A Radio Tour of Tea Party Nation

A Radio Tour of Tea Party Nation

A Radio Tour of Tea Party Nation

Gary Younge hits the road to understand how local opposition to President Obama explains a growing national movement.

Gary Younge
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In his column for The Nation this week, Gary Younge hit the road to reveal what’s at the heart of Tea Party Nation. In this two-part, companion audio documentary from the BBC World Service, Younge tells the story of President Obama’s fiercest opponents. He spoke to tea-partiers, evangelicals and libertarians; local elected officials, country club members and small business owners to find out why they oppose the President, and what they think of his first year in office. He traveled to rural Arkansas and Kentucky, speaking with dozens of people who believe President Obama is taking the country in the wrong direction.

Listen to both parts below, or download the MP3. Special thanks to the BBC World Service for their production of this feature, and permission to run it at TheNation.com. You can listen to more audio documentaries from the BBC World Service here.

Part 1

Part 2

An urgent message from the Editors

As the editors of The Nation, it’s not usually our role to fundraise. Today, however, we’re putting out a special appeal to our readers, because there are only hours left in 2025 and we’re still $20,000 away from our goal of $75,000. We need you to help close this gap. 

Your gift to The Nation directly supports the rigorous, confrontational, and truly independent journalism that our country desperately needs in these dark times.

2025 was a terrible year for press freedom in the United States. Trump launched personal attack after personal attack against journalists, newspapers, and broadcasters across the country, including multiple billion-dollar lawsuits. The White House even created a government website to name and shame outlets that report on the administration with anti-Trump bias—an exercise in pure intimidation.

The Nation will never give in to these threats and will never be silenced. In fact, we’re ramping up for a year of even more urgent and powerful dissent. 

With the 2026 elections on the horizon, and knowing Trump’s history of false claims of fraud when he loses, we’re going to be working overtime with writers like Elie Mystal, John Nichols, Joan Walsh, Jeet Heer, Kali Holloway, Katha Pollitt, and Chris Lehmann to cut through the right’s spin, lies, and cover-ups as the year develops.

If you donate before midnight, your gift will be matched dollar for dollar by a generous donor. We hope you’ll make our work possible with a donation. Please, don’t wait any longer.

In solidarity,

The Nation Editors

Gary Younge Gary Younge, a member of The Nation’s editorial board, is a professor of sociology at the University of Manchester and a Type Media Fellow.


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