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A prolific and outspoken author contends the term "populism" has been turned on its head, and not since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has the White House been occupied by a man of the people. Thomas Frank is an unapologetic liberal and populist. Those characteristics shape his writing and worldview. He finds promise in the country’s original populists, who adopted the term in 1891, and who were protesting “unbearable debt, monopoly and corruption … forcing the country to acknowledge that ordinary Americans who were just as worthy as bankers or railroad barons were being ruined by an economic system that in fact answered to no moral laws.” Frank sees distinct parallels between conditions then and American capitalism as it exists today, complete with the stains of racism, sexism, economic inequality, and contempt for ordinary Americans.

A decade ago, Williston, N.D., became a magnet for desperate men, thanks to oil in the Bakken Formation. In an interview, author Michael Smith talks about life in an oil patch and the human cost of fueling the nation.

An important new book, Apollo’s Arrow, precisely targets what America got right in its COVID-19 response, and where it must do better next time. And there will be a next time.

In this companion audio version of a Clay Jenkinson essay, we explore two efforts - separated by four centuries and an ocean - to decapitate governments. The preparations for President Biden’s as-yet-unscheduled State of the Union address are haunted by a 400-year-old conspiracy to decapitate the British government. What can we learn from the Gunpowder Plot? ------ Audio samples sourced through the US House of Representatives, CSPAN, ABC, Bartje Bartmans, RTSD, NatGeo,Travel Sounds Project, and Hooksounds.

When a president leaves the White House, he enters one of the most elite clubs. A book by two of America’s leading journalists looks at what binds these individuals together, given their personalities and politics. Governing’s Editor-at-Large Clay Jenkinson spoke with the authors of The President’s Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity.  

This is the audio companion to Governing Editor-at-Large Clay Jenkinson's essay about communication revolutions, including the one we are living through right now. The printing press and social media democratized communication in their respective times. They both turned the order of things on its head – for good, for ill, and forever. You can find past episodes on governing.com.  

With incoming President Joe Biden pledging to unify the country, author David French talks with Governing Editor-at-Large Clay Jenkinson about the nation’s current divide, whether the country is in decline and the prospects for a lasting union. You can find more from the occasional series, including other podcast episodes and Clay's essays, at www.governing.com.           

The republic for which it stands. Just what does the republic stand for? And will the republic stand during a season of tumult? Before America, the Roman republic stood. And then fell. Is Rome our destiny? Is its experience a useful lens for understanding America at the beginning of the third decade of the 21st century? Governing’s Editor at Large and resident humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson probed these questions with author and historian Ed Watts as part of our continuing effort to put the future in context. You can find more about Clay's work and The Future in Context at governing.com.