America turns 250 this year — and in this episode, we're celebrating her.

Not a naive celebration that pretends we have no problems. A grateful, grounded one that says: 250 years in, this is still the greatest nation on earth, and the things that make it work aren't the monuments in Washington. They're the quiet institutions in places like Cook County, Georgia, run with integrity by people who serve their neighbors.

I sat down with Judge Chase Daughtrey — Probate Judge of Cook County, elected at just 26 as the youngest judge in the state of Georgia. Eighteen years later, he's still serving, and he gave us a rare look inside the machinery of self-governance that most people never think about.

We get into what a probate judge actually does (way more than you'd think), the quiet work of protecting vulnerable adults and seniors who have no one else, why local elections might matter more than national ones, what it means to swear an oath in a country founded on them, and the difference between being informed and being consumed by the 24-hour outrage cycle.

And we talk about the big thing: why — even with her challenges — America is still worth celebrating. From the folks risking everything on rafts to get here, to the visitors falling in love with the country during the World Cup, to the simple truth that nobody's trying to break out.

As Chase put it: she'll have her challenges, she'll have adversities to overcome, but he'll take her over any other country any day of the week.

Same here.

Happy 250th, America.