# Erin Osmon, "Won't Back Down: Heartland Rock and the Fight for America" (W. W. Norton, 2026) Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-american-studies-1045748/erin-osmon-won-t-back-down-heartland-rock-and-the-fight-for-america-w-w-norton-2026 Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-american-studies-1045748/erin-osmon-won-t-back-down-heartland-rock-and-the-fight-for-america-w-w-norton-2026.md Podcast: [New Books in American Studies](https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-american-studies-1045748) Published: 2026-09-01T08:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK4906700532.mp3 Audio file: https://pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK4906700532.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-american-studies-1045748/episodes/erin-osmon-won-t-back-down-heartland-rock-and-the-fight-for-america-w-w-norton-2026 Duration seconds: 2671 ## Resource Hear "American Girl" or "Born in the U.S.A." and, like it or not, chances are you begin to hum along. The soundtrack of grocery stores, pool halls, bowling alleys, flea markets, chain restaurants, drug stores, and political rallies--heartland rock, while beloved by some and derided by others, is inescapable even today. As rollicking as the music it describes, acclaimed music critic Erin Osmon's Won't Back Down: Heartland Rock and the Fight for America (W. W. Norton & Company, 2026) tells the story of the origins, chart-topping development, and tangled legacy of heartland rock, the music that ruled the airwaves of the 1980s and remains instantly recognizable to millions. Spinning an entertaining and eye-opening account, Osmon delves into the complicated afterlife of heartland rock's classic albums and songs, including Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run," Bob Seger's "Against the Wind," John Mellencamp's "Small Town," and Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down." She demonstrates the centrality of often-overlooked women like Melissa Etheridge, Bonnie Raitt, and Lucinda Williams--explaining how some of the most popular music of the time was made beyond its white-male stereotypes. She traces the genre's connections to country and Americana, and reveals how legendary figures like Prince were inspired by and expanded heartland rock. And she shows how its success revitalized the careers of figures like Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Through it all, she explores the '80s cultural developments that fostered the genre--such as the rise of MTV and the switch to CDs--and argues that the music played a vital role in opposition to '80s conservatism and in support of LGBTQ rights, labor issues, and the environmental movement. A fair-minded critic with an ear for a great behind-the-scenes s… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-american-studies-1045748/episodes/erin-osmon-won-t-back-down-heartland-rock-and-the-fight-for-america-w-w-norton-2026/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-american-studies-1045748/erin-osmon-won-t-back-down-heartland-rock-and-the-fight-for-america-w-w-norton-2026.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.