From Cincinnati CityBeat, “Elegy: The Many Myths of JD Vance” is a limited-series podcast detailing Vance’s ascent from Middletown “hillbilly” to the 2024 Republican vice presidential nominee. Hosted by Ashley Paul, with reporting from award-winning journalist and Middletown native Madeline Fening of Cincinnati CityBeat, “Elegy” details Vance’s debut into the national political discourse as a “voice” of white working-class Americans. Fening’s intimate knowledge of Middletown and the community offers a unique contrast to the depiction in Vance’s 2016 book Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.
“Elegy” brings voices from across the zeitgeist into a conversation Vance began in 2016. Interviews include: Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, U.S. Representative Greg Landsman, “Big” John Isner of the “Appodlachia” podcast, Andy Kroll of ProPublica, locals from both sides of the Ohio River, and more.
Episodes reflect themes and conversations Vance touches on throughout his memoir, including Appalachian and “Hillbilly” culture, the struggles of suburban assimilation, family trauma, addiction, and poverty, as well as Vance’s role on the elite side of the new MAGA movement.
Elegy: The Many Myths of JD Vance, available this week on Spotify.