The fantasy vs. reality of Trump's "smokestack nostalgia"

It's Been a Minute

NPR

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🗓️ 7 May 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

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Summary

The Trump administration wants their recent tariffs to function as incentives for Americans to produce more of our own goods in our own factories. And one poll shows that 80% of us say the country would be better off if more Americans worked in manufacturing. But why do people on both sides of the aisle want these jobs back so much? What have we lost culturally with the loss of factory jobs that we want to bring back? And ultimately - how does the fantasy of bringing more factory jobs back stack up against the reality of how American manufacturing works today? Brittany is joined by Vox senior correspondent Dylan Matthews and Montclair State University associate professor Jeffrey Gonzalez to find out.

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Transcript

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1:24.4	Hello, hello. I'm Brittany Luce and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR, a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident.
1:37.6	In a few moments, I will sign a historic executive order
1:45.3	instituting reciprocal tariffs on countries throughout the world.
1:50.9	Reciprocal, that means they do it to us and we do it to them.
1:56.2	Jobs and factories will come roaring back into our country
1:59.7	and you see it happening already.
2:01.6	As you just heard, one of the biggest reasons behind the Trump administration's tariffs
2:06.6	is to bring more factory jobs back into our country.
	...

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