Paul Holdengräber is joined by Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., on episode 104 of The Quarantine Tapes. Eddie’s latest book, Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, looks to Baldwin’s writing for guidance for our own moment. Paul and Eddie’s conversation opens up Eddie’s experience of writing this book, discussing how he grappled with the form of biography, literary criticism, and social criticism.

Eddie tells Paul about how emotionally intense he found writing this book. They dig into how the themes of honesty, rage, and despair resonate in the book and discuss how this moment in America has the potential to be something new while also feeling incredibly familiar.

Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and chair of African American Studies at Princeton University.  He is the former president of the American Academy of Religion, the largest professional organization of scholars of religion in the world.  Glaude is the author of several important books including Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul, which has been described as “one of the most imaginative, daring books of the twenty-first century.”  His most recent book, Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, was released on June 30, 2020.  Imani Perry describes the book as “precisely the witness we need for our treacherous times.   Glaude is also a columnist for Time magazine and a regular contributor on MSNBC.  He hails from Moss Point, Mississippi, a small town on the Gulf Coast, and is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Credits:

Paul Holdengraber - Co-Creator, Host, OLA Director
Anthony Audi - Co-Creator, Researcher, OLA Director
Alejandro Cohen - Co-Creator, Producer, Composer
Christian Pitt - Production Coordinator 
Erin Cooney - Copy, Production
Dublab Team