In this week's episode, Natalia, Niki, and Neil discuss a feud between African-American intellectuals Cornel West and Ta-Nehisi Coates, the electoral prospects for southern Democrats, and why LaCroix Sparkling Water has become an obsession.
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Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show:
Cornel West published a blistering takedown of Ta-Nehisi Coates in The Guardian. Niki referenced Michael Eric Dyson’s critique of West in The New Republic and Natalia referred to Matthew Clair’s essay in Public Books about the origins of the desire among liberal white audiences to hear “authentic” black voices, but only in certain ways. Niki referenced Tressie McMillan Cottom’s blog post where she argued that Coates and West are fundamentally different as thinkers. Doug Jones’ win against Roy Moore in Alabama was astonishing given the political leanings of the region. Neil referred to his own post in Public Seminar in which he argued the election was more a loss for Moore than a victory by Jones. Niki referred to Matthew Lassiter’s Silent Majority: Suburban Politics in the Sunbelt South and Kevin Kruse’s White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism, both of which detail the slow process by which the long-Democratic South became almost wholesale Republican. LaCroix Sparkling Water is all the rage among coastal tastemakers these days, though it has Midwestern roots, as Vox reports. Niki recommended the Gastropod podcast to delve deeper into the history of seltzer.
In our regular closing feature, What’s Making History:
Natalia discussed allegations of sexual assault against Russell Simmons. Neil recommended Sarah Rose’s book For All the Tea in China. Niki shared why KFC is a popular Christmas meal in Japan.