44. Native Son: Masculinity, Emotions, and Being Misunderstood

In this episode, Miles and Jan talk about a book that Miles read recently: Native Son by Richard Wright. It’s a crazy and complex book that has an even more important legacy. We talk about why the book had such a big impact, what’s relatable and realistic about Bigger Thomas, dive into what it really means to understand other people’s emotions and our own. CW: In discussing Native Son, we talk about the novel’s depictions of sexual violence.
3:04 Books that Native Son influenced
6:00 Non-Fiction Writers who are great novelists
6:45 Richard Wright’s writing about Africa
7:00 Talk about Native Son’s Impact Culturally
9:45 The Difference Between Bigger Thomas and Richard Wright
11:45 Why was Native Son written?
13:10 What did you take away from the book?
16:00 Comparing Native Son and Get Out
19:14 What it means to be understood
21:20 What being self-conscious even means
24:20 The link between masculinity and violence
29:50 James Baldwin’s Here Be Dragons: Freaks and the Ideal of American Manhood
33:15 “Emotions are bigger than people”
36:30 Good writers are masters of emotion
38:37 Does Miles recommend Native Son?
42:00 Fight Club author’s take on internal dialogue
45:30 Miles thinks of stupid literary experiment haha

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