The Writer Danzy Senna on Kamala Harris and the Complexity of Biracial Identity in America

The Writer Danzy Senna on Kamala Harris and the Complexity of Biracial Identity in America

In fiction and nonfiction, the author Danzy Senna focusses on the experience of being biracial in a nation long obsessed with color lines. Now that Kamala Harris is the Democratic candidate for President, some of Senna’s concerns have come to the fore in political life. Donald Trump attacked Harris as a kind of race manipulator, implying that she had been Indian American before becoming Black for strategic purposes. The claim was bizarre and false, but Senna feels that it reflected a mind-set in white America. “Mixed-race people are sort of up for debate and speculation, and there’s a real return to the idea that your appearance is what matters, not what your background is or your identity,” she tells Julian Lucas, who wrote about Senna’s work in The New Yorker. “And if your appearance is unclear to us, then we’re going to debate you and we’re going to discount you and we’re going to accuse you of being an impostor.” Senna talks about why she describes people like herself and Lucas using the old word “mulatto,” despite its racist etymology. “The word ‘biracial’ or ‘multiracial’ to me is completely meaningless,” she says, “because I don’t know which races were mixing. And those things matter when we’re talking about identity.” Senna’s newest novel, “Colored Television,” follows a literary writer somewhat like herself, trying to find a new career in the more lucrative world of TV.

Episoder(1018)

Ryan Coogler on “Sinners,” His Epic Film about Race, Music, and the Undead

Ryan Coogler on “Sinners,” His Epic Film about Race, Music, and the Undead

When the Oscar nominations were announced this year, Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” set a record. It received sixteen nominations, the most for any film ever. The fact that it’s, in part, a vampire movie, m...

10 Mar 19min

The Global Fallout of Donald Trump’s War on Iran

The Global Fallout of Donald Trump’s War on Iran

As Iran’s retaliation hit American allies throughout the Middle East this week, David Remnick was joined by two New Yorker writers with decades of experience reporting from the region. Robin Wright ha...

6 Mar 31min

Failed “Finance Bros” Find Success with HBO’s “Industry”

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David Remnick sits down with Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, the creators of a show he loves, “Industry,” which is currently airing its fourth season. The show is centered on the financial and personal dr...

1 Mar 16min

What Could Go Wrong, or Right, in a War with Iran

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As Donald Trump and his Administration threaten to attack Iran, their motivations remain unclear. Does the President want to force Iran to make a nuclear deal, to replace the one that he scrapped in h...

27 Feb 34min

The Evidence on Ozempic to Treat Addiction

The Evidence on Ozempic to Treat Addiction

Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs have had a major impact in their short time on the market—currently, one in eight Americans say that they have been on GLP-1 drugs. As tens of millions of people take the...

24 Feb 19min

Conan O’Brien on What Can Go Wrong at the Oscars

Conan O’Brien on What Can Go Wrong at the Oscars

Hosting the Academy Awards ceremony is a notoriously tricky gig, but Conan O’Brien nailed it in 2025, and he will return for this year’s event. Since leaving late-night television, in 2021, O’Brien ha...

20 Feb 31min

Richard Brody Presents the 2026 Brody Awards

Richard Brody Presents the 2026 Brody Awards

Every year, ahead of Oscar night, the film critic Richard Brody joins the New Yorker Radio Hour to discuss his picks for the year’s best films. David Remnick sits down with Brody and the staff writer ...

17 Feb 14min

What Donald Trump and “Everyone” Knew About Jeffrey Epstein

What Donald Trump and “Everyone” Knew About Jeffrey Epstein

In January, the Justice Department released over three million documents, including many redacted e-mails, related to Jeffrey Epstein. “Should we share the Julie Brown text with Alan [Dershowitz],” Ep...

13 Feb 35min

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