Episode 123: White Rural Rage (with Jane Michaels)
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Jane Michaels, a white rural Marxist-Humanist, joins Gabriel and Andrew to discuss White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy, by Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman, which was published earlier this year. They discuss the authors’ view that rural whites are the “tip of the spear” of resurgent authoritarianism in the US, and their contention that rural whites will be the ones who return Trump to power if he does become president again. Jane assesses the extent to which the book meshes with her personal experiences as a lifelong rural Wisconsinite. She and Gabriel contrast the book to J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy. Also discussed are the negative feedback the book has engendered, the causes of “white rural rage,” Trumpism before Trump, voters for Obama who flipped to Trump, and what can be done to stop the ascendancy of white supremacism and authoritarianism. Plus current-events segment: The Real Trump Mystery: why does half of the voting public support a malignant narcissistic Mussolini wannabe who is unfit to breathe our air? The cohosts discuss two recent opinion pieces, Thomas B. Edsall’s “The Real Trump Mystery” and Josh Marshall’s “Words as Argument, Words as Aggression.” ChatRFH 2.0 Coming Soon! Sunday, November 10, starting at 1 pm EST. Chat with Gabriel and Andrew in a live videocast ep. of RFH. Check MHI’s website for Zoom link and details (also coming soon). Radio Free Humanity is a podcast covering news, politics and philosophy from a Marxist-Humanist perspective. It is co-hosted by Gabriel Donnelly and Andrew Kliman. We intend to release new episodes every two weeks. Radio Free Humanity is sponsored by MHI, but the views expressed by the hosts and guests of Radio Free Humanity are their own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and positions of MHI. We welcome and encourage listeners’ comments, posted on this episode’s page. Please visit MHI’s online print publication, for further news, commentary, and analysis. |
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