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Ep. 6 Book Club - Hillbilly Elegy [VIDEO] (Patreon)

Published:
2025-11-03 00:00:28
Imported:
2026-06
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Content

Recorded on: October 29th, 2025

Did you know who J.D. Vance was?
Book Summary
How Authentic is the Book?
Childhood and Autonomy
Vance, Then vs Now
Our Next Read

Comments

SandalEater

Can we read Doug's new book next?

Cole Markusen

Aiden went to school a town over from me?! Small world 🤯

Bingo

here to rep No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson and Johnson. My absolute favorite book published this year with incredible investigative journalism and horrible corporate and FDA corruption

Blubmin

You know, at first I was disappointed when not all three of you were reading the book, but now I kinda like it. I didn't read this one and having Big A as a kind of "self insert" is able to ask interesting clarifying questions that I wish I could ask.

Akhos

I can't believe they never mentioned how many couches Vance fucked in his book

Penguinofspace

To give a little more credit to Vance’s take on culture vs economic environment, when the times were good a lot of the problems didn’t go away. His grandfather was still a drunk and his mom still became a drug addict. I don’t necessarily agree with his opinion on the subject but I don’t think the book doesn’t address the issue

Chen

I think the key to think about this book is that it shows ambition. And we see that ambition. How he disregarded his old principals for the sake of getting known/power. We see his ambition to be widely loved by the right to make sure that when Trump kicks it, he is the only one they’ll turn to.

Benjamin Payton

A major through line in this story, I think, is a MO he has thrust upon him until he learns to adopt it. He learns to accept help from his support network and eventually ask for it. The Marines forced him to learn how to make responsible, dietary, heigenic, and most importantly financial decisions. Many people are born in to social capital and inherit knowledge from the environment they grow up in. His policy disconnect, from my position, is his view of the limit government can help in closing this gap for people born in to less advantageous situations.

Benjamin Payton
>>192453915

This is not to say he didn't work hard, but the Marines and many people around him pushed him in to a pit of success in some way.

Joseph Rosales

I feel the same about the podcast’s ending. Many people enter politics for the wrong reasons. The book Breakneck mentioned how many politicians are lawyers, and I see that as a major problem. Lawyer-politicians often treat politics like litigation. Seeing politics as trying to make their political philosophy win out rather than trying to best help people in whatever way possible. The exception though would be those that were lawyers second after being in the real world Lina Khan is a good example: she worked in the real world, then became a lawyer to defend people. Too often the lawyers are there to serve the interest of the already power which upholds the status thus hurting people are the most vulnerable and creates friction for improvement. I have a policy degree, so I want more leaders with policy training and hands-on roles like teaching or administration. That background helps them understand systems and serve the public better. Politicians with this path, like Tim Walz, seem to do this well. He’s the head of the board of governors and was able to pass a lot of bipartisan legislation.

Brayden Wight

Book recommendation for next year. The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age.

Javier Arambula Rascon

It might be for a separate pod or not at all but I was hoping you would scrutinize how JD Vance became the top pick for VP to begin with. From my understanding he’s backed by Silicon Valley pretty heavily with Vance having worked for Peter Thiel at Mithril for a bit.

M C

An additional layer to add here is how our military industrial complex works in this country. JD Vance only option out was the military (I know he framed it differently, but no amount of just hardwork in his town was going to get him where he went and he knew that): new home, money and pathway for education. To his credit: he really used the resources the military provided to the maximum. That being said it means your only way out of a desperate situation is the military. Recruitment is up 25% this past year largely due to economic struggles. Reelisments are up because people are worried about getting work and healthcare (especially with how this administration is treating veterans) I’m not saying that people who join don’t love our country and aren’t also feeling a sense of duty, etc, but the financial incentives are a huge driver. Should a poor person have to join the military to be given the opportunity to succeed in life, to provide healthcare for an ill relative?

M C
>>192617098

Also to pushback against DougDoug at37:47 (sorry I really do love you but I feel like I’m always here being a downer) - I completely see your feeling about the narrative and autonomy. I think what is missing is that he demonstrates (and states) you have the autonomy to leave the area. He doesn’t in the book - nor his entire political life - provide any pathway or narrative of how Appalachia could be better. He does blame them specifically. And I think that’s a huge disconnect. Yes, you can make your individual life better if you work hard and leave. That will require you abandoning your home and family. And to me - that shows you don’t really have the option because you don’t have the chance of success where you are. I shouldn’t have to abandon my family, to go put my life at risk for the government to have a shot in life. No amount of hardwork could have made him (or anyone in that situation) successful if he stayed in the community he was from - which is why people leave and the situation gets worse. You see similar things in Africa and why educating women is so important. Then men will become a doctor, etc and don’t move back to their community. The women do though. JD Vance left his home and has built a brand saying it’s their fault - and it’s just not