America is a land dotted with so-called “company towns” – population centers where a single business or industry dominates not only the local economy, but government and community ethos as well. But what happens when a town and an industry in decline part ways, leaving it to local government and leadership to take up the slack? Hoover fellow Elizabeth Mitchell Elder discusses what transpired in those portions of America (Appalachia and the Midwest) once dominated by a since-diminished coal industry and the lack of institutional confidence that followed – her interviews, polling and data research chronicled in her new book, Company Towns: Industry Power and the Historical Foundations of Public Mistrust.
Recorded on May 4, 2026.
