The Gray Area with Sean Illing Rebecca Solnit on Harvey Weinstein, feminism, and social change
Mar 2, 2020
Rebecca Solnit, an influential activist-essayist and author of *Men Explain Things to Me*, dives deep into the complexities of being marginalized. She explores the significance of voicelessness and shared experiences, especially in light of the Harvey Weinstein ruling. Solnit discusses the psychological impact of sexual violence, the cultural evolution of feminism, and how societal narratives differ for men and women. Additionally, she highlights the powerful role of art in her journalism and the crucial need to listen to voices from the margins for meaningful social change.
01:47:35
Cosmology and Feminism
- Everyone has a political point of view; there's no neutral stance.
- Feminism is a subset of human rights, promoting compassion and nonviolence.
Finding Feminism
- Rebecca Solnit's mother subscribed to Ms. Magazine, exposing her to feminist ideas early on.
- Street harassment and menace in her late teens and early twenties solidified her feminist identity.
Ambient Threat
- The threat of violence, even without its physical manifestation, exacts a psychological toll.
- It's not a woman's responsibility to adapt to a world where men pose a threat.
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Intro
00:00 • 2min
Exploring Identity and Resilience through a Renowned Writer's Lens
01:42 • 2min
Voices of Change: Feminism and the Fight Against Gender Violence
03:42 • 26min
The Double-Edged Sword of Social Media
30:03 • 10min
Exploring the Power of Margins in Social Change
40:07 • 3min
Voices from the Margins: Struggles for Justice
43:04 • 26min
The Interconnectedness of Art and Journalism
01:09:05 • 6min
Orchestrating Attention: Stories of Change
01:14:56 • 31min
Feminism, Social Change, and the Impact of Media
01:45:30 • 2min
Recollections of My Nonexistence
A Memoir
Rebecca Solnit
The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Gerd Albers
Jane Jacobs
Published in 1961, 'The Death and Life of Great American Cities' is a seminal work by Jane Jacobs that critiques the urban planning policies of the 1950s.
Jacobs argues against the modernist urban renewal practices that separated uses and led to the decline of city neighborhoods.
She advocates for dense, mixed-use development, walkable streets, and the importance of 'eyes on the street' to maintain public order.
The book emphasizes the complexity of urban life and the need for planning that prioritizes the needs and experiences of residents.
Jacobs uses her own neighborhood, Greenwich Village, as a model for a healthy and vibrant urban environment, contrasting it with the urban renewal projects championed by figures like Robert Moses.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Marguerite Capelle
Ocean Vuong
Jesús Zulaika Goicoechea
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is an epistolary novel written as a letter from a Vietnamese-American son to his illiterate mother.
It explores themes of identity, family, love, and the struggles of being a refugee in America.
The novel delves into the narrator's experiences with his family's past, his own sexuality, and his first love.
The Feminine Mystique
Betty Friedan
Published in 1963, 'The Feminine Mystique' by Betty Friedan critiques the societal expectations that confined women to roles as housewives and mothers, arguing that these roles denied women their basic human need to grow and achieve personal fulfillment.
Friedan coined the term 'feminine mystique' to describe the belief that women could find complete fulfillment in domestic duties alone.
Through extensive research, including interviews with housewives, college students, and experts in psychology and education, Friedan exposed the widespread unhappiness among women and the detrimental effects of these societal norms on their mental and physical health.
The book played a pivotal role in sparking the second-wave feminist movement, encouraging women to seek careers and personal achievements outside the home.
In the Dream House
Carmen Maria Machado
In *In the Dream House*, Carmen Maria Machado recounts her emotionally and mentally abusive relationship with a charismatic but volatile woman.
The book uses various narrative tropes to examine the mechanisms and cultural representations of psychological abuse, particularly in queer relationships.
Machado's unique approach blends personal narrative with essayistic explorations of history and culture.
Silent Spring
Rachel Carson
Published in 1962, 'Silent Spring' by Rachel Carson is a seminal work in environmental science.
The book documents the harmful effects of DDT and other pesticides on the environment, including their impact on bird populations, other wildlife, and human health.
Carson argued that these substances should be called 'biocides' due to their broad impact on ecosystems.
The book was serialized in 'The New Yorker' before its full publication and generated significant public and scientific debate.
It led to a reversal in U.S.
pesticide policy, the banning of DDT for agricultural use in 1972, and the establishment of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency in 1970.
