Across a long career in writing and journalism, Jim Fallows has devoted deep and searching reflection to the viability of the American experiment. He is a national correspondent for The Atlantic, a former editor of US News & World Report, and was President Jimmy Carter’s chief speechwriter for two years. He is also the author of eleven books including, most recently, Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America, which was the subject of a 2021 HBO documentary series. In this podcast, Jim describes his travels across the country in his Cirrus SR-22 propellor plane with his wife and co-author, Deborah Fallows, trying to understand why politics so often works better at the local level, out of sight of the national media, even in some places hard hit by economic decline and political polarization. Jim describes finding “a whole archipelago of invention and surprise and interestingness and opportunity” in many mid-sized towns in the American heartland, places that typically are covered only by reporters intent on learning why voters at the local diner supported Donald Trump. Jim and podcast host Geoff Kabaservice also discuss Jim’s early writings as one of Ralph Nader’s “raiders,” his analysis of the class dimensions of the Vietnam War and the shortcomings of meritocracy, lessons from Jim and Deborah’s many years of living in Asia, and thoughts on the sustainability of America’s ideals and advantages, particularly with regard to immigration and education. And Jim gently needles Geoff’s dislike of flying, contending that “Anybody with a historical or literary or creative imagination would love flying in little planes,” a physical and journalist vantage point on “the beautiful American continent [which] is full of those moments when you think, ‘Oh, this is how it looks. This is how it works.’”
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