Here’s my 2022 conversation with National Book Award winner, KEVIN BOYLE, about his book, THE SHATTERING: AMERICA IN THE 1960s. He reminds us that, after the Depression and two World Wars, the Silent Majority craved security not change. I suspect this history lesson offers us a window into the minds and the worldviews of many of the crucial undecided MidWest and Sunbelt voters upon whom this election and our future depends. You can learn more at kevinboylehistory.com
 

ARLIE HOCHSCHILD is the author of best-seller, STRANGERS IN THEIR OWN LAND: Anger & Mourning on the American Right. Five years talking with folks in Southern Louisiana revealed a “deep story” that holds their political contradictions together – they’re waiting in line for the American Dream and Democrats help others – Blacks, Latinos, LGBTQ – cut in front of them. In her new book, STOLEN PRIDE: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right, she takes readers to Pike County, Kentucky. In the nation’s whitest and second poorest congressional district , she looks again at the intersection of jobs, culture, emotion, and politics. 

The Democrats have for too long ceded rural voters to the GOP. When the solution to minority rule is voting, connecting with and winning over rural voters is essential. Here’s my 2022 conversation with Maine state senator CHLOE MAXMIN and CANYON WOODWARD about the the book they’ve co-authored, DIRT ROAD REVIVAL. It tells the story of their winning elections in rural Maine with CHLOE as candidate and CANYON as campaign manager and offers lessons they’ve learned to guide other rural progressives. You can learn more at dirtroadrevival.com 

 

 

Blind spots. In his book, EXCLUDED: How Snob Zoning, NIMBYism, and Class Bias Build the Walls We Don’t See, RICHARD KAHLENBERG points out not only how restrictive zoning laws negatively influence all sorts of things in this country, but also that such laws are more likely or more restrictive in communities that are otherwise more liberal and progressive. KAHLENBERG also testified on the side of doing away with race-based affirmative action in higher education. It’s a provocative conversation. You can learn more at richardkahlenberg.org 

This episode, archived conversations with two wise elders recently in the news. First, my 2007 conversation with PHIL DONAHUE who died August 18th at the age of 88. Donahue always seemed to be as focused on the common good as he was on ratings – while delivering well on both. We talked about his decades of work as well as Body of War, the documentary he co-directed about Tomas Young, a severely disabled Iraq War veteran. Second, my 2008 conversation with Nobel Peace Prize-winner Muhammad Yunus, pioneer of micro-credit, about his work and his book, CREATING A WORLD WITHOUT POVERTY. Since August 8th, Yunus has been serving as Chief Adviser of the interim government of Bangladesh following the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Learn more at grameenfoundation.org and muhammadyunus.org