Imagine what you would learn about the United States if you took a three-week road trip from South Carolina through Texas to California, returning with stops in Oregon, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri and Georgia.
To say it would be interesting would be an understatement, especially with the political volatility highlighted in today’s headlines. Seems like all we read these days is news about high gas prices, a war most people don’t want, corruption, distrust in government and increasing unease with our place in the world.
So to find out what people are really talking about, we’re launching a short daily video series called Listening Across America. Armed with a GoPro video camera and iPad, we’ll hit the road Oct. 8 and head west to talk with everyday Americans about their thoughts, fears and delights with America as it approaches the 2026 midterm elections. It should be loads of fun – and also will introduce followers on the Charleston City Paper’s web and social media sites to some good places to eat and neat places to visit. (We’re particularly excited to try some of the barbecue and Tex-Mex joints in towns across Texas and New Mexico that Charleston pitmaster John Lewis suggested.)
Along the way, we’ll highlight how vast our country is from sea to shining sea. We’re hoping to hear diverse political and cultural views. We want to know, for example, whether people feel better or worse than four years ago. Or whether they think the country is moving in the right or wrong direction – and why. These insights should inform all of us about what’s happening across America and what we might expect as Republicans and Democrats battle over control of Congress – and whether to rein in President Donald Trump.
We also hope the video series will highlight something else, too – what connects Americans from coast to coast. By showcasing that, we might help to focus on pathways out of the current doldrums that have many people down.
This year’s journey isn’t our first rodeo in trying to figure out what matters to people in Mississippi, New Mexico, Washington state, Montana, Arkansas and South Carolina. Eight years ago, we learned a lot about the country in a five-week video tour that sought to give context to the 2018 elections. The result was a five-part political travelogue called “A Hard Road: Travels in Trump’s America.”
A three-member Australian and American documentary team conducted 130 video interviews about what people were thinking about politics in Arizona, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Washington, D.C.
While the 2018 interviews focused on issues from race, immigration, trade, tariffs, economic opportunity and more, the topic that connected just about every interview was the driving force of American politics at the time – the nascent and disruptive presidency of Donald Trump. Without prompting, he often became a key point of many interviews. And as you would expect, some hated what he was doing; others loved him.
Much the same is expected in this 2026 version of a political road trip. But divisions may be even more stark. Trump’s second term has been even more disruptive to the foundations of American democracy and leadership for many Democrats and independents – and an increasing number of Republicans. In Listening Across America, we’ll find out what people are really saying about the jambalaya of issues stretching democracy now.
You’ll be able to bookmark what we’re doing when the series website goes live on Oct. 1 at ListeningAcrossAmerica.com. We hope you’ll join us.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
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