211 - The Invention of Red vs Blue & What Ukrainians Want ft. Carl Beijer and Tarence Ray
Added 2025-03-12 05:01:04 +0000 UTCThis week, Carl Beijer joins us to react to the abduction of Mahmoud Khalil and the prospects for ending the war in Ukraine. Then Tarence Ray of the Trillbillies joins us to talk about his piece in The Nation
Read the piece here: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/red-states-walz-vance/tnamp/
Read Carl's work here: https://www.carlbeijer.com/p/can-ukraines-us-allies-catch-up-with
Comments
Warning: long post As a rural Minnesotan, I always appreciate your rural coverage, but I do feel like some gaps exist in your analysis. Regarding Walz, he isn't an especially popular politician in the rural parts of the state; for example, his numbers went 10 points to the right in my area from 2018 to 2022. While he did represent a more rural district as congressman, this sort of depiction of him in national media as a "rural whisperer" I find a little bit mystifying. Frankly, Klobuchar for all of her faults has had better electoral results in rural Minnesota, although in 2024 having someone like Royce White as your opponent certainly helps. Also, as your guest was from Kentucky, I was surprised and disappointed that we didn't touch on Andy Beshear as someone who has a demonstrated track record of winning and resonating with rural voters; from my perspective, he's as good of a model as Walz in doing this. I also consistently see in analysis of rural America this conflation of rural-ness with whiteness. Though obviously not as diverse as larger urban centers, rural America is diversifying and doing so quickly. Twenty years ago, my hometown was 97% white, and now it's 75%, and this is happening across the region, state, and country. Does it mean it's going to swing left automatically as a result? We've seen in the Rio Grande Valley that the answer is a big fat no. But not highlighting this story of increased diversity both as an opportunity to debunk popular misconceptions about rural America and explain (but not justify) increased anxiety/antipathy toward loss of white conservative culture flattens the narrative a little bit. This conflation also erases Native American populations in rural areas; the most reliably left part of Minnesota isn't the Twin Cities, but a reservation in Northwest Minnesota, and that's a dynamic you see across the country. I've probably already said too much, but the political dynamics of rural America and their history are super interesting and I could talk about them all day. Anyway, I've been following you guys since the TMBS years and hope you keep up the good work!
Nicholas Riordan
2025-03-12 16:44:12 +0000 UTCReally enjoyed this thought provoking show and your guests. Well done.
SM
2025-03-12 11:22:02 +0000 UTCEven if Mahmoud Khalil is antisemitic, he STILL HAS THE RIGHT TO SPEECH. He is NOT supporting terrorism by calling for divestment from a foreign country or for a ceasefire. Stripping this man of his permanent residency because of his *perfectly legal actions* would set a disastrous precedent that WILL be abused by both parties.
Rachael K.
2025-03-12 10:33:54 +0000 UTC
