Kansas: There's No Place Like Home....
On August 6, 2009, New York City's Film Society of Lincoln Center will be hosting the New York premiere of What's the Matter with Kansas? , a documentary film by Laura Cohen and Joe Winston, based on the best-selling book of the same name by Thomas Frank. I chatted recently with director Joe Winston about the film (which will have its Chicago premiere in September.) He shared with me his story of an urban liberal who decided to embed himself in red-state Kansas... and the lessons he learned along the way. In 2004, when America was hurtling toward the successful re-election of George W. Bush, Winston went to a book reading in Chicago to see three authors read selections from their books. He went specifically to see Studs Terkel and Howard Dean, but came away from the event absolutely fascinated with what the third author, Thomas Frank, had to say. Frank was reading from his book, What's the Matter with Kansas? - which looks at a key red state to determine why the...