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If Books Could Kill

What's The Matter With Kansas?

If Books Could Kill

Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri

Arts, Politics, Books, Society & Culture, News

4.68.2K Ratings

🗓️ 6 December 2024

⏱️ 66 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 2004, historian Thomas Frank proposed a theory about the rightward drift of the white working class. Was he a prescient king whose work presaged the rise of Trump — or a bumbling fool with a broken thesis? Unfortunately it turns out he is a secret third thing that takes one hour and six minutes to explain.Special thanks to Julia Valdés for her help with this episode!Where to find us: Peter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance PhaseSources:The Thesis That Drove A...

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Going to another city and just bouncing around the thrift stories is one of the most unhinged things I've ever heard of my life.

0:05.4

They have like nine Goodwill's that I've never been to.

0:07.8

What does the trash in this city look like?

0:09.7

That's the question that Michael Hobbs is always asking.

0:12.3

Well, what else is there to do?

0:14.1

I don't drink.

0:15.8

I bites to the fucking Goodwill's.

0:17.7

What am I supposed to do?

0:19.4

Where else would I get a mastiff shirt? I have a shirt

0:21.7

that says mastiff. I also have one that says mastiff mama. It's a great point. Where else would you get?

0:26.7

Unless, of course, you went straight to the dumpster. I like my shirt. I like my choices. I had a

0:32.0

great time in Austin. And I have a topical zinger. Okay. I was going to do something about Brownback Mountain.

0:38.2

It's maybe two niche.

0:39.2

It's only Kansas heads will know.

0:41.4

Michael.

0:42.0

Peter.

0:42.4

What do you know about what's the matter with Kansas?

0:44.8

I have no idea what's the matter with Kansas,

0:46.7

but I do know that the way to fix it is to send national political pundits there 24 hours at a time to reach sweeping conclusions.

1:06.0

No. there 24 hours at a time to reach sweeping conclusions. So this is a book from 2004 by Thomas Frank, who's sort of a lefty historian journalist guy.

1:15.8

He's one of the co-founders of the baffler.

1:18.0

To start off here, I feel like you need to situate yourself in 2002.

...

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