Matthew Ferrence Interview Episode 97

Matt Crawford speaks with educator and author Matthew Ferrence about his book, I Hate It Here, Please Vote for Me: Essays on Rural Decay. When a progressive college professor runs for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in a deeply conservative rural district, he loses. That’s no surprise. But the story of how Ferrence loses and, more importantly, how American political narratives refuse to recognize the existence and value of nonconservative rural Americans offers insight into the political morass of our nation. Ferrence and I discuss how we feel voters are being spoken at instead of to and how the machine of politics makes some outcomes predetermined against the will of the people who vote for those exact outcomes. A great read at any time in our history but especially now.