What to Make of the Age of Trump by Thomas Frank

The day after Donald Trump was elected president, The New York Times recommended six books “for those trying to understand the political, economic, regional and social shifts that drove one of the most stunning political upsets in the nation’s history.” Among them: Thomas Frank’s Listen, Liberal: Or What Ever Happened to the Party of the People? Frank, a Kansas City native, has followed up, embarking on a 13-city barnstorming tour to talk to Trump voters, union leaders, and progressive activists across the Midwest in conjunction with Listen Liberal’s release in paperback. On his last stop¬in Kansas City¬he discusses what he has learned. This event is co-presented by Rainy Day Books. Frank discussed Listen Liberal at the Library in March 2016; you can view the video on YouTube, and you can find the book in the Library Catalog.

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The Problem with YouTuber Boxing


A video about Logan Paul, Jake Paul, YouTube boxing and the pursuit of redemption.

*Chapters*

0:00 Logan Paul & Jake Paul Boxing Call-Out

01:36 1. YouTuber Boxing

07:38 2. More Than Just a Game

13:00 3. The Boxing Story

21:02 Surfshark VPN Spot

22:46 4. Lads Who Landscape

32:06 5. Respectability on the Ropes

42:35 6. Whose Story is it Anyway?

 

*Some Copy about the Video for the YouTube Algorithm*

The past few years have seen the rise of a strange phenomenon in the form of YouTuber Boxing. Where Joe Weller vs KSI and even KSI vs Logan Paul felt strange and new, the recent Social Gloves (or YouTubers vs TikTokers) event suggested that the embrace of the sweet science of bruising by influencers and other online creators might be here to stay. Few have embraced the trend more than the Paul brothers, Logan & Jake, however. Since losing to KSI, Logan has gone on to fight Floyd Mayweather whilst Jake has taken on Deji, AnEsonGib, Nate Robinson and Ben Askren. Jake Paul vs Tyron Woodley is sure to similarly draw huge crowds to watch online. In this video, I try to unpick the Jake Paul and Logan Paul’s pivot to boxing as an act of story telling—in particular an attempt to draw upon a well-established set of tropes from the boxing film genre (including titles such as Rocky, Creed, Million Dollar Baby, Raging Bull, The Fighter and Cinderella Man) to help pave their road to redemption.

What screams “I’m upper class”?

The true mark of the upper class is being totally removed from the reality of other humans, evidenced by statements that screams “I don’t know how the rest of American lives.”

Examples: “You work too much, take some time off to travel.”, related “You got a job right after college? You’ve got a whole life ahead of you for work, why not spent a few months in Europe getting life experience?”

I come from a rather wealthy family and I’ve notice a pattern. They never say they’re rich, they always say the exact same phrase! “We live comfortably” every time. Recommends the steak. It’s $150 a plate.

Being offhand about things that are very expensive for the plebeians. I’ve found that many rich people are less obnoxious about showing off wealth than people who are almost “rich” that feel they have to match up to people who make more than they do.

My cousin (from a poor family) married into a very wealthy family. We’re taking NBA-regulation court, have US presidents over for dinner, donate $10M to charities, wealthy.

My cousin was engaged at the time of this incident. He’s an honest dude and doesn’t take handouts. His ’98 Ford F150 breaks down, so he’s riding his bike to work. Fiancé’s father finds out and shows up unannounced at his work. Hands my cousin the keys to the brand new Tundra he bought two days ago. Cousin is overwhelmed, can’t believe it. Cousin asks. “Why?”

And this is when my cousin realized they were wealthy. His future father-in-law tells him its because my cousin loved his daughter before he knew about their money. And he finishes up with “plus I wanted a different one.”

Proceeds to walk across the parking lot and gets into even newer truck.

Two, fully tricked-out Tundras, running about $70k each…In 3 days…Not big deal

That man is humble as hell. If you met him, you’d never know his wealth unless you went to his house.