Blast from the past: Hightower, Reagan Brown, Fire Ants, Willie Nelson and Turning Over Power to the People

Jim Hightower's Lowdown

English - November 15, 2023 17:00 - ★★★★★ - 303 ratings
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"If you eat, you're involved in agriculture."

Hey y’all! It’s DZ, your friendly neighborhood nerd, reporting in for this treat. Here at Hightower HQ, one of our favorite media moments from the archives has always been this clip of Reagan Brown, then-Agriculture Commissioner of Texas, showing the television cameras just how much he knew about fire ants during his 1982 campaign to beat back Hightower’s insurgent campaign to take over the Department of Agriculture and turn it over to whom it belonged: the People. I sat down with Hightower to chat about that political moment, and what progressives can learn from it today.

Don’t miss more Ag Department history with People’s History in Texas— you can check out their fabulous archive, and subscribe to their free Substack newsletter.

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