Johnny Cash and the Limits of American Empathy

Almost two decades after his death, country music artist Johnny Cash maintains a hallowed place in American culture. Revered for the way he wrote and sang America into song, he’s equally admired for the way he lived his life:  An ardent defender of the underdog who never shied away from the opportunity to speak truth to power.

In the ninth collaboration between WRGC and the Center for Georgia Studies, historian Michael Stewart Foley joins Georgia College’s Mark Huddle to explore how Johnny Cash’s life influenced his politics, and how the singer used empathy to engage in the turbulent politics of America’s darkest hours.

Michael Stewart Foley is the author of Citizen Cash: The Political Life and Times of Johnny Cash, a book examining how contemporary politics shaped Cash into an enduring symbol of the American ideal. Foley is a historian of American political culture and American civilization at the Université Grenoble Alpes in France. 

Mark Huddle is a professor of History at Georgia College and the Director of the Center for Georgia Studies.

You can learn more about Citizen Cash: The Political Life and Times of Johnny Cash at https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/michael-stewart-foley/citizen-cash/9781541699564/