Thomas Frank, American author of What's the Matter with Kansas?, has a new book, The Creative Con, and a provocative question: what is creativity, and how did it become a political statement? Thomas argues that an idea that gained popularity in the late '40s has been used "as a kind of cover for a really ugly political project."
We ask who the creatives are, who gets left out when they're celebrated, and what happens to their jobs. Did all that creativity and innovation make America any more innovative or productive? Is America more cultured, or has it become culturally stagnant? And will AI make the country as productive as it once was?
We also look at why Elon Musk, in Thomas's words, "puts all that in the shade" when it comes to Gilded Age inequality, why creativity and innovation get used "willy nilly," how a tax cut in 1978 started a long run of tax cuts in the name of innovation, and why Thomas calls one decision "a blunder of historical magnitude."
Then there's Barack Obama, who Thomas once believed in, and the "magic process" of innovation that none of us really understand. What became of the word under Trump? And why are IQ theorists and eugenicists making a comeback?
Please do check out my latest book, A Dead Cat On Your Table – available online and in all good book shops.
@peteryork.bsky.social
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