TIME

Heroin, Obamacare and pride: why Trump is finding an audience in southern Ohio

Jackson, Ohio, Mayor Randy Heath, center, at a town forum to air a range of political views

I HAD A MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE IN JACKSON, OHIO, IN 2012. This is hillbilly country, the northwestern edge of Appalachia. Susan Rogers, who works for a local public-service agency, asked me to come visit. She put together an extraordinary group of people—ministers, government workers, the mayor, the state representative—all of whom, it seemed, had friends, family or neighbors who were in jail or rehab, victims of the methamphetamine plague. They were reeling, unable to comprehend

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from TIME

TIME4 min read
A Jumbled Parable With A Glowing Core
Even when a movie is far from perfect, you can tell when a director has poured his soul into it. Dev Patel’s directorial debut Monkey Man—he’s also the movie’s star—is trying too hard, and for too much. It wants to be a political allegory, a somber s
TIME4 min read
Nemonte Nenquimo
Someone recently asked me why it was important to protect the Amazon rainforest from oil drilling. The question made me angry. Can you imagine being questioned about the importance of protecting your home from being destroyed in a fire? Or about prot
TIME3 min read
Stepping Up
Where do you find influence in 2024? You can start with the offices of the Anti-Corruption Foundation in Vilnius, Lithuania, where TIME met with Yulia Navalnaya earlier this spring. There, the activist is working with 60 supporters—whose anti-Kremlin

Related Books & Audiobooks