The Geography of Political Belonging with Salena Zito

While the nation’s cultural curators cluster in a few wealthy zip codes, the voters who decide its elections remain rooted in towns where family, church, and work still bind community together. The result is a political and media class increasingly alien to the country it claims to represent, a dynamic cast in stark relief by the recent memorial for Charlie Kirk.

Salena Zito, author of Butler and political reporter for the Washington Examiner, joins Drew to explain how rootedness, not ideology, drives much of American politics. They discuss the divide between “placed” and “placeless” citizens and why that distinction is fundamental to understanding the rise of President Trump, before focusing on how increasing energy demands from AI data centers could revitalize jobs for “placed” Americans.

Further Reading:

• Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America’s Heartland, by Salena Zito
• “Down In a Pennsylvania Mine, I Saw Coal’s Future,” by Salena Zito, Washington Post
• “New Survey Upends Conventional Wisdom About the American Dream,” American Compass