Visibility, Validation, and White Gaze

This week on The Stacks, essay writer and culture critic, Tre Johnson, joins us to discuss his debut book, Black Genius: Essays on an American Legacy, which examines how black American culture has driven American ingenuity. Tre shares how his grandfather inspired him to write Black Genius and how the book has evolved over the years. We also talk about the struggle of balancing a 9-5 job and making time to write, plus why he decided to leave his job and how that impacted his life as a writer.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' website:

https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2025/8/13/ep-384-tre-johnson

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