This Podcast Bridges the Rural/Urban Empathy Divide

In the days after the 2016 election, an article by David Wong on Cracked called “How Half of America Lost Its F**king Mind” went viral. It listed five reasons why the Donald Trump phenomenon was explicable not by red vs. blue but rural vs. urban, and it relied heavily on pop culture to make its case. “Every TV show is about L.A. or New York, maybe with some Chicago or Baltimore thrown in,” he wrote from downstate Illinois. “When they did make a show about us, we were jokes—either wide-eyed, naive fluffballs (Parks And Recreation, and before that, Newhart) or filthy murderous mutants (True Detective, and before that, Deliverance). You could feel the arrogance from hundreds of miles away.”

That tension between city-dwellers and country-dwellers runs so high these days—and is so front and center in the political conversation—contributes to the suspense of the gripping new podcast S-Town. “S-Town” stands for “Shit Town,” the term applied to the Alabama burg of Woodstock throughout the seven-episode documentary series from the creators of Serial and This American Life. Reporter Brian Reed heads there from New York City off a tip that there’s been a covered-up murder; his investigation encounters meth use, open racism, and devastating poverty—realities that pop culture so frequently uses as grist. The series shifts shape time and time again but one constant is the dynamic of Reed’s crisp, radio-ready tones contrasting with the drawls and profanity of the people he meets.