In this episode, Fiction/Non/Fiction co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan are joined by acclaimed fiction writer and essayist Kaitlyn Greenidge and poet and novelist Russell Banks. Greenidge challenges traditional framings of “white backlash” and argues that white privilege in the U.S. has shifted to a false narrative of victimhood. Then, Banks discusses his experiences of protest in the ’60s and ’70s, highlighting similarities in the tactics of – and governmental responses to – today’s #BLM activists.

To hear the full episode, subscribe to the Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. And check out video excerpts from our interviews at LitHub’s Virtual Book Channel and Fiction/Non/Fiction’s YouTube Channel.

This podcast is produced by Andrea Tudhope.

Guests:

Selected readings for the episode:

Kaitlyn Greenidge

Russell Banks

Others:

Fiction/Non/Fiction interview with Thomas Frank
Conflict is Not Abuse by Sarah Schulman
“The Pandemic is a Portal” by Arundhati Roy
The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
“Waking Up in the Middle of Some American Dreams,” by June Jordan

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S3 Ep. 23: We've Been Here Before: Kaitlyn Greenidge and Russell Banks on the Past and Present of Protest and White Backlash