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158 RTB Ben Fountain in Dark Times (JP)

Oct 16, 2025

Guest

Ben Fountain

Ben Fountain, an award-winning novelist known for his impactful works like Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, dives into the power of literature during turbulent times. He shares his appreciation for Joan Didion's insights on America, praising her ability to capture political nuances. Fountain delves into Marilynne Robinson's essays on Puritanism, illuminating their importance in understanding American identity. He also reflects on James Baldwin's enduring influence and how today's crises shape literature, particularly in the context of his upcoming novel set in 1990s Haiti.

24:56

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insights

INSIGHT

Stories Transport And Reflect Reality

Ben Fountain argues books can both transport readers and reflect their world, and the two effects often overlap.
A powerful story lingers after you emerge and reshapes how you see reality.

question_answer

ANECDOTE

Academic Roots Shaