Author Barbara Kingsolver on How Urban and Rural America Became Enemies

Why are urban and rural America so at odds?

Author Barbara Kingsolver has answers as she joins the second episode of our sister podcast from the Chronicle of Philanthropy: The Commons in Conversation.  

The Pulitzer Prize winner frequently writes and talks about the origins of — and cure for — what she calls "urban-rural antipathy." Her most recent novel, Demon Copperhead, aims to dismantle stereotypes of her native Appalachia that she says infect politics and contribute to a mutual loathing between urban and rural Americans. 

Kingsolver talks with Chronicle of Philanthropy deputy opinion editor Nandita Raghuram about her writing and philanthropy's role in rural parts of the country. She also shares a bit about Higher Ground, a home she and her husband established for women recovering from addiction.

Visit The Commons, a Chronicle special project exploring how Americans can come together, strengthen communities, and repair our torn social fabric. And sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Watch this interview on the Chronicle's YouTube channel.

Go Deeper

• Read an excerpt from Demon Copperhead.
• Read a New York Times story about the home that Kingsolver and her husband established for women recovering from addiction.
• Listen to a 2023 interview with Kingsolver about Demon Copperhead as "the great Appalachian novel."