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scribepub's review against another edition
With his usual verve, Frank skewers the elite voices of condescension that vilify the egalitarian and democratic strivings of working people. In so doing, he offers a passionate defense of populism, which he reveals as a deep and wide political tradition that remains as essential as ever for the hopes of a more just and equitable society.
Charles Postel, author of Equality: an American dilemma, 1866–1896
Political commentator Frank (Rendezvous with Oblivion) urges liberals to reclaim ‘the high ground of populism’ in this fervent and acerbically witty call to action … Frank blends diligent research with well-placed snark to keep readers turning the pages. Liberals will be outraged, enlightened, and entertained.
Publishers Weekly
The author of What’s the Matter with Kansas? returns with a study of populism … [H]e argues that historically populism has been focused on expanding opportunities for all, and he sees anti-populist sentiment today as being anti-working class. That will stir debate.
Library Journal
A provocative new book that encompasses historical analysis as well as the present.
Dan Shaw, Happy Magazine
Brilliantly written, eye-opening … From 1891 to the rise of Trumpism, Frank walks readers through a minefield of assumptions about populism’s nature and history … Throughout People Without Power, Frank takes pains to look at populism through a broad lens … His reflection on how the jeans-clad Jimmy Carter wrapped himself in populism to avoid being tagged as a socialist, liberal or conservative is spot-on.
Douglas Brinkley, The Washington Post
Anyone looking for a compact, highly readable history of the American political movement known as populism, and the determined efforts from both right and left to squelch it, will enjoy prominent progressive journalist Thomas Frank’s People Without Power … Credit goes to Frank for this admirable effort to reclaim the noblest parts of the populist legacy and make them relevant for contemporary Americans.
Harvey Freedenberg, BookPage
[A] sprightly crafted survey of populist philosophy over the past century as it contends with more established political forces that have considered its ideas to be backwards and undemocratic … A valuable history of an important political tradition, and what it means for the future.
Ed Goedeken, Library Journal
[A] fervent and acerbically witty call to action … Frank blends diligent research with well-placed snark to keep readers turning the pages. Liberals will be outraged, enlightened, and entertained.
Kirkus Reviews
Rarely do I encounter progressive tracts that I enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed this book … [Takes] aim at the myth of ‘populism’ … Frank has once again written an important book, that leftists everywhere should read in order or understand the moment in which they live.
Anthony Skews, Medium
Charles Postel, author of Equality: an American dilemma, 1866–1896
Political commentator Frank (Rendezvous with Oblivion) urges liberals to reclaim ‘the high ground of populism’ in this fervent and acerbically witty call to action … Frank blends diligent research with well-placed snark to keep readers turning the pages. Liberals will be outraged, enlightened, and entertained.
Publishers Weekly
The author of What’s the Matter with Kansas? returns with a study of populism … [H]e argues that historically populism has been focused on expanding opportunities for all, and he sees anti-populist sentiment today as being anti-working class. That will stir debate.
Library Journal
A provocative new book that encompasses historical analysis as well as the present.
Dan Shaw, Happy Magazine
Brilliantly written, eye-opening … From 1891 to the rise of Trumpism, Frank walks readers through a minefield of assumptions about populism’s nature and history … Throughout People Without Power, Frank takes pains to look at populism through a broad lens … His reflection on how the jeans-clad Jimmy Carter wrapped himself in populism to avoid being tagged as a socialist, liberal or conservative is spot-on.
Douglas Brinkley, The Washington Post
Anyone looking for a compact, highly readable history of the American political movement known as populism, and the determined efforts from both right and left to squelch it, will enjoy prominent progressive journalist Thomas Frank’s People Without Power … Credit goes to Frank for this admirable effort to reclaim the noblest parts of the populist legacy and make them relevant for contemporary Americans.
Harvey Freedenberg, BookPage
[A] sprightly crafted survey of populist philosophy over the past century as it contends with more established political forces that have considered its ideas to be backwards and undemocratic … A valuable history of an important political tradition, and what it means for the future.
Ed Goedeken, Library Journal
[A] fervent and acerbically witty call to action … Frank blends diligent research with well-placed snark to keep readers turning the pages. Liberals will be outraged, enlightened, and entertained.
Kirkus Reviews
Rarely do I encounter progressive tracts that I enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed this book … [Takes] aim at the myth of ‘populism’ … Frank has once again written an important book, that leftists everywhere should read in order or understand the moment in which they live.
Anthony Skews, Medium
scribepub's review against another edition
With his usual verve, Frank skewers the elite voices of condescension that vilify the egalitarian and democratic strivings of working people. In so doing, he offers a passionate defense of populism, which he reveals as a deep and wide political tradition that remains as essential as ever for the hopes of a more just and equitable society.
Charles Postel, author of Equality: an American dilemma, 1866–1896
Political commentator Frank (Rendezvous with Oblivion) urges liberals to reclaim ‘the high ground of populism’ in this fervent and acerbically witty call to action … Frank blends diligent research with well-placed snark to keep readers turning the pages. Liberals will be outraged, enlightened, and entertained.
