Podcast Summary:

All Of It with Alison Stewart — Sarah Smarsh on What Pundits and Politicians Get Wrong About Rural America (Get Po-LIT-ical)
Date: September 9, 2024

Episode Overview

This episode of "All Of It" features a candid conversation between host Alison Stewart and author/journalist Sarah Smarsh. The main focus is on challenging prevailing media and political narratives about rural America — particularly, the misconceptions surrounding rural, working-class voters often caricatured in post-2016 political coverage. Smarsh, drawing from her own Kansas upbringing and a decade of writing on class and poverty, discusses her new book Bone of the Bone: Essays on America by a Daughter of the Working Class, calling for more nuanced and honest engagement with topics of class, place, and identity in America.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Smarsh’s Writing Journey and Perspective

Consistent Focus on Class and Place

• Sarah Smarsh has long written from the lens of socioeconomic class, stemming from her own background in rural Kansas.
• She emphasizes being one of the few journalists with lived experience of poverty and rural life in mainstream newsrooms.

  "I had really kind of shifted toward or begun to shift toward writing from that lens...in an effort to, you might even say, diversify the industry of journalism along those identity lines." (02:22)

Embracing the Personal Voice

• Initially trained in traditional, impersonal journalism, Smarsh found greater resonance and connection by injecting her own perspective and story into her work.

  "Once I allowed myself to cross that threshold and not only convey facts...but also my own vantage and personal perspective...more people connected with it than not just with their minds, but also with their hearts." (04:35)

2. Media and Class Blind Spots

Barriers for Working-Class Journalists

• Smarsh recounts her early struggles, recalling a New York newsroom where her rural background was met with mockery—demonstrating deep-seated class prejudices in media.

  "It became real clear where I was and where my family was, in a sort of pecking order of class...at that moment we were still really deep in a kind of national denial that we even have a class system." (06:59)

Stereotyping in Editorial Decisions

• Headlines and image pairings routinely reduce complex realities to cliches—often against the writer’s intentions.

  "I could write a piece about [overlooked progressives] and then...a headline might be paired with it saying 'here’s what you’re getting wrong about Trump country'...even if that’s actually opposite of what I’m writing about." (09:26)

3. The Dangers of Monolithic Thinking

Why Stereotypes Harm Democracy

• Smarsh argues that simplistic views of rural America threaten meaningful political engagement and allyship.

  "If you are not seeing a large group of people...or only seeing them through the lens of your own biases, then how can we ever engage in the sorts of conversations that are going to be required to...right the course of a country?" (11:04)

Advice for Journalists Covering Rural America

• National reporters should rely on knowledgeable local journalists, rather than parachute into communities they don’t understand.

  "Maybe leaning into the boots on the ground, journalists who are already there...tapping into the understandings that are already on the ground among people who...know their place very well." (12:17)

4. Red and Blue: Urban vs. Rural, and the Real Diversity of Rural America

Oversimplification of America’s Political Geography

• The rural/urban divide is real, but both are internally diverse. Smarsh cautions that these broad categories flatten complex realities.

  "Even that framework is a little bit clunky because rural Iowa is very different from rural Georgia and urban New York City is very different from Omaha..." (13:58)

Rural America Is Not Just White

• Contradicting the common trope, rural America includes communities of color, immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, and more.

  "If I could nominate, like, point number one, [about] what we get wrong about rural America, it’d be that it’s all white folks, because it ain’t...there are counties in Kansas...largely minority." (15:32)
  "There’s gay folks, there’s trans folks...because we look at these red and blue maps...that would paint a whole state...on the ground, it’s a much richer and more purple experience." (16:20)

5. Media Obsession With "Trump Voters"

Why Do We Fixate on Working-Class White Voters?

• The post-2016 media focus on rural, white, working-class Trump voters, while ignoring college-educated and elite Republican voters, distorts political reality.

  "[There’s] a sort of infatuation with...the guy with the red hat at the diner...He’s compelling TV probably because he says nasty, shocking things...I want more stories about the privileged ranks of the Republican Party." (19:28)

J.D. Vance: A Case Study

• Smarsh is critical of Vance’s shifting narrative and opportunism, suggesting he wags a judgmental finger at his roots and uses his story to advance his own political fortunes.

  "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." (22:06)

  • Notably, Smarsh humorously declines to hear more from Vance:

    "I would just like to not hear him talk, actually." (23:04)

6. Smarsh’s Political Engagement and Choices

Personal Brush With Politics

• Smarsh recounts being encouraged to run for Senate in Kansas, consulting with Senator Warren and Senator Schumer, but ultimately deciding she could serve best as a writer and storyteller.

  "While I’m not getting rich doing it and while it maybe is a less glamorous version of service, I’m already doing what I’m called to do, I think...there are many ways to serve." (24:13)

Family’s Political Awakening

• Her once-apathetic family became energized by Bernie Sanders’s campaign, highlighting progressive undercurrents in places often ignored by national media.

  "My dad, who is a 60-something white construction worker, was really lit up by the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign...I believe he now maybe refers to himself as a Democratic socialist..." (25:36)

7. What’s Missing from National Political Debates?

Class, Poverty, and the Missed Conversations

• Smarsh wants both parties and national debates to address class directly, especially the realities of poverty:

  "I would love...that a real direct conversation about class would occur...poverty. Haven’t heard somebody talk about poverty in a long time. There’s 40 million Americans living in it. A lot of them work...It’s woefully under addressed." (28:08–29:29)

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On class and journalism:

  "Class isn’t just about money. I think it’s about place, too." (07:55)

• On media misrepresentation:

  "It's really dangerous...if we really want to understand ourselves and who we are." (10:51)

• On the rural-urban divide:

  "The essence of who people are [is] not all that different. I believe that is quite overblown, actually." (14:51)

• On Tim Walz’s authenticity:

  "I can sniff a phony out pretty good about, like, how country are you?...That’s the real deal. And I love it." (26:56)

• On her purpose:

  "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." (24:52)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Smarsh’s background & early writing: 02:05–03:59
• First-person journalism & connection: 04:08–05:24
• Experiencing classism in media: 06:10–08:47
• Media stereotypes and "Trump Country": 09:07–11:48
• Advice on covering rural America: 11:58–13:22
• Urban/rural frameworks & diversity: 13:54–17:46
• Red/Blue maps and national psyche: 17:46–18:26
• Media focus post-2016, J.D. Vance: 19:11–23:09
• Deciding not to run for office: 23:09–25:14
• Family political change: 25:14–26:44
• Tim Walz discussion: 26:44–28:02
• What Smarsh wants in national debates: 28:02–29:49

Tone and Takeaways

Sarah Smarsh’s voice is thoughtful, clear-eyed, and direct — rooted in personal experience, moral clarity, and an enduring commitment to both honesty and nuance. She rejects both romanticization and demonization of rural America and insists on the diversity and dignity of places and people often written off by commentators and politicians alike. Her message is a call to look harder, listen more carefully, and question easy narratives — especially when it comes to understanding the fabric of America itself.