Yessssss James Baldwin

Last night, back from the airport and finally in bed, I was reading a bit and glanced at the stack of books that was such a delightful part of my 2017. I could use a good amount of time and words describing my relationship with all the different writers and their minds -- where I was when I read them, how ferociously I marked them up (or not), how quickly I consumed them (or not) -- but there was one that seemed to be the ultimate connector: James Baldwin.

Almost everything I read can in some way be traced to him (from Maya Angelou to any history of the Civil Rights Movement, from Ta-Nehisi Coates to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie), and even the two non-standup comedy documentaries I watched this year (13th and I Am Not Your Negro) both have his fingerprints all over them -- the latter, of course, because it's composed of his words.

He also makes for a tremendous interview, for two reasons: the first is that his answers are so well constructed -- so contained, thoughtful, clear, symbolic, and powerful -- that they almost feel rehearsed. The second reason is that he is perpetually skeptical of what he's asked, never underestimating the ability of his interviewer to ask stupid questions (look no further than the annual cycle of wildly awful flood/hurricane/wildfire/blizzard/heatwave coverage to confirm the legitimacy of his skepticism).

This podcast is interesting because the interview with him is re-enacted (there is no original recording). Whatever the case, it's exceptional.