Who is Tom Cotton?

02/18/20 • 43 min

Arkansas is one of America’s poorest states. Today, it’s also one of its reddest, and the politicians it sends to Washington, like its star senator, Tom Cotton, aim to cut the government assistance programs that many Arkansans depend on. But the state was once solidly democratic, and elected charismatic democratic politicians like former President Bill Clinton, for decades. In the second of three episodes exploring the contemporary Republican Party, and the future of the party after Trump, Sean Morrow digs into the forces that brought Sen. Cotton to power, including deep pocketed donors like Charles Koch, and untangles the complexities of white identity politics and the nationalization of Southern beliefs and attitudes.

Ernie Dumas, Journalist and Author of The Education of Ernie Dumas
Tamika Edwards, Executive Director of the Social Justice Institute at Philander Smith College
Angie Maxwell, Director of the Diane Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society and an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Arkansas

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Ernie Dumas, Journalist and Author of The Education of Ernie Dumas
Tamika Edwards, Executive Director of the Social Justice Institute at Philander Smith College
Angie Maxwell, Director of the Diane Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society and an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Arkansas

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Previous Episode

Who is Mike Pompeo?

As Democrats nationwide consider who their party will nominate to challenge President Trump in November, Republicans look ahead -- to 2024. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, after a meteoric rise through Kansas politics to leading the CIA and the State Department, is widely believed to be preparing to run for higher office. A businessman; a veteran; and a committed Christian, Pompeo represents one possible future for the Republican Party. He’s also an object example of how conservatives, by and large, have accommodated themselves to Trump. On this episode of Who Is, Sean Morrow inspects the complex and contradictory beliefs and impulses of the man who rode the Tea Party to Congress and Benghazi to fame.

Lara Jakes, a Diplomatic Correspondent based in the Washington bureau of The New York Times
Dion Lefler, Government and Politics Reporter at The Wichita Eagle
Tom Shine, Director of News and Public Affairs at Wichita Public Radio, KMUW
Nahal Toosi, Foreign Affairs Reporter for Politico

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Next Episode

Who is Mike Pence?

Vice President Mike Pence, who has described himself as “a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order,” for decades, was born a Catholic Democrat, but rose to prominence as an Evangelical conservative. Once elected to Congress, his friendly attitude toward big business attracted the attention of billionaire donors like Charles Koch. But as Governor of Indiana, Pence became infamous for how his faith informed his politics, from praying for an answer to an HIV outbreak in Scott County, to advocating for a religious freedom policy that enabled business owners to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people. Then came Donald Trump. On the penultimate episode of the first season of Who Is, Sean Morrow turns to Pence biographer Tom LoBianco, to try to understand the man who could be the next President of the United States.

Tom LoBianco, Reporter and Author of Piety & Power: Mike Pence and the Taking of the White House
Sarah Posner, a Reporting Fellow at Type Investigations, where she covers the religious right, white nationalism, and more. Her latest book, Unholy: Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump, is out on May 26, 2020
Laura Ungar, a Midwest Editor and Correspondent at Kaiser Health News. Ungar recently returned to Austin, Indiana, for a look at how the city has recovered, and to evaluate the challenges faced by those living in rural America, for Kaiser Health News and NPR. Her extensive coverage of Austin may be found at https://www.courier-journal.com/

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