In the Great Smoky Mountains, Misha sees what is possible when Black, Indigenous and people of color are in a positions of power.
In the Great Smoky Mountains, Misha sees what is possible when Black, Indigenous and people of color are in a positions of power. She takes her first solo hike, making friends with an unlikely cast of characters along the way, and reflects on her conversations with Superintendent Cassius Cash, Ranger Antoine Fletcher, and others who are diversifying the Smokies and helping uncover the BIPOC roots of this land.
Smoky Mountain National Park is on the land of the Cherokee.
More about the podcast:
Hello, Nature host, Misha Euceph, didn’t know about the National Parks until she turned 21. But after an experience in Joshua Tree and watching 12 hours of a national park documentary, she sets out on a road trip to answer the question: if the parks are public, aren’t they supposed to be for everyone? In this podcast, she goes out to see America and tell a new story of our national parks.
Hello, Nature can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
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ACT I
Misha: Okay. Good. I am going to grab a trekking pole.
It’s our last day in the Great Smoky Mountains. And we’ve spent more time here than in any other park. 4 full days.
Misha: Alrighty. Here ya go.
It’s early, maybe 7am, a gorgeous day in June. I’m basically feeling like a superhero right now.
Misha: All right see ya! Thank you.
I wave to Jonathan and leave for the Alum Cove trail.
I’m planning to hike to the top of Mount LeConte, the third highest peak in the park. I mean, I’ve been wanting to hike by myself this entire trip. Remember when I tried in Big Bend and turned back like 5 seconds in ‘cause of the fresh bear poop?
Anyway, it’s kind of now or never. And I’m finally feeling like I got this.
Misha: Is the trailhead this way?
I’ve met so many amazing people in this park. And I feel like all of them are in my mind as I start the hike, which is great because this trail at 7am is pretty deserted.
I notice a woman in the parking lot and because I’m me, I decide to make her my friend.
Misha: You hike by yourself a lot?
Woman in the park: I do. In Wisconsin. Actually, I've been going down to all the national parks. So, sometimes I go...
Misha: Oh, you have?
Woman in the park: Yeah.
My new friend is in her 50’s. She has piercing blue eyes and salt and pepper hair. More salt than pepper for sure. It’s tied back into a ponytail that sits inside the hood of her white rain jacket.
She tells me about how she wants to visit all the national parks before she dies.
How she’s been on hikes alone in some of the most dangerous spots in Alaska.
We hike together for a bit, and then I have to take off my jacket.
Misha: You guys can go ahead if you want. Yea. I’ll probably catch up.
I stop for a second. It’s the first time I’m actually alone. I know I’m not supposed to, but I lift a tiny rock to see if there’s a salamander under it.
Misha: Oh no! It’s so fast!
Tyler Gonzalez: That one was really fast.
Misha: They all are really...Oh no, it's still going. How do I? Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. How do I get it?
Before yesterday, I’d never even seen a salamander. I saw my first one with Tyler Gonzalez. He even convinced me to catch it.
Tyler Gonzalez: I want to say try this rock.
So I got into a cold stream, ankle-deep.
Misha: I can’t believe I’m doing this.
And started chasing crazy fast salamanders. And tried not to slip.
Misha: Alright, buddy. I need you to just like come in. Just get in. It’s okay. This is your new home. No, it’s gone. Where did it go?
Tyler works for the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont.
Tyler Gonzalez: Look at all these. You know what these are? These little things.
And he’s all about teaching people “How to Nature”.
Tyler Gonzalez: Little pine.
Misha: Pine.
Tyler Gonzales: Pine needles!
Misha: Pine needles!
And he has such cool teacher vibes. Like when I ask him something that he doesn't know the answer to, he shrugs his shoulders like a cartoon. And he goes, let's find out together! It's very sweet.
Tyler Gonzalez: That’s a good question. Any ideas?
Misha: The sun?
Tyler Gonzalez: Mainly the sun. Nailed it!
He wants people to be hyped about the outdoors and says it’s not hard to get them excited. Just follow these three steps.
Step one — extend an invitation.
So, I invite you to come with me, through the Smokies.
This is Hello, Nature from REI Co-Op Studios, brought to you by Subaru. I’m your host, Misha Euceph.
This episode, I’m in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Land of the Cherokee.
