Page 4
Conversation
Street Roots • June 8-14, 2018
Flyover
country
From her hometown
of St. Louis, political
journalist Sarah
Kendzior talks
about what middle
America can teach
the rest of the country
BY JOANNE ZUHL
The New York Times.
Kendzior’s perspectives
E X E C U T IV E E D IT O R
Uyover
country” was never meant to
I
be
1 a flattering term.
Middle America, lacking the wealth
and sparkle of coastal cities, is viewed from
the fringes as a collection of places where
people - and money - depart, but never
arrive. They are not destinations, but rather
hometowns left behind for better climes,
upward mobility and at least the perception
of higher class.
Flyover country is journalist Sarah
Kendzior’s home. It’s her source of insight
to the social, economic and political
condition the country finds itself in today.
It’s the intersection of economic stagnation,
exploited workers, decay and racism. It’s a
land that voted for Donald Trump.
“Underneath the explosive residue of the
Trump administration lies the rot of
systemic problems that have lingered for
decades,” writes Kendzior in her book, “The
View From Flyover Country: Dispatches
from the Forgotten America.”
For years leading up to the 2016
presidential election, Kendzior, who lives in
St. Louis, Mo., reported on those systemic
problems endemic in the Midwest. Her
have b e en am plified on
national n ew s p ro g ra m s and
F
book is a collection of those writings,
originally published between 2012 and 2014
by A1 Jazeera, with a post-election prologue
and coda.
She brings to her analysis her academic
research in authoritarian states, particularly
those of the former Soviet Union, and the
role of the internet in shaping political
movements. In addition to A1 Jazeera, she’s
written for The Globe and Mail, Politico,
Slate, The Atlantic, the Chicago Tribune and
notably through social media,
which has offset her refusal - despite
offers - to relocate to Washington D.C.,
New York City and other media hubs for her
career. In 2013, the periodical Foreign
Policy named her one of the “100 people
you should be following on Twitter to make
sense of global events.”
Kendzior will be joined by Amy Siskind,
author of “The List: A Week-By-Week
Reckoning of Trump’s First Year” on June
13 at the Alberta Rose Theater for a
discussion on their new books. The sold-out
event benefits the Southern Poverty Law
Center.
When Street Roots spoke with Kendzior
about her book, Missouri Gov. Eric
Greitens had just resigned under public
pressure. For months he had been at the
center of a scandal involving an adulterous
affair, felony assault charges and even the
threat of impeachment. Just before the
announcement, Kendzior tweeted, “What
happens in Missouri often anticipates the
See KENDZIOR, page 5