livefromhooverdc_banner_v2.jpg

hillbillyelegy.jpg

The Hoover Institution hosted "Pizza, Pints and Policy" on Wednesday, October 12, 2016 from 5:15pm - 7:00pm.

The Hoover Institution held a conversation with J.D. Vance, former marine and Yale Law School graduate, and author of the recently released NYT #1 bestseller book, Hillbilly Elegy. He discussed his book with Adam White, Hoover Institution research fellow. In his book, Vance provides a powerful firsthand account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town, offering a deeper, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class.

Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over forty years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm, but has never before been written about as searingly from a firsthand perspective. J.D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline means when it isn't just a social trend to be diagnosed, but a day-to-day life to be lived.

The Hoover Institute provided free copies of Vance's book to the first 50 attendees.

Upcoming Events

Thursday, January 29, 2026
Insights From The 2025 US-China Economic And Security Review Commission Report: Findings And Recommendations
The Hoover Institution Program on the US, China, and the World invites you to Insights from the 2025 US-China Economic and Security Review Commission… Shultz Auditorium, George P. Shultz Building
Friday, January 30, 2026
Temple of Heaven 3 - stock photo
Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity And Belonging In Xi Jinping's China
The Hoover Institution Program on the US, China, and the World invites you to a roundtable on Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in… Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Wednesday, February 4, 2026
The Declaration Of Independence: History, Meaning, And Modern Impact
The Center for Revitalizing American Institutions (RAI) invites you to join us for the next webinar in our series to discuss The Declaration of… Hoover Institution, Stanford University
overlay image