Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Professor Arlie Hochschild for a discussion of her book "Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right." Hochschild discusses formative influences shaping her intellectual journey, describes her pioneering work on the sociology of emotions, and traces the evolution of her methodology. She then explains the decision to pursue her study of the American right in Louisiana beginning in 2011; how she undertook an empathetic engagement with citizens devastated by pollution but committed to the oil and gas industry; and how she developed a deep story to explain the emotions motivating her subjects to support right wing perspectives despite the devastation of the environment which they appreciated and loved. She also discusses their attraction to the Trump phenomena. She concludes with the lessons learned and their implications for mending the divide that is tearing the country apart.
KEYWORDS: Politics, Sociologists, American Dream, National Identity, Populism.