The Forbidden C-word, Class in America | FO Podcasts

Why is the word class almost never spoken in American politics, despite shaping elections, identity, and power? In this episode of FO Podcasts, Fair Observer’s Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief Atul Singh, examines the hidden class system in the United States with former Washington Post journalist Ken Jenkins.

Drawing from his journey from a blue-collar upbringing to elite Washington institutions, Jenkins explains how class operates through education, accents, culture, and unspoken social rules. The conversation explores why American politics avoids class language, how elite institutions dominate political discourse, and why working-class voters across racial lines have drifted away from the Democratic Party.

The episode also unpacks Donald Trump’s appeal, elite condescension, identity politics, and the widening divide between metropolitan professionals and rural or industrial America. With comparisons to Europe and the United Kingdom, this discussion shows why class, not race alone, has become a defining fault line in US democracy.

00:00 Class in America

04:30 Atul’s Family in India

06:30 Ken’s Family in America

10:00 Class Politics in the US

15:00 What Trump Did Right

21:00 Class in Europe vs America

35:00 The Impact of Class on Community

40:00 Democrats and Zohran Mamdani

45:00 Race and Class in America

55:00 Republicans vs Democrats