wildly curious
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

White Trash

The U.S. National Archives, http://bit.ly/2aq0NJU
Spartenburg, S.C., 1912

We like to think of America as a class-free society where anyone who works hard can achieve economic success. Historian Nancy Isenberg says it’s a promise as old as our nation, and that it’s always been a myth. She argues that landowners and the elite have only valued the poor for their labor - while describing them as vagrants, crackers, squatters, and rednecks. Isenberg joins us Tuesday to trace what she calls the 400-year untold history of class in America. Her book is called White Trash.

Nancy Isenberg is the T. Harry Williams Professor in American History at Louisiana State University. Among her books are Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr [Indiebound|Amazon|Audible] and her latest White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America [Indiebound|Amazon|Audible]

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.