Carson's work challenged the prevailing attitudes towards scientific progress and human control over nature, advocating for responsible and careful use of pesticides and highlighting the need for environmental stewardship.
A paradise built in hell
the extraordinary communities and strange joys that arise in disasters
Emily Beresford
Rebecca Solnit
David Muñoz Mateos
In 'A Paradise Built in Hell', Rebecca Solnit examines how people respond to disasters and crises, often forming strong, resilient communities.
The book delves into the human capacity for cooperation, altruism, and mutual aid during times of catastrophe, challenging the common narrative that disasters bring out the worst in people.
Solnit draws on historical examples such as the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, and Hurricane Katrina to illustrate these phenomena.
How to Do Nothing
Jenny O'Dell
How to Change
The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be
Katy Milkman
In this ground-breaking book, Katy Milkman reveals a proven path to help readers move from where they are to where they want to be.
Drawing on her original research and the work of her world-renowned scientific collaborators, Milkman shares strategic methods for identifying and overcoming common barriers to change, such as impulsivity, procrastination, and forgetfulness.
The book offers innovative approaches like 'temptation bundling,' using timely reminders, and creating 'set-it-and-forget-it systems' to make change more achievable.
It emphasizes the importance of tailoring solutions to specific roadblocks and using science to stack the deck in favor of successful change.
There There
a novel
Julia Osuna Aguilar
Tommy Orange
Tommy Orange's novel follows twelve characters from Native communities as they travel to the Big Oakland Powwow.
The story is a powerful exploration of violence, recovery, hope, loss, identity, power, dislocation, and communion, reflecting the complex and often fraught experiences of Native American life.
Labyrinths
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges's "Labyrinths" is a collection of his most celebrated short stories, showcasing his mastery of intricate plots and philosophical themes.
The stories often explore the nature of reality, time, and identity, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.
Borges's unique style, characterized by its intellectual depth and playful use of metafiction, has had a profound influence on literature and popular culture.
Many of his stories feature recurring motifs like libraries, mirrors, and labyrinths, symbolizing the complexities of human experience.
His work continues to fascinate readers with its intellectual stimulation and imaginative power.
Hunger
A Memoir of (My) Body
Roxane Gay
In 'Hunger: A Memoir of (my) Body,' Roxane Gay delves into her personal struggles with food and body image, using her own emotional and psychological experiences to explore broader societal anxieties over pleasure, consumption, appearance, and health.
The memoir recounts her childhood, including a devastating act of violence that significantly impacted her life, and her journey towards self-care and healing.
With candid vulnerability, Gay discusses the tensions between desire and denial, self-comfort and self-care, and what it means to be overweight in a society that often marginalizes larger bodies.
The book is a powerful exploration of food, feminism, trauma, and the quest for visibility and acceptance.
Lucky
Alice Sebold
In 'Lucky', Alice Sebold recounts her brutal rape and beating in a park near Syracuse University when she was 18.
The memoir chronicles her indomitable spirit as she struggles to come to terms with the assault, the trial of her attacker, and the long process of recovery.
Sebold's narrative is marked by its searing candor and wit, illuminating the experience of trauma victims and imparting hard-won wisdom about survival and healing.
The book also addresses the wrongful conviction of Anthony Broadwater, who was later exonerated in 2021.
Rebecca Solnit is one of the great activist-essayists of our age. Her books and writing cover a vast amount of human existence, but a common thread in her work — and a focus of her upcoming memoir, Recollections of My Nonexistence — is what it means to be voiceless, ignored, and treated as a unreliable witness to the events of your own life.
“We always say nobody knows, and that means that everyone who knows was nobody,” Solnit says. “Everyone who was nobody knew about Harvey Weinstein.”
This conversation is, in part, about what it means to be a nobody and what we’d learn if we listened to the voices on the margins of society. But it goes wide from there, covering the psychic toll of sexual violence, the Weinstein ruling, how visual art infuses Solnit’s journalism, the changing cultural role of San Francisco, what climate change will do to social relations, the different narratives of violence that men and women grow up with, and much more.
A quick warning: We spoke just after the Weinstein ruling, and we discuss sexual violence both in terms of specific cases and larger cultural questions. It’s an important conversation, and Solnit’s thinking here is essential and humane, but listeners should be prepared for it.
Book recommendations:
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
There There by Tommy Orange
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Credits:
Engineer - Cynthia Gil
Producer/Editor - Jeff Geld
Researcher - Roge Karma
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