So, step two? Actually, go outside.
Tyler Gonzalez: We're actually going to do it, we're going to get out there and experience this place and the plants and the animals and the dirt and the soil. And we're going to get bug bit and we're going to get dirty and we're going to get sweaty, and it might be uncomfortable, but we're going to see something new we've never seen before. And then we try to look a little bit closer and learn about it, you know.
And this is literally the most biodiverse national park.
It’s brimming with animals, insects, trees, plants, green rivers.
Misha: It’s always nice to get a hike in.
The frog croaks are fighting with the bird songs. It’s like I’m stuck at a traffic light between competing sound systems.
The frogs win. Unfortunately.
As of September 2019, there are 20,000 documented species in this park. 20,000 dude. And scientists keep finding new ones. Los Angeles, where I’m from, only has 4,000 species.
This park has range!
It also has an insane amount of salamanders.
Tyler Gonzalez: There are 30 different types of salamanders in the park. Salamander capital of the world.
Tyler is a pro though. He has a special permit that allows him to catch salamanders for research and education purposes. This is not something that you should do on your own. You could mess up the salamanders and their homes. And..and...and…and it’s literally illegal.
Tyler Gonzalez: So we're pulling out some of our salamandering supplies. I brought a bunch of different stuff that is going to help us catch and learn about salamanders.
Tyler started unloading his backpack, taking out all kinds of salamandering equipment.
Tyler Gonzalez: We have, let's see a dissolved oxygen kit. We can kind of detect like how much dissolved oxygen is in the water. pH. Do you remember pH? Yeah, we got pH little laser thermometer. Look at that.
But then he had to explain to me what we were even looking for. Turns out a salamander is an amphibian. So it’s kinda like a lizard-looking dude that needs water.
He stuck a fake plastic salamander in the water and showed us how he would catch it.
Tyler Gonzalez: So you'll get your salamander catching device. And we have this beautiful stream right here. You'll kind of get down low in the stream and try to encourage a salamander to go into the bag.
Misha: Do they bite?
Tyler Gonzalez: They do not bite.
Tyler Gonzalez: And we just want to try not to like grab them. Because they're pretty susceptible to like pollutants and stuff like that. And maybe even like bug spray if you have like a lotion or something.
And then...he handed me a bag.
Tyler Gonzalez: Go in.
Misha: And you're not going to do one first?
Tyle Gonzalez: I think you should go for it.
Misha: No! I feel like that's ugh.
Tyler Gonzalez: I think you got it.
Misha: Okay, do I have to go all the way into the bottom area?
Tyler Gonzalez: Yes.
Misha: How do I know what to do, though? You haven't done it.
Tyler Gonzalez: I showed you.
Misha: Argh!
Tyler Gonzalez: You got this.
Okay, not gonna lie — when Tyler said Step Two of “How to Nature” was doing the thing, I thought he would do the thing. Like, he would show us where to find salamanders, maybe catch one, and do a sort of show-and-tell, you know. But, no.
Misha: Where are you, buddy?
Tyler Gonzalez: Woah there’s something else. There's a crayfish.
Misha: Oh, oh my god, that's so scary looking. You can pick that up?
Tyler Gonzalez: Yeah. Careful.
After what felt like forever — but was probably more like 5 minutes — I did catch one.
Misha: It’s a really little one. I think I have a larvae, right?
Tyler Gonzalez: We’ll have to take a bit closer look even if it’s small, it can still be an adult.
Misha: I mean, it looks like a mini snake.
Tyler Gonzalez: Oh okay.
Misha: It has a little snakey legs. It has a snakey face.
Tyler Gonzalez: Snakey legs?
Misha: It does...
I’m gonna blow right past the fact that snakes don’t have visible legs. But I stand by what I said. It looks like one! It’s long and skinny and kind of a blackish brown color. Like imagine if the mud sprouted eyes and started slithering around.
And no, the mud is not about to start talking. I drank water today.
Anyway, as it turns out, these snakey-looking things can tell us how healthy the ecosystem is. Salamanders are extremely sensitive to environmental changes. So, if there are too few or too many of them, it’s a good sign that something is out of whack. They’re sort of like a canary in a coal mine.
And because salamanders are so important, of course, we are killing them left and right.
