Podcast Summary: "The Aesthetic That Explains American Identity Now"

Podcast: The Opinions (New York Times Opinion)
Release Date: December 2, 2025
Host: Meher Ahmad
Guests:

• Tressie McMillan Cottom (Columnist, Sociologist)
• Emily Keegan (Photo Editor, Creative Consultant)

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Meher Ahmad is joined by cultural commentator Tressie McMillan Cottom and creative consultant Emily Keegan to unpack the resurgence of "country" and rural aesthetics in American culture—and what this says about identity, politics, and authenticity. The conversation explores how rural signifiers have seeped into mainstream fashion, pop music, entertainment, and politics, and analyzes the political implications and tensions underlying this cultural shift. The episode tackles the cycles of American nostalgia, the power and contradictions of authenticity, and the potential future of American political and cultural storytelling.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Where the Country Aesthetic Is Showing Up

(01:03–05:30)

• The rural/country aesthetic is newly dominant in:
  • Reality TV (e.g. “Yellowstone,” dating shows about farmers, “Swamp People”)
  • Home design (“farmhouse” and “cottagecore”), fashion (Western, denim, camo like Realtree)
  • Social media influencers (e.g., “trad wives” like Ballerina Farm)
  • Pop music (Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter,” Sabrina Carpenter, others crossing into country)
  • Comedy (surge of country-inflected comedians, e.g., Leanne Morgan)
• Quote [Tressie, 03:08]: “Farmhouse and mid century modern are over. It's all about cottage, modern, cottage, you know, cottage chic, granny cottage... I see it in comedians... very popular on social media.”

2. Is Rural Aesthetic a Political Signifier?

(05:30–09:34)

• Trends cycle, but what makes this moment unique is the intersection of culture and politics, particularly nostalgia.
• The rural aesthetic today represents not just a physical place, but an “imagined” America. It's often about a nostalgia for a (possibly mythical) pre-modern, ‘traditional’ past—a vision that aligns with current right-wing political narratives (“Make America Great Again”).
• Quote [Tressie, 06:39]: “When you say something like make America great, that's a backward looking vision… about nostalgia for an imagined American past where, you know, all families were, quote, unquote, traditional and all women were real women...”

3. How Power and Cultural Stories Shape Aesthetic Trends

(07:26–09:34)

• Emily connects shifts in popular aesthetics to narratives of power: Who is culturally considered “in charge” (e.g., the rise of conservative culture in the Clinton years).
• TV, entertainment, and news all mix to reinforce or challenge dominant cultural myths.

4. The Trump Contradiction: Rural aesthetic and an Urban Figure

(09:34–15:22)

• Trump is overtly urban—his aesthetic is New York glitz, not rural modesty—yet he’s become the symbol of rural American identity.
  • Tressie: The key is that “rural” is a cultural myth, not a strict geography; you cannot evoke rural without also invoking urban.
  • Trump appeals to American nostalgia and “Southernness” to embody an imagined past, leveraging cultural signifiers (e.g., genteel womanhood, race, and the Confederacy) lodged in the American South, blurring urban-rural divides.
• Quote [Tressie, 10:08]: “When we talk about being romantic for rural life, we're really talking about an imaginary place... These are signifiers that are maybe less about a physical place, a geography.”
• Discussion of how “showing the seams”—being visibly handmade or imperfect—can ironically help a political figure appear "authentic" and thus “rural.”
• Quote [Emily, 13:16]: “When we boil down what a rural aesthetic is... it's about the human hand and showing what humans create, versus the urban aesthetic, which is based in machine and in technology.”

5. Country Music and Political Tensions

(15:49–19:24)

• The “renaissance” in country music (e.g., Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter”) echoes broader anxieties—especially around authenticity, race, and who “belongs” in country spaces.
• Country music has always been shaped by anxiety about race and authenticity; when black, queer, or Hispanic artists attempt to claim country music, it causes anxieties in the industry and is politicized in ways previous crossovers (e.g., Dolly Parton) were not.
• Quote [Tressie, 16:03]: “Country music is invented as a consequence of anxiety about race… [industry] panicked a lot of people in the music industry who make a lot of money off of how easy it is to bracket what is and is not country music.”
• Anecdote: Beyoncé’s country debut sparked jokes about its impact in an election year, and a superstition that “country hits topping the charts signals a Republican win.”

