Checks and Balance: Three chords and the truth
Checks and Balance from The Economist
The Economist
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 31 December 2021
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Morgan Wallen became one of the stories of 2021 after he was caught using a racial slur. Banned from radio, the country music star’s sales and streams spiked anyway. The affair reinforced a stereotype of the genre as home to hillbilly bigotry. But country is changing and its politics were always more complex than its popularity in Republican heartlands indicates. What does the story tell us about America’s shifting views of class and identity?
Nadine Hubbs of the University of Michigan unpicks Wallen’s story and tells us how streaming and social media are revolutionising country music. And we find out how embracing country propelled Richard Nixon to the presidency.
John Prideaux hosts with Charlotte Howard and Jon Fasman.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Heading to Canada for work, stay a while, from Vancouver to Calgary, Toronto to Ottawa |
| 0:07.0 | and Montreal, visit extraordinary destinations and reconnect with what matters. |
| 0:12.7 | Unforgettable landscapes, locally foraged food, plus luxurious eco-friendly stays, and |
| 0:19.9 | access to some of the world's most diverse and most livable cities, groundbreaking technology |
| 0:26.3 | and industry leaders who are shaping our future. |
| 0:29.6 | Stay longer, be inspired, explore our Open Atlas, sponsored by Destination Canada at EconomistImpact.com |
| 0:37.6 | Slush Open Atlas. |
| 0:48.6 | It opens pretty much like any country song. |
| 0:51.6 | Little kid in a small town, I did my best just to fit in. |
| 1:00.6 | Three chords and a sentimental small town story, laced with pedal steel. |
| 1:06.6 | But it's a landmark in a genre that likes to lay claim to being the authentic sound of America. |
| 1:12.6 | Mickey Geiten performed the song live at this year's Grammy Awards. |
| 1:17.6 | She was the first African-American woman to be nominated in a country music category. |
| 1:23.6 | America's fraught introspection over race and representation is playing out in the music of the heartland. |
| 1:30.6 | If you think we live in the land of the free, you should try to be black like me. |
| 1:42.6 | This is a special musical edition of Checks and Balance. |
| 1:49.6 | I'm John Prado, the economist US editor. |
| 1:52.6 | Each week we take one big theme shaping American politics and explore it in depth. |
| 2:01.6 | Today, politics, polarization and country music. |
| 2:14.6 | Country's biggest star is Morgan Waller. |
| 2:18.6 | In February, he was caught on camera using a racial slur. |
| 2:22.6 | While his music was pulled from radio playlists and award shows, his album stayed at number one for most of 2021. |
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