If I learned anything on my parks road trip, it’s that humans are great at eliminating things that are helpful to the ecosystem.
Tyler Gonzalez: Across the country and in the world, amphibian populations especially have been like, going down and down and down a lot. There's a lot of things going on. Just habitat loss. So there's no place for salamanders to live because of development, or other issues, right. And invasive species. You know, as people move around the world as much as we do, we bring other viruses and bacteria, and funguses and things that, like kill other native species. You know, so we have a big invasive problem.
I kept thinking about the wolves in Yellowstone and the bats in Mammoth Cave. Without knowing it, I’ve entered step three of “How to Nature.”
Tyler Gonzalez: Share and reflect on that experience.
I didn’t care about salamanders before this very moment. It’s hard to care about something you didn’t even know existed.
But now that I know about them, and looked one straight in the eye, I do care.
More than that, I’m having fun! I splashed around in a stream and I caught a salamander basically all by myself.
Damn, Tyler. Those three steps really work.
ACT II
Tyler Gonzalez: Yea, let’s walk up here. There’s a really cool spot up the hill...
Man in the park: If you are going up the trail, you need to go on this way.
Misha: Oh my god. You see, I needed you guys here. I would’ve definitely gone off the trail.
Wow, reflected so hard I almost left the trail.
Misha: Where are you guys from?
Man in the park: We live around the area.
Misha: Oh amazing.
Man in the park: In the Knoxville area.
Misha: Oh, I love Knoxville. We’ve just spent only a night there.
Man in the park: You can move to Knoxville.
Misha: I might. It’s beautiful.
Step one to getting people to move to Knoxville, extend an invitation.
Man in the park: Just stay on this path. You’ll be just fine.
Misha: Okay. Thank you. What was your name again?
Man in the park: Bob. Bob and Roger.
Misha: Bob and Roger. Misha. Nice to meet you guys.
Man in the park: So you just truck on…
Misha: Yea, I’ll keep going.
Man in the park: And if you get confused, just wait on us.
Misha: I will. I’ll turn back around. Thank you.
Man in the park: You’re welcome.
Thank god for my grandpa friends. Last thing I need is to get lost on my first ever solo hike.
Misha: Wow, this part of the trail is really empty. No one else is here. Just me.
It’s chilly but perfect weather for hiking. It keeps me from overheating even though I’ve been hiking for like 3 hours.
I’m back on the trail now, and I take in how pretty Alum Cove is. A running stream, a giant rock cove, foresty trails that lead you up to the mountain.
Misha: Pretty purple flowers, too. On both sides of me. Mostly on the left.
This forest is so dense, I keep forgetting that I’m in a mountain range. Like I can’t see the forest for the trees vibes. And then, suddenly, I find myself on top of a mountain, and there are layers and layers of mountains in front of me.
Misha: Wow, so pretty.
Like an impressionist painting. Blues and indigos — the mountains look like they’re made of smoke — just blurs in the distance, lit by the orange of the sunset.
It’s exactly the kind of landscape Michele Johnson was talking to me about in Arches. The dense, wooded forests that have a painful history in the South especially. Of racism. Of lynching. They’re filled with trauma and grief, ghosts of hatred.
It’s so quiet.
Just me and the hum of bugs that gather around me in clouds once in a while. The breeze is rustling through the thick leaves.
It’s quiet enough to hear the history.
I’m thinking about the history of this land. And about my history. The Misha who started this trip — the one who was scared to pitch a tent. And who was forced to pitch one in the dark on her very first night.
The one who used to have panic attacks driving. And who has driven at least a few thousand miles on this road trip.
The one who was afraid of being noticed for not knowing, for being different.
The one who thought there was a right American way to do camping.
I’m not that person anymore.
I mean, I still hate bugs. I don’t wanna go dance around with the bears. But I’m out here alone doing something that I turned back from just 3 weeks ago.
And okay, so this is one of the busiest trails in the Smokies. But there are large chunks of this hike where I’m all by myself.
And the truth is that I don’t really feel alone. I have the courage to do this because of all of the people who have walked this path before me. I mean this literal trail, but also the indigenous people who have done so much work to protect this land. And the people of color who are showing people like me that we are welcome here.
ACT III
Cassius: Whenever I go on to the national park, I always come out better than when I went in.