6. The Cowboy as American Myth & Barometer

(19:24–23:48)

• Cowboy imagery rises at moments of national anxiety or transformation (notably, around major elections or after cultural shifts, e.g., around 1980, 2000, Trump years).
• Cowboys represent safety in a dangerous world and signal a new horizon or the taming of chaos—often tied to anxieties about the "other."
• Quote [Tressie, 21:07]: “People, power goes back and taps into the cowboy when it is saying there is some new horizon that we need to now capture, tame and own. And it is dangerous...The cowboy comes into a lawless land always full of a dangerous other, whether it is indigenous people, whether it is immigrants…”

7. Pop Culture Universes as Mirrors of Political Eras

(23:48–25:05)

• Taylor Sheridan (creator of “Yellowstone”) is described as crafting “a soap opera for Trump's America,” weaving rural anxiety, anti-elite sentiment, and nostalgia into popular storytelling.
• Contrast to Obama-era pop culture (e.g., Shonda Rhimes) which presented a “colorblind” and aspirational America.

8. The Search for Authenticity and the Path for Democrats

(25:05–31:33)

• Could Democrats harness the rural aesthetic? Or would mimicking it seem inauthentic?
• Authenticity, even if artfully constructed, is still crucial. Voters are drawn to candidates who seem “handmade,” raw, or to “show the seams.”
• The association of rural/southern traits with American authenticity recurs—from Johnson and Carter to Obama (who, despite being from Chicago, signaled connection to rural America).
• Both panelists suggest that Democrats need a new “character” for the current political story; the anti-hero trope has run its course, and a “Superman” figure—a positive hero—is due.

9. The Enduring Value of Handcrafted "Authenticity"

(30:59–31:33)

• The handmade, “Etsy candidate”—crafted but appearing real—may be the future of political storytelling, with “authenticity” often equated with the (mythical) openness of rural America.
• Quote [Meher, 31:19]: “We want the Etsy candidate.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On cyclical nostalgia and political meaning:
  • [06:39] Tressie McMillan Cottom: “...when that nostalgia is present, but the politics are also enabling a set of ideas that are mobilized, that culture, then I think we can say, all right, so the culture, yes, is reflecting something. And more importantly, the politics is trying to reflect the culture.”
• On Trump channeling rural through Southern myth:
  • [10:08] Tressie McMillan Cottom: “When we talk about urban versus rural... the South holds this idea of the quintessential past… It is still steeped in a romanticism... You can, you know, you can pull out the Confederate flag, and... suddenly people's imagination is in the South. Well, once you are in the south, in the imagination, you are just, if you'll forgive me, you are just hayride away from rural America.”
• On handmade vs. mechanical authenticity:
  • [13:16] Emily Keegan: “When we boil it down... it's about the human hand and showing what humans create versus the urban aesthetic, which is based in machine.”
• On country music as political lightning rod:
  • [16:03] Tressie McMillan Cottom: “Country music is invented as a consequence of anxiety about race... but before even Beyoncé does Cowboy Carter, there'd been years of Black artists… trying to make a claim that country music was authentic for them as well… panic in the industry… and a political moment came along where... opportunists… turn it into a cultural war.”
• On the cowboy symbol:
  • [21:07] Tressie McMillan Cottom: “People, power goes back and taps into the cowboy when… saying there’s some new horizon that we need to now capture, tame and own. And it is dangerous. The reason why we like the cowboy is it is safety in a dangerous world… That gives you some sense of safety and security.”
• On the limitations for today's politicians:
  • [27:32] Tressie McMillan Cottom: “…the era of the antihero and the political storytelling is over… I don’t even care if it’s good. Just give me a flying dog. I’m over it. I do think that the era of the antihero... is over. And that means looking to cast someone new. And I’m not sure I have seen it yet.”

Segment Timestamps

• 01:03–05:30: Country aesthetic examples—TV, design, comedy, social media, fashion.
• 05:30–09:34: Is rural a political signifier? The power of nostalgia in the current political climate.
• 09:34–15:22: Urban/rural myths, Trump’s paradoxical authenticity, and aesthetics of power.
• 15:49–19:24: Country music’s cycles, authenticity, and politicization (Beyoncé, race, and identity).
• 19:24–23:48: Cowboy as a barometer for political anxiety and American mythology.
• 23:48–25:05: TV universes (“Yellowstone” and “Scandal”) as mirrors of their times.
• 25:05–31:33: Can Democrats (or anyone) “win” with rural aesthetics? The future of political authenticity and the yearning for a new hero.

Conclusion

The episode makes clear that rural and country signifiers are less about literal geography and more about American mythmaking, nostalgia, power, and the struggle over authenticity. Although pop culture and politics are more fragmented than ever, the rural aesthetic's emotional and symbolic power persists—especially at moments of collective uncertainty. As Americans continue to search for authenticity and reassurance, both political parties and media creators are likely to keep invoking, reinventing, and contesting the meaning of the “country” and the “cowboy” in American life.