On JD Vance, Hillbilly Elegy, and arresting decline.
[For the full episode: patreon.com/bungacast]
We discuss the Netflix adaptation of vice-presidential nominee JD Vance's memoir – and the memoir itself – and what it tells us about the direction of US politics, Trump, and MAGA. We ask:
What is Ryan's own anti-hillbilly elegy, drawn from his experience in Central Illinois?
How far does the character in the film correspond with Vance’s public persona today?
How do we account for Vance’s political pivot – at least in rhetoric – from “lift yourself up by your bootstraps” meritocracy to pro-labour nationalism?
What will happen to rural/small-town US American life?
Plus: Is reading books gay? Is a "hillbilly" just Hillary + Bill? And what is a horseshoe sandwich?
Links:
The State of Illinois is Killing My Family, Ryan Zickgraf, Jacobin
An anti-Hillbilly Elegy, Ryan Zickgraf, The Third Rail (Substack)
Hillbilly Elegy Doesn’t Reflect the Appalachia I Know, Cassie Chambers Armstrong, The Atlantic
Why the Left Gets J.D. Vance Wrong, Zaid Jilani, Compact