Podcast Summary: "Sarah Smarsh on Covering the Rural Working-Class"

Podcast: All Of It with Alison Stewart, WNYC
Date: September 27, 2024
Guest: Sarah Smarsh – Author, journalist, advocate for rural and working-class voices
Main Topic: Examining the realities of the rural American working class, media myths, and class perceptions in the context of the upcoming presidential election and Smarsh’s new book: Bone of the Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class

Episode Overview

With the 2024 presidential election approaching, Alison Stewart dedicates this episode to exploring crucial political and cultural issues shaping the U.S. today. The episode begins with a focus on media portrayals of the rural working class, challenging stereotypes heightened since 2016. Author Sarah Smarsh, herself from rural Kansas and a leading chronicler of working-class America, joins to discuss her new book and a decade of work that centers the dignity, diversity, and complexities of rural communities—often misunderstood or overlooked by mainstream narratives.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Genesis of Smarsh’s Perspective (04:21 – 05:25)

• Context for Her Work:
  Smarsh explains how she began focusing on socioeconomic class long before it became a focal point in national discourse, citing her background as someone who grew up working-class in rural Kansas and entered journalism as an outsider to newsrooms dominated by more privileged backgrounds.
• Quote:
  "I had really kind of shifted toward or begun to shift toward writing from that lens or through that lens in an effort to, you might even say, diversify the industry of journalism along those identity lines." (04:56)

Consistency in Voice & the Value of Lived Experience (05:27 – 07:31)

• On Her Decade of Writing:
  Smarsh finds pride in the consistency of her voice and message, resisting news cycles' trends and instead staying true to her lived experience.
• The Power of Personal Narrative:
  She discusses the tension between traditional “objective” journalism and first-person storytelling, reflecting that sharing her own perspective invited more meaningful engagement.
• Quote:
  "Once I allowed myself to cross that threshold and not only convey facts and reportage and the hard work of research, but also my own vantage and personal perspective, and indeed, often intimate perspective on those same themes, that more people connected with it than not just with their minds, but also with their hearts." (06:42)

Class Blind Spots in Media & Journalism (08:08 – 11:13)

• Media’s Ongoing Blind Spots:
  Smarsh recalls experiencing bias early in her career, notably during an unpaid summer internship at NBC in New York, where urban colleagues ridiculed her rural background.
• The Structural Barriers for Working-Class Journalists:
  She notes the unspoken class divides in the newsroom, driven by who can afford internships and access to metropolitan media hubs.
• Quote:
  "Class isn't just about money. I think it's about place too...that can be the worst blind spots." (10:09)

The Dangers of “Trump Country” Tropes in Coverage (11:13 – 13:55)

• Media Stereotyping:
  Smarsh explains the risk of editors and producers defaulting to reductive “Trump Country” headlines and imagery, even when the story is more nuanced (e.g., focus on progressive local victories).
• Why It’s Dangerous:
  Such broadstroke characterization entrenches misunderstanding and prevents meaningful dialogue or collaboration across divides.
• Quote:
  "These sort of tropes now or easy stereotypes, media narratives that have become go to are so kind of deeply entrenched in the psyche...it's really dangerous. It's to our peril, I think, as a nation, if we really want to understand ourselves and who we are." (12:51)
  "If you are not seeing a large group of people... and misrepresenting them...how can we ever engage in the sorts of conversations that are going to be required to...right the course of a country that is facing myriad fronts of injustice?" (13:08)

How Journalists Can Do Better (13:55 – 15:28)

• Advice for National Journalists:
  Rather than parachuting in to rural areas to interview “Dot the waitress,” major outlets should engage deeply with experienced local journalists who already know the communities.
• Quote:
  "The person that really knows that place works probably at the Des Moines Register...Maybe leaning into the boots on the ground, journalists who are already there knowing their spaces..." (14:18)

Urban vs. Rural: More Similarities Than Differences (15:29 – 17:27)

• Rural-Urban Political Divide Overstated:
  Smarsh acknowledges cultural differences between rural and urban spaces but underscores that core human values and desires transcend geography.
• Quote:
  "Everywhere I go, there are good people...The essence of who people are not all that different. I believe that is quite overblown, actually." (16:45)

Diversity in Rural America (17:27 – 19:52)

• Myth-Busting about Rural Whiteness:
  One of the most persistent misconceptions, Smarsh shares, is that rural America is uniformly white, when in fact, there’s significant racial, ethnic, and LGBTQ+ diversity, often invisible in “red and blue” electoral maps.
• Red-Blue Map Problem:
  She explains how maps reinforce false ideas of monolithic communities.
• Quote:
  "If I could nominate, like, point number one [of what people get wrong about rural America], it'd be that it's all white folks, because it ain’t...That's just one piece of the 21st century Rural America that is far more diverse than people think." (17:37)

