First off, we can’t thank you all enough for the remarkable response to the first episodes of KK&F. We’ve been blown away. This is the last week that the video episode will be free here and on Kyle’s channel. So if you want to continue to get the video, subscribe below. The audio will always be free here on Substack and on all the normal podcasting platforms. Next week we have the incomparable Nina Turner on!
In this week’s episode, we sit down with Thomas to flesh out the story of how the Democrats abandoned working-class politics, how Republicans seized the populist narrative, and how Americans can look to a people-led political movement in our own past as a bulwark against Trumpism. Thomas is a leading voice on this topic, as he demonstrates in books from What’s the Matter with Kansas? to last year’s The People, No.
Thomas Frank argues that the Democratic establishment has displayed a “lack of faith in ordinary Americans” for decades, right down to Hillary Clinton’s support for Reaganite policies and ideas in her 2016 run for the presidency. On the opposite side of the aisle, Republican elites openly embrace the gutting of social support systems and the oppression of labor. The Trumpian maneuver is to channel legitimate grievance into endless culture war. But Democrats play easily into their hands by centering their party around scolding ordinary people. That’s why “populism” has become a dirty word among liberal politicians and commentators: they use the Trump mob to indict all working people and to crush the core populist idea that ordinary people should have power and a say in governance.
As Thomas argues in his own work, building a strong American left from the lessons and legacy of the Populist movement is precisely what we need to do in the present. Listen to our conversation with Thomas — available here and on major streaming platforms like Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts — to get a sense of how we honor and learn from that legacy. To become a paid subscriber and access the videos of our weekly conversations on Krystal Kyle & Friends, click the button below. Audio of KK&F will remain free as always, and we’re so glad to have you listening in.
Episode 3 Audio: Thomas Frank