people have to be able to hold two thoughts in their head at the same time. You can believe that

people have very tough circumstances and that we as a society have a responsibility to give

opportunity and hope to people no matter the circumstances they came from. And then on the other hand,

that people still have some responsibility and some personal agency

despite rough personal circumstances, right?

Four years ago, Hillbilly Elegie was a well-regarded memoir.

Now, with its 2020 Netflix adaptation, the work has become critically panned and the subject

of endless controversy.

Critically panned, but widely enjoyed by audiences.

The book's author, J.D. Vance, joins us today to answer the question, what the heck happened? In his book, J.D. wrote about his upbringing in the Appalachian regions of Kentucky and the Rust Belt area of Middletown, Ohio. A look into the history and values in this area of the country was recommended by mainstream outlets and cultural leaders in mass for insight into the plights of white working-class

people that impacted the 2016 election. The praise was short-lived, however, when the nearly

unanimous edict came down from the media that the trials of impoverished white Americans

were insignificant and should be ignored. In our conversation, JD tells us why his story

fell out of step with postal elites. In the Netflix film adaptation, season's Ron Howard tells J.D.'s story with much of the political sensibility and value of the original work, not in the adaptation. It's just not a political work. Despite that, nearly every major left-wing journalistic outlet, the Guardian box, the Atlantic vulture, Observer, New Yorker, they've ripped the film apart. J.D. and I analyze Hollywood's and legacy media's frenzied relationship with Hillbilly

Elegy. We look at the culture of poverty J.D. grew up in, and the interwoven role government

plays in it. And how conservatives can connect with the Appalachian and Rust Belt regions of the country

moving forward.

Thank you. belt regions of the country moving forward. Hey, hey, and welcome. This is the Ben Shapiro show Sunday special. Today's show is sponsored

by ExpressVPN. Don't let others track what you do. Keep yourself safe at ExpressVPN.com

slash Ben. Just a reminder, we'll be doing some bonus questions at the end with J.D. Vance. The only way to get access to that part of the conversation is to become a member. Head on over to dailywire.com, become a member. You'll have access to all of the full conversations with every one of our awesome guests. J.D. Vance, thanks so much for joining the show. Great to see you. Thanks for having me. So for folks who haven't read Hillbilly Elegie, which of course was your huge best-selling memoir, 3 million copies sold, became sort of the talk of the country for a solid six months there. What is sort of your personal story? The book really is a journey through your personal story, and then I want to get to sort of the socioeconomic analysis that you do in the book. But what's your personal story? Yeah, so the basic story is I grew up in a Midwestern steel town, like a lot of folks that grew up in that area, very strong cultural connections to Appalachia, because there was this massive migration of Appalachian people in the post-war era, especially into the town that I grew up in.

It was a pretty successful middle-class town. The industrial decline hit it pretty hard.

Jobs disappeared. Drugs moved in. Sort of a lot of the sociological things that we associate

...