The Media’s Fascination with “Trump’s Base” (21:15 – 22:34)

• Why the Focus on White Working Class Trump Voters?:
  Smarsh critiques the media’s fixation on this group, noting that the architects and sustainers of the MAGA movement include elite, college-educated Republicans—an angle far less explored.
• Quote:
  "I want more stories about the privileged ranks of the Republican Party. That's what I'm saying." (22:20)

Critiquing J.D. Vance and “Escape Narratives” (22:34 – 24:59)

• Skepticism About Popular Memoirs:
  Smarsh discusses her response to J.D. Vance’s bestselling memoir, seeing in it a tendency to blame individuals for systemic failings and to reinforce the notion of “getting out” as success.
• On Vance’s Political Shift:
  She observes how Vance’s political messaging has shifted for convenience and accuses him of “toxic opportunism.”
• Quote:
  "There is really toxic opportunism afoot, where his message has changed what’s convenient to his ability to acquire power and approval sort of seems to have guided his views." (24:03)
  "I would just like to not hear him talk, actually." (24:59)

Her Own Brush with Senate Politics (25:05 – 27:10)

• Consideration of Running for Office:
  Smarsh shares she was encouraged by prominent Democrats (Warren, Schumer) to run for U.S. Senate in Kansas, but ultimately decided her calling lay in writing, not politics.
• On Public Service through Storytelling:
  She embraces the power of journalism and storytelling as constitutive of cultural and social change.
• Quote:
  "Policy and government are nothing but reflections of the culture that they arise out of...these are all functions...of a culture and a society that we shape by way of our views and beliefs and blind spots and values." (26:30)

Political Awakening in Her Family (27:10 – 28:40)

• From Apathy to Engagement:
  Smarsh reflects on her family’s evolution from political distrust and apathy to enthusiastic voting, inspired by Bernie Sanders and a broadened Democratic coalition.
• Quote:
  "The message when I was a kid was, they're all crooks...In more recent years, I've been kind of amazed and...delighted to find that my whole kind of crew has emerged...really excited to show up and vote." (27:35)

The Appeal of Authentic Political Figures (28:40 – 29:57)

• On Tim Walz:
  Smarsh praises Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as a politically and culturally “real” Midwesterner, the kind of leader who can connect with rural and working-class voters without pandering or phoniness.
• Quote:
  "I can sniff a phony out pretty good...and him, that's the real deal. I love to see it, and that he carries that alongside...affection for all people, including marginalized people..." (28:51)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On mainstream misconceptions:
  "Class isn't just about money. I think it's about place too." (10:09, Sarah Smarsh)
• On why she chose not to run for office:
  "I’m already doing what I’m called to do, I think, and I feel fortunate in that way...there are many ways to serve.” (26:02, Sarah Smarsh quoting Elizabeth Warren)
• On red/blue maps:
  "It provides this visual suggestion that if you cross a county line or a state line, that you suddenly now are in a place where everyone is one thing. This monochrome, if you will...on the ground, it's a much richer and more purple experience." (18:58, Sarah Smarsh)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Election, media context, and intro of Smarsh (02:03 – 04:21)
• Why she writes on rural/working class issues (04:21 – 07:31)
• Media/journalism class blind spots (08:08 – 11:13)
• Headline/cliché “Trump Country” tropes (11:13 – 13:55)
• Advice for covering rural America, using local journalists (13:55 – 15:28)
• Urban vs. rural similarities and divisions (15:29 – 17:27)
• The diversity of rural America (17:27 – 19:52)
• Why media fixates on “the base” for Trump (21:15 – 22:34)
• Skepticism about J.D. Vance, “get out” narratives (22:34 – 24:59)
• Her consideration of a Senate run and commitment to writing (25:05 – 27:10)
• Political awakening of her family (27:10 – 28:40)
• Tim Walz and the search for authentic candidates (28:40 – 29:57)

Takeaways

• Coverage of rural America needs nuance and local expertise, not stereotypes or parachute reporting.
• Rural America is far more diverse—racially, culturally, politically—than the “red” map suggests.
• Class, more than geography alone, shapes American media, politics, and societal barriers.
• Personal storytelling can drive empathy and understanding where facts alone may not.
• Political disengagement can shift dramatically when movements speak directly to lived realities and values.

Sarah Smarsh’s approach and experience offer an urgent call for deeper listening, breaking down binary narratives, and genuine cross-class, cross-geography connection. This episode is essential for anyone seeking to understand America’s cultural and electoral divides—and the ways to bridge them.