What makes a country worth loving? Is patriotism about flags, freedom, democracy, or the people who hold a nation together behind the scenes?

In this episode of Transatlantic Bookmarks, we celebrate America’s 249th Independence Day by moving beyond the headlines to ask a bigger question: What makes a country worth fighting for, protecting, or simply loving? We discuss patriotism, democracy, American history, the Fourth of July, Michael Lewis’s Who Is Government?, Hamilton, Lonesome Dove, nationalism, citizenship, NATO, the European Union, Montenegro, and what literature can teach us about civic life.

Whether you’re interested in books, politics, history, literary fiction, democracy, public service, patriotism, or thoughtful long-form conversations, we hope you’ll join us.

📚 Books Mentioned

• Who Is Government? edited by Michael Lewis
• South and West by Joan Didion
• Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
• Steep Trails by John Muir
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• Moneyball by Michael Lewis
• Flash Boys by Michael Lewis
• Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
• Ms. Mabel Goes to the Chopping Block by Jesse Q. Sutanto
• The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
• Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-Zi

💌 Our Substack & Show Notes:
https://transatlanticbookmarks.substack.com/

📚 Read Ksenija’s Novels:
https://transatlanticbookmarks.substack.com/p/publications

📚 Ksenija on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6449766.Ksenija_Popovi_

🎙️ ABOUT TRANSATLANTIC BOOKMARKS

Hosted by European novelist Ksenija Popović and American engineer Sue Graham Johnston, Transatlantic Bookmarks is a weekly literary podcast that uses books as the starting point for conversations about culture, history, psychology, morality, politics, and the questions hiding between the lines.

New episodes every Saturday.

👉🏻 CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro
00:42 Happy Fourth of July
03:31 What We’re Reading
08:09 American Democracy and Independence
13:17 The Price of Independence in the Balkans
24:05 Unsung Heroes in Government
34:41 What Is Patriotism Today?
51:34 Post-9/11 America and Post-Bataclan Paris
54:57 Can One Person Make a Difference?
01:04:12 Alexander Hamilton and the Founding Fathers
01:14:19 Book Recommendations