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Willy Vlautin on spotlighting working-class life

Season 2026 Episode 133 | 7m 31s

Novelist Willy Vlautin built his career writing about people on the edges of the American dream: working-class families, lonely alcoholics, and those struggling to make ends meet in the fast-changing American West. He’s also a musician, telling his stories through song. Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown traveled to Portland, Oregon, for our arts and culture series, CANVAS.

Major corporate funding for the PBS News Hour is provided by BDO, BNSF, Consumer Cellular, American Cruise Lines, and Raymond James. Funding for the PBS NewsHour Weekend is provided by Consumer Cellular and Cunard Cruise Line. For a complete list of funders for the PBS NewsHour and PBS NewsHour weekend, click here.
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