Cassius Cash is Superintendent of the Smokies. It basically means he oversees everything that happens in the park. To say “it’s a lot of work” is an understatement. The Great Smoky Mountains is half a million acres.
That's more than twice the size of Chicago.
And Cassius takes care of the park’s visitors, the staff, the infrastructure, and the environment.
And on top of all of this, he is trying to make the Smokies more diverse and inclusive.
Cassius Cash: I took this platform and used this as my niche to say, you know, why can't we talk about where we are as a country with diversity in one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world here.
Cassius was a city kid, He grew up in Memphis, Tennessee –
Cassius Cash: You know, you didn't see Smokey the Bear walking down Beale Street. It was about barbecue and blues, right?
– his outdoor education came from Boy Scouts and TV shows. But it’s not like he was so inspired by these things that he had to join the park service.
Cassius Cash: My dad is a retired police officer. And I used to love how he helped people, right. But what really drew me is how he would help families. You know, that's when people start talking about community policing. He was the epitome of that. My mom is a retired cosmetologist, but she just didn't do hair, she specialized in working on wigs for young kids that were about to undergo chemotherapy treatments at St. Jude's there in Memphis. That was very influential to me from my parents.
He joined the National Park Service in 2010. Then, in 2015, he became superintendent of the Smokies. He’s the first African American person to lead the park.
Cassius Cash: I'm definitely a minority among superintendents, and particularly of the big parks. You know, I'm the only African American superintendent of the larger known parks throughout the country.
One of Cassius’s goals as superintendent of the Smokies is to start meaningful conversations around race, equity, and social justice.
And one of his recent projects was inspired by what he was going through in the summer of 2020.
Cassius Cash: So let's go back because I have to give you context on the mindset I was in when I came up with this idea here. So if COVID taught us nothing else, we know a lot about viruses now. And we know the more so the importance of mental and emotional health. And so that was having this weight on me as just a regular person. And then when George Floyd happened, that was a flashpoint. Then you had Breonna Taylor, then you had Ahmaud Arbery. I mean, these were things that were happening, like within a week's period of time, and it really bothered me.
Cassius did what he normally does when he needs to think. He took a solo hike in the park.
Cassius Cash: And so as I was gaining clarity through this hike, I said to myself, Oh my god, you know, wouldn't this be a gift to others that are going through the same thing and the community I live in, and the people that I love?
He recruited a bunch of people who work on racial equity, especially in the outdoors. And he asks them to lead guided hikes in the park. People would sign up knowing that at some point during the hike, they are going to talk about race.
Cassius Cash: I always say that the National Park Service is a unique organization because it's one of few that evolves with America's consciousness. We're America's storytellers. And we are the entity that talks about everything dating back from slavery to LGBTQ issues, or to Cesar Chavez, migrant workers and unionizing. And I felt that I had the license to do this, because not only am I African American, but I'm the son of a police officer, right? And that's what was happening, right. And so those things, you know, came together in a way that my soul said, that this is something I could possibly do, and really maximize this platform that I have because I won't have it forever. And I want to make sure that not only did I leave the park better than I found it, but did I also have an opportunity to make my community better?
The project is called “Smokies Hikes for Healing”. Between August and December of 2020, he and the facilitators led 8 guided hikes.
Misha: Did you see anybody have any kind of like emotional response during the “Hikes for Healing”?
Cassius Cash: Well, there were plenty of tears, being in that place does something for you and to you. And so there were many times that people were quite emotional. And I think just being in that environment and allowing you, your soul to be free to talk about something that people never had the platform to talk about. That was another common thing, too, is that people never been in places where they could feel safe to talk about that. I'll never forget those hikes. I never forget those individuals. And the strangers will start out, you know, giving your name and what your hobbies are. And by the end of that hike, you have people hugging, you have people exchanging addresses and phone numbers. And that was always my vision for this. Because you can't take a couple of hikes and fix a 400-year 500-year piece of history in this country. But you can chip at that boulder, one individual at a time. And sometimes you need that buddy or those buddies to help you get to those crucial conversations.
I committed to doing eight hikes but I thought it was enough to jumpstart and when you go to the web page for “Smokies Hikes for Healing” and it has materials that if you want it to do this, we have tools in there how you can lead your own hike if you want to do it.
