James Fallows on a 100000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America

 

James Fallows is an American writer and journalist. He has been a national correspondent for The Atlantic for many years. His work has also appeared in Slate, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The New Yorker, and The American Prospect, among others. He is a former editor of U.S. News & World Report, and as President Jimmy Carter's chief speechwriter for two years was the youngest person ever to hold that job. Fallows has been a visiting professor at a number of universities in the U.S. and China and holds the Chair in U.S. Media at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is the author of eleven books, including National Defense, for which he received the 1983 National Book Award, Looking at the Sun (1994), Breaking the News (1996), Blind into Baghdad (2006), Postcards from Tomorrow Square (2009), China Airborne (2012), and Our Towns.

 

 

Lyrics to the song that was inspired by the interview:

OUR TOWN 

In our town we have pride 
We don't form factions or divide 
We chose to come together 
And together we decide  

By ourselves, we don't wait 
For the government or state 
To help us with our problems 
We fix issues that we face 

We are united 
We are neighbors       
To get things done 
We work as one 

We rise together 
Or not at all 
We share a future 
When we stand tall 

In our town, we've made changes 
To get young people to stay 
By giving them the helpful breaks 
They can do things here their way 

And our town's always growing  
While keeping heritage 
It isn't small, it isn't big 
It's perfect as it is 

We are united 
We are neighbors    
To get things done 
We work as one 

We rise together 
Or not at all 
We share a future 
When we stand tall 

Our town was made from what we do 
Our town was built by me and you 
Our town's alive  
Our town is true 

Our town is black, our town is white 
Our town is red, our town is blue 
Our town's the color      
Of me and you 

It wasn't drawn up from top-down  
We raised it up out of the ground 
Our town has roots 
Our towns foundations 

Our town is living history  
Our town is straight simplicity 
Our town is honest 
Our town is free 

Our town has people that belong 
Our town will go on living long 
Our town is stable 
Our town is strong 

This is our town 
Look at our town 
It is our town 
We love our town