Today, The Roanoke Times broke a story: Beth Macy, an acclaimed journalist and the author of Dopesick, is running for Congress.
As it happens, we were talking to her…today! Macy has written a brand-new memoir, Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America, an account of her attempts to bridge the growing divide in America and reconnect with estranged friends, family, and neighbors in her hometown of Urbana, Ohio, transformed since she moved away by MAGA and opioids and more. Among what we discussed:
Should we have empathy for increasingly MAGA places like her hometown, damaged by forces beyond their control — or demand that friends and neighbors take responsibility for their political choices?
What did her neighbor JD Vance miss in his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy?
Should Fox News be treated as a legitimate news organization protected by the First Amendment — or is it better to think of it as a public health problem?
Would MAGA melt away if education were made more accessible, or is that a condescending liberal fantasy?
Is there a way to reconnect with relatives we’ve lost touch with over politics?
And how she decided to take her own advice, and try to fix the problems she’s spent her career describing with a run for Congress
You won’t want to miss this. Just click on the video player above to watch the entire conversation.
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Join us for more Live conversations this week!
Tomorrow, Wednesday, July 9, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, we’ll meet with The Ink Book Club. Then on Thursday, July 10, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, we’ll talk with messaging guru Anat Shenker-Osorio.
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