and reconstruction.

For months, since the current administration — in defiance of Congress and now judicial rulings — has effectively silenced the Voice of America and other U.S.-government funded external broadcasters, I have been pondering an eventual path forward.

Today, I’m articulating this in a guest essay on the Substack of my good friend, Sree Sreenivasan, the acclaimed NYC journalist, academic and entrepreneur, who is a founder and current president of the South Asian Journalists Association.

I am merely making suggestions, it is not a plan (I know of others across the political spectrum who are about to strategize along those lines).

I hope my post stimulates such discussions, taking inspiration from kintsugi, the Japanese art form, originating in the 15th century, that embodies a profound philosophy, visualized in broken pottery repaired with lacquer and powdered gold. Instead of hiding the cracks, the craft illuminates them, demonstrating that our scars and history need not be concealed, but rather demonstrate renewal, resilience, distinction and, yes, even beauty.