From \u2018hillbilly\u2019 roots to becoming Donald Trump\u2019s nominee for vice-president. At 39, if JD Vance is elected, he would be one of America\u2019s youngest ever Vice-Presidents. A lot has been laid bare in his own words, in \u2018Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis\u2019. He talks about being raised by his grandparents who moved from the Appalachian Mountains area of Kentucky to Ohio, to a Middle America Rust Belt town looking for a better life. His mother struggled with drug addiction and a string of chaotic relationships. So how did he go from a sometimes unstable, sometimes violent, upbringing to being in the running to take one of the highest offices in American politics? There\u2019s another transformation many wonder about too: why did he change his mind on Trump? Only in 2016 JD Vance said \u2018I can't stomach Trump. I think that he's noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place.\u2019 Mark Coles finds out.
Credit: NPR Fresh Air
Presenter: Mark Coles\nProducers: Phoebe Keane, Diane Richardson\nEditor: Penny Murphy