<p>A challenge of this populist age is separating authentic outsiders with usefully unorthodox political perspectives from rank kooks looking to exploit a moment of open-mindedness.</p>
<p>Roseanne Barr provides a good study.</p>
<p>The popular reboot of her blue-collar sitcom after a two-decade slumber has been widely heralded as a populist victory by much of the pro-Trump Right, given the decision to cast Roseanne’s character as a Trump voter. That Roseanne the woman is herself a Trump supporter only advances the notion that the show is a populist win, and many critics and viewers have offered the MAGA factor as the sole variable explaining the program’s popularity. “Look at her ratings!” cried the gleeful president himself after the show’s debut.</p>