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Title: Yellowstone, East Palestine

In a small town in rural Ohio called East Palestine, there’s a single bar. In this bar, you’ll often find reruns of Yellowstone playing on TV screens, signifying a type of rural resonance and pride at a time of deepening political polarization. This talk explores that rural resonance by drawing on theories of polarization, as well as qualitative research carried out in different Anglosphere nations. I explore the role of new and old technologies in fuelling different political attitudes during an era of widespread economic immiseration. I develop concepts such as ‘oracular power’ and ‘phantomwealth’ to theorize this interview data. I also critically analyse various cornerstone terms used in the past to understand political discord and economic injustice, including the phrases ‘white ignorance’ and ‘racial capitalism’ and their limitations.