Publishers Weekly
The author of What’s the Matter with Kansas? returns with a study of populism … [H]e argues that historically populism has been focused on expanding opportunities for all, and he sees anti-populist sentiment today as being anti-working class. That will stir debate.
Library Journal
A provocative new book that encompasses historical analysis as well as the present.
Dan Shaw, Happy Magazine
Brilliantly written, eye-opening … From 1891 to the rise of Trumpism, Frank walks readers through a minefield of assumptions about populism’s nature and history … Throughout People Without Power, Frank takes pains to look at populism through a broad lens … His reflection on how the jeans-clad Jimmy Carter wrapped himself in populism to avoid being tagged as a socialist, liberal or conservative is spot-on.
Douglas Brinkley, The Washington Post
Anyone looking for a compact, highly readable history of the American political movement known as populism, and the determined efforts from both right and left to squelch it, will enjoy prominent progressive journalist Thomas Frank’s People Without Power … Credit goes to Frank for this admirable effort to reclaim the noblest parts of the populist legacy and make them relevant for contemporary Americans.
Harvey Freedenberg, BookPage
[A] sprightly crafted survey of populist philosophy over the past century as it contends with more established political forces that have considered its ideas to be backwards and undemocratic … A valuable history of an important political tradition, and what it means for the future.
Ed Goedeken, Library Journal
[A] fervent and acerbically witty call to action … Frank blends diligent research with well-placed snark to keep readers turning the pages. Liberals will be outraged, enlightened, and entertained.
Kirkus Reviews
Rarely do I encounter progressive tracts that I enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed this book … [Takes] aim at the myth of ‘populism’ … Frank has once again written an important book, that leftists everywhere should read in order or understand the moment in which they live.
Anthony Skews, Medium
Charles Postel, author of Equality: an American dilemma, 1866–1896
Political commentator Frank (Rendezvous with Oblivion) urges liberals to reclaim ‘the high ground of populism’ in this fervent and acerbically witty call to action … Frank blends diligent research with well-placed snark to keep readers turning the pages. Liberals will be outraged, enlightened, and entertained.
Publishers Weekly
The author of What’s the Matter with Kansas? returns with a study of populism … [H]e argues that historically populism has been focused on expanding opportunities for all, and he sees anti-populist sentiment today as being anti-working class. That will stir debate.
Library Journal
A provocative new book that encompasses historical analysis as well as the present.
Dan Shaw, Happy Magazine
Brilliantly written, eye-opening … From 1891 to the rise of Trumpism, Frank walks readers through a minefield of assumptions about populism’s nature and history … Throughout People Without Power, Frank takes pains to look at populism through a broad lens … His reflection on how the jeans-clad Jimmy Carter wrapped himself in populism to avoid being tagged as a socialist, liberal or conservative is spot-on.
Douglas Brinkley, The Washington Post
Anyone looking for a compact, highly readable history of the American political movement known as populism, and the determined efforts from both right and left to squelch it, will enjoy prominent progressive journalist Thomas Frank’s People Without Power … Credit goes to Frank for this admirable effort to reclaim the noblest parts of the populist legacy and make them relevant for contemporary Americans.
Harvey Freedenberg, BookPage
[A] sprightly crafted survey of populist philosophy over the past century as it contends with more established political forces that have considered its ideas to be backwards and undemocratic … A valuable history of an important political tradition, and what it means for the future.
Ed Goedeken, Library Journal
[A] fervent and acerbically witty call to action … Frank blends diligent research with well-placed snark to keep readers turning the pages. Liberals will be outraged, enlightened, and entertained.
Kirkus Reviews
Rarely do I encounter progressive tracts that I enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed this book … [Takes] aim at the myth of ‘populism’ … Frank has once again written an important book, that leftists everywhere should read in order or understand the moment in which they live.
Anthony Skews, Medium
amyiw's review against another edition
4.0
Hmm... Really good historical look at populism with a bit of his own twist at the end on Trump and Hillary. Some of the history explains why I feel I have lost my party, but really it started with Bush Senior and Clinton. Here he explains that it goes back even further for the really idea of the liberals that are supposed to be for equality, and social reform. Of course you would have to define both of those terms to really understand. His argument here is the anti-elitism is the establishment elite and contrasts that with the FDR advisory group which he called his "Braintrust". I don't know if we can discount experts but there is always a competing expert opinion, or at least almost always. With Covid today this is definitely the case yet the media and current administration is discounting them entirely. Only there science is correct, even when the studies are pointed out to be flawed. I point to the natural immunity studies, for just one case but don't want to get in an argument.
I wish this was written one year later and he put more money influence in policy and elections. I really would like to get an updated thoughts on the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. Right now there are so many union drives that are being busted but we don't get them in mainstream media. There are also union strikes, one that finally ended of John Deere that shows why unions are important. He does talk about this importance and how it is left out of the debate. It actually was in the talk by Biden, he was going to be the "most pro-union" president ever but until recently, ingored all the strikes and union forming attempts like Amazon workers in Alabama, or Starbucks in Buffalo NY, and so many more. Finally after independent news has screamed it, we have got some reaction.