But now this year, the Park Service, national level, has adopted this program, and they're going to be doing it at different parks throughout the country.
Misha: This is so steep. I'm tired.
It’s hour four. My body is screaming at me. I think maybe 100 times about quitting.
Misha: I thought I was in shape but apparently I'm not...
And, then I see another elderly man pass me.
Yeah. Another elderly man.
Misha: Gotta eat something.
Then, a parent with a kid strapped to their back zips uphill like a pro-athlete.
Misha: How are you guys doing?
Person on the hike: Good. How are you?
Misha: Good.
Person on the hike: It’s a thigh burner.
Misha: Oh my god. If I don’t have like the hottest quads on the planet after this, I’ll never do another hike again.
And I tell myself, you got this. You can do this.
I can hike up a mountain as a 28 year old, healthy woman, if Cassius Cash and everyone working with him can make the Smokies the most inclusive national park I’ve seen so far.
Think about it.
This park borders Tennessee, South Carolina, West Virginia.
Places that used to be confederate states.
You know, Mammoth Cave is a park where it felt like the history was there — you can find out quite a bit about Stephen Bishop. And Jerry is there, telling people his family’s story. But it all feels like it’s still buried. Underground. Hidden behind overgrown woodland.
You have to look for it.
And not everyone wants to venture out there alone.
But here, in the Smokies, it’s a totally different story.
There’s a program here called “The African American Experience Project.” Antoine Fletcher is in charge of it. He leads a team of people who are finding burial sites all over the park.
Antoine Fletcher: What you're looking at here is the Enloe cemetery. It is one of many African American cemeteries here. As you see here in this shaded spot today, sun just glimmering just a little bit through the trees. And what we have is troughs or mounds of dirt. And what we think is someone came in years later when a grave collapsed. If you ever tried to, well, I won't say that. If you ever dig a hole in the Smokies, you go down a couple of feet, it gets really rocky at times at places. And so these graves most likely collapsed, someone brought dirt and put it in over it. So you'll see these hills here, these mounds, these troughs beside them. And what you're seeing here is eight burials, possibly a couple of coffins here. And we've been able to see that through ground-penetrating radar. Something else that you're seeing is really important that we see from time to time, or pieces like pennies, change, things like that. In African culture, what was believed is you needed money to get to the afterlife. So this pays the toll. And other things were left behind by people that really loved them. So you may have cups left behind with holes in them, so other people won't use them, spoons broken in half, things like that, showing that these people were people. It shouldn't be invisible, right. And the one thing you really want to ask yourself is, who were these people?
Let's kind of step back a little bit and take about what the journey was like on the transatlantic slave trade. You know, millions of people brought over here on a four-month journey. They went into places like Memphis, Charleston, South Carolina, in New Orleans and things like that, these big slave ports. And after that sold into slavery, walking into the Smokies. The slavery in the Smokies was different than it was in Charleston, South Carolina. First, you have to look at the mountains themselves. Okay. So in this area, what you have is a different type of plantation, a mountain plantation, usually, mountain plantations that was really doing well had maybe 12 slaves, but also they weren't growing, you know, the indigo, the rice that was being grown in other places. This was more of a livestock plantation. They would run livestock drives throughout the mountains to places like Asheville. And you know what people don't understand as well as that there were a lot of enslaved people, not only in the mountains but around America, especially in the south and Northeast. They would go to a place like that or leave North Carolina go to Virginia to sell goods on their own. But still, you’re not free. You can easily be found. So that's in the Smokies, that's what slavery most likely what would’ve looked like.
And so this is just a regular mountain burial right here. Now, there is a mix of reasons why these burials are here like this. Enslaved people, African Americans really wanted their privacy when it came to burials or graveyards. It was tough, though. Slave owners did not like them to have their privacy, a lot of times they would actually act as the pastor instead of an enslaved person bringing in their own pastor and things like that. And so a lot of times, enslaved people would bury their loved ones on a property like this back in the woods, away from a logging road, things like that. So they could come back in peace. And a lot of times they buried their people in the middle of the night as well. However, if an enslaver did have a burial ground for his enslaved people, then a lot of times, it was like this, out in the middle of nowhere in the woods, away from anything. And, you know, that just kind of speaks to how it was back then. That's why you will see African American burial grounds far away.
