Tag Archives: populism

Today we’ll revisit our interview with historian Nancy Isenberg about her book, White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America. But there’s a twist – I’ve re-edited the program to make use of a broader musical perspective, feeling like I had betrayed the spirit of the program in my original choices. Isenberg’s 2016 book dissects the stereotype “white …

The 1980’s farm crisis defined an entire generation of farmers and the rural communities that surrounded and relied on them. Interest rates soared. Farm land value dropped. A decade of record-breaking production in farm commodities led to a glut, a surplus, that depressed prices. Exports declined as the U.S. imposed an embargo on the Soviet Union. Farmers went bankrupt, foreclosed …

From May 31 to June 3, the Working Class Studies Association held their annual conference at Indiana University. Each day, there were several rounds of panels and speakers. On June 1, opening plenary speaker Josh Pacewics placed the American populist moment in a historical and social context, zooming in on Rust Belt populism during the 2008 and 2012 elections.