So he does go into what divides us, and I have slowly come to the same conclusions as it is history repeating itself, but many of us have said stop. Yes, black lives matter but as Martin Luther King said, this is contingent on all of us being valued. When we have people working over time and still not being able to pay the rent, we create a desperate society. The media then portrays the problem as white supremacist. Is there a problem there, sure but it isn't what is keeping our wages stagnant nor are any of the other myriad of social justice issues. It is not what is keeping healthcare cost up and quality of care down. Not what is keeping housing unaffordable for many. It is not why we have the slowest Internet with the highest cost of all the G-20 countries. Some of these social issues would be answered just by improving the lives of all but more the poor and lower middle class with better pay, healthcare, affordable education and safety nets. But instead more and more people are falling out of the middle class into poverty.
The history is great here but now we have a technological behemoth that is running out of control. It is deciding what information is allow to be put forward and how it is even placed. I would have like a little blip in the narrative to discuss this too though it might require a whole book. How populist movements are being subverted or canceled or portrayed as populist while not, or even some that are flourishing. It is easy to see the same history happening here as other populist movements but it is hard to decipher.
I wish this was written one year later and he put more money influence in policy and elections. I really would like to get an updated thoughts on the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol. Right now there are so many union drives that are being busted but we don't get them in mainstream media. There are also union strikes, one that finally ended of John Deere that shows why unions are important. He does talk about this importance and how it is left out of the debate. It actually was in the talk by Biden, he was going to be the "most pro-union" president ever but until recently, ingored all the strikes and union forming attempts like Amazon workers in Alabama, or Starbucks in Buffalo NY, and so many more. Finally after independent news has screamed it, we have got some reaction.
So he does go into what divides us, and I have slowly come to the same conclusions as it is history repeating itself, but many of us have said stop. Yes, black lives matter but as Martin Luther King said, this is contingent on all of us being valued. When we have people working over time and still not being able to pay the rent, we create a desperate society. The media then portrays the problem as white supremacist. Is there a problem there, sure but it isn't what is keeping our wages stagnant nor are any of the other myriad of social justice issues. It is not what is keeping healthcare cost up and quality of care down. Not what is keeping housing unaffordable for many. It is not why we have the slowest Internet with the highest cost of all the G-20 countries. Some of these social issues would be answered just by improving the lives of all but more the poor and lower middle class with better pay, healthcare, affordable education and safety nets. But instead more and more people are falling out of the middle class into poverty.
The history is great here but now we have a technological behemoth that is running out of control. It is deciding what information is allow to be put forward and how it is even placed. I would have like a little blip in the narrative to discuss this too though it might require a whole book. How populist movements are being subverted or canceled or portrayed as populist while not, or even some that are flourishing. It is easy to see the same history happening here as other populist movements but it is hard to decipher.
regferk's review against another edition
3.0
I found this one a little harder to read and follow than his other books but it's still very much worth the time. And, honestly, it could be the timing. Covid. That's my excuse for everything these days.
swmproblems's review against another edition
5.0
This has to be in my top 3 favorite books of all-time. I am not overstating that either. HIGHLY recommend.
ifoundtheme's review against another edition
5.0
A fresh and much-needed take on the functioning of American politics— both a history of the vilification of populism (literally, as a politics of the people) and its impact on the weird elitism of current left politics.
erictlee's review against another edition
5.0
Thomas Frank is best known as the author of What’s the Matter with Kansas?, which was a brilliant analysis of why working class people in America — and not only in Kansas — so often vote against their own class interests. A sequel to that book, Listen, Liberal was a powerful critique of the pro-corporate neoliberals who had taken over the Democratic Party. The two books taken together can be seen as making the case for the Bernie Sanders’ campaigns of 2016 and 2020.
Frank’s new book, which is about both populism and its critics, tackles head on the mis-labelling of politicians like Donald Trump as ‘populists’. Describing the history of populism from the early days of the People’s Party in the US through the 1930s New Deal, Frank identifies a strand of left-wing, anti-corporate, pro-democratic sentiment that should be known as ‘populism’.
By the time he reaches the 1960s it becomes clear who Frank’s heroes are — because they are mine as well. He quotes approvingly from Michael Harrington, A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin. Rustin in particular is shown — correctly — as a visionary, with a clear strategy for social transformation, more relevant today than ever.
And Donald Trump? Just a charlatan millionaire, one in a long line of such characters who don’t deserve to be called populists.
Highly recommended.
Frank’s new book, which is about both populism and its critics, tackles head on the mis-labelling of politicians like Donald Trump as ‘populists’. Describing the history of populism from the early days of the People’s Party in the US through the 1930s New Deal, Frank identifies a strand of left-wing, anti-corporate, pro-democratic sentiment that should be known as ‘populism’.
By the time he reaches the 1960s it becomes clear who Frank’s heroes are — because they are mine as well. He quotes approvingly from Michael Harrington, A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin. Rustin in particular is shown — correctly — as a visionary, with a clear strategy for social transformation, more relevant today than ever.
And Donald Trump? Just a charlatan millionaire, one in a long line of such characters who don’t deserve to be called populists.
Highly recommended.