Antoine Fletcher: It's history that's literally buried. And it’s not only buried here, but also in our history. I mean, it's kind of there, you kind of heard of it, but you don't really know about it. And I think this project is going to shed a light on that. When you're standing at this cemetery, we may never know who these people are. However, we can construct the history around them. And it's the mission of the Park Service to preserve and protect these lanes. And with me preserving becomes preserving these stories. The park has been working with the National Park Service as a whole to compile these stories. The idea eventually very soon is to have information that people can read on a panel and they can come up here and pay respects or just be educated of what this gravesite means to this park. I think that so many more people want to learn these stories, and so many more people are actually just facing this tough history. And you know, we can learn a lot from it.
ACT IV
Misha: Definitely feeling some altitude sickness.
I am at the top.
Person on the mountain: Hey, you made it!
Misha: Yea all my friends are here. Hi, how are you?
Person on the mountain: Good. How are you?
Misha: Good.
We are literally at the top of the Smokies.
Misha: Oh my gosh.
Those blurry mountain peaks that looked like a painting? They are now only a few feet away.
Misha: Woah. Oh my gosh.
And up here, there’s an edge with jagged rocks where people are sitting, eating all kinds of things. One guy is literally making tacos.
Misha: I can’t believe you are making full blown tacos right now. That is next level.
I’m so glad to be with all of these people.
Misha: Hi. Could I ask you guys to take a photo of me? Please?
People on the mountain: Yes! Oh my gosh, yes!
Misha: Thank you.
You know, I am not afraid to be alone. Not in the way some people fear sitting with their own thoughts. I mean, I learned about the national parks while on a silent meditation retreat — remember?
But, I do feel like I’ve been caught up in the romance of solitude in wilderness.
Like John Muir saying, “To sit in solitude, to think in solitude with only the music of the stream and the cedar to break the flow of silence, there lies the value of wilderness.”
Maybe he needed that.
But I’m realizing that part of doing nature on my own terms is accepting that I don’t.
I don’t.
I want to experience these beautiful things with the beautiful people in my life.
I like making friends wherever I go. I like not just feeling welcome but welcoming others.
I’d rather be a pack wolf than a lone wolf.
I sit with my fitness instructor-looking friend,
Fitness friend: ...and you too. If I’m down your way, maybe I’ll see you.
the sweet seniors from Knoxville,
Senior from Knoxville: Spectacular
Misha: Oh my gosh.
Senior from Knoxville: ...mountains. I need to take a picture.
the lady who I met in the parking lot,
Misha: You kept me company at the beginning. You gave me the courage to do it.
a family from Wisconsin who offer me snacks.
Man from Wisconsin: We used to do this.
Misha: Yea haha.
What was it that Chris McCandless said in “Into The Wild”? “Happiness is only real when shared”.
ACT V
It’s our last night in the Smokies. Around 10pm.
Right by our campsite, there’s a trail that leads to a little clearing.
Jakes Creek Trail.
Jonathan and I follow all the families with red headlamps and folding chairs into the forest.
I accidentally flash the white light on my phone and all of a sudden, the forest looks scary, dense. Like I’m in a horror movie.
I desperately turn it off.
And then…
Twinkly little fireflies. At first, there are only a couple.
One twinkles. And then another one.
And then another one.
And then they start to flash together. Like a wave of light that triggers another wave of light.
We get deeper into the rows of trees. We notice people are sitting on their folding chairs just staring into the forest. That’s what they brought those for!
The fireflies are putting on a show. And it’s magic.
Thousands and thousands of rows of twinkles.
Like synchronized swimmers.
I finally understand what Stephen Hummel said at Big Bend.
Let your eyes adjust to the darkness.
Because when you flash a bright light into the darkness, it’s scary. Your aloneness, your fears stare right back at you.
But when you let your eyes adjust to the darkness, you see fireflies.
Watching this dance…I think about what the Smokies is doing right.
It’s a park that’s filled with people who aren’t just trying to shine a bright white light into the darkness.
They are taking your hand and walking with you into the forest. And when you think about the history of this land and feel overwhelmed by the pain, they squeeze your hand and say, “yes, but I am here with you.”
Cassius Cash: You have to allow people to see themselves in the story. And the more we do that, I just have a strong suspicion that a lot more people are going to see themselves in what we call America's best idea.