Political Fictions (w/ Vinson Cunningham)
Know Your Enemy31 Aug 2024

Political Fictions (w/ Vinson Cunningham)

Today, we're joined by one of our favorite writers and thinkers, Vinson Cunningham, to discuss his excellent debut novel, Great Expectations, which tells the story of brilliant-but-unmoored young black man, David Hammond, who finds himself recruited — by fluke, folly, or fate — onto a historic presidential campaign for a certain charismatic Illinois senator. A staff writer at the New Yorker, Vinson also worked for Obama's 2008 campaign in his early twenties. (He bears at least some resemblance to his protagonist.) And his novel provides a wonderful jumping-off point for a deep discussion of political theater, the novel of ideas, race, faith, the meaning of Barack Obama, and the meaning of Kamala Harris.

Also discussed: Christopher Isherwood, Saul Bellow, Garry Wills, Ralph Ellison, Marilynne Robinson, Paul Pierce, and Kobe Bryant! If you can't get enough Vinson, check out his podcast with Naomi Fry and Alexandra Schwartz, Critics at Large.

Sources:

Vinson Cunningham, Great Expectations: A Novel (2024)

— "The Kamala Show," The New Yorker, Aug 19, 2024

— "Searching for the Star of the N.B.A. Finals," The New Yorker, June 21, 2024

— "Many and One," Commonweal, Dec 14, 2020.

Saul Bellow, Ravelstein (2001)

Garry Wills, Lincoln at Gettysburg (1992)

Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952)

Shadow and Act (1964)

David Haglund, "Leaving the Morman Church, After Reading a Poem," New Yorker Radio Hour, Mar 25, 2016.

Phil Jackson, Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior (1995)

Glenn Loury, Late Admissions: Confessions of a Black Conservative (2024)

Matthew Sitman, "Saving Calvin from Clichés: An Interview with Marilynne Robinson," Commonweal, Oct 5, 2017

...and don't forget to subscribe to Know Your Enemy on Patreon so you can listen to all of our premium episodes!

Avsnitt(258)

Trump's War Against Iran (w/ Matt Duss)

Trump's War Against Iran (w/ Matt Duss)

On February 28, both the United States and Israel attacked Iran, killing Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the nation's Supreme Leader, along with other political leaders and government officials, destroying va...

6 Mars 1h 16min

Standing Athwart History, Yelling "Slop!" (w/ John Ganz) [Teaser]

Standing Athwart History, Yelling "Slop!" (w/ John Ganz) [Teaser]

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy. On Monday, Manhattan Institute fellow Chris Rufo posted this: "The Right's collective brain is getting melted in...

27 Feb 2min

Leaving MAGA Behind (w/ Pedro L. Gonzalez)

Leaving MAGA Behind (w/ Pedro L. Gonzalez)

When people break with MAGA, most of them walk away and don't look back, whether out of shame or fear or both. So it's a rare thing to talk with someone willing to describe publicly why they joined th...

23 Feb 1h 19min

'Shattered Glass,' Journalism, & the End of History [Teaser]

'Shattered Glass,' Journalism, & the End of History [Teaser]

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy.This episode is about Shattered Glass, the 2003 movie portraying former New Republic writer Stephen Glass's fall ...

16 Feb 3min

Tucker Carlson's Phases & Stages (w/ Jason Zengerle)

Tucker Carlson's Phases & Stages (w/ Jason Zengerle)

Finally, an episode about Tucker Carlson—and at an auspicious time, as his influence on the right seems only to have grown in the first year of Trump's second term. To help us understand him, we turne...

9 Feb 1h 16min

On the Ground in Minneapolis (w/ Lydia Polgreen) [Teaser]

On the Ground in Minneapolis (w/ Lydia Polgreen) [Teaser]

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy.The shocking execution of Alex Pretti occurred after we recorded our last episode for subscribers about Minneapol...

2 Feb 5min

The Donroe Doctrine (w/ David Adler & Matt Kirkegaard)

The Donroe Doctrine (w/ David Adler & Matt Kirkegaard)

Last week, all eyes were on Davos as President Trump unfurled his deranged desire to buy or take Greenland from Denmark—just weeks after the United States kidnapped Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro...

26 Jan 1h 13min

The Killing of Renee Good [Teaser]

The Killing of Renee Good [Teaser]

Listen to the rest of this premium episode by subscribing at patreon.com/knowyourenemy.Matt and Sam discuss the January 7 killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis by an ICE agent, the promising signs that...

19 Jan 4min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

aftonbladet-krim
svenska-fall
p3-krim
rss-krimstad
fordomspodden
flashback-forever
motiv
aftonbladet-daily
rss-sanning-konsekvens
blenda-2
spar
rss-expressen-dok
rss-krimreportrarna
rss-vad-fan-hande
svd-ledarredaktionen
olyckan-inifran
rss-frandfors-horna
rss-flodet
dagens-eko
krimmagasinet