On episode 133 of The Quarantine Tapes, Paul Holdengräber is joined by author Casey Gerald. Casey talks with Paul about his recent move from New York to Austin, Texas. He speaks frankly about his experience of writing about grief during the pandemic and digs into his experience of spirituality.

Casey tells the strange story of the time he met George W. Bush and the unique experience of hearing his own story later retold by the former president. In expressing his hopes for the future, Casey emphasizes the need to let go of American myths and embrace the possibilities that come with the end of one world.

Casey Gerald is the author of There Will Be No Miracles Here, a memoir that stands the American Dream narrative on its head, while straddling the complex intersection of race, class, religion and sexuality. TWBNMH was named a Best Book of 2018 by NPR and the New York Times, and novelist Marlon James called Casey's book, "the most urgently political, most deeply personal, and most engagingly spiritual statement of our time.” Casey most recently published “The Black Art of Escape: A New Vision for Black Americans” in New York Magazine, which reflects on the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved Africans’ arrival in Virginia, in 1619. A native Texan, he is a graduate of Harvard Business School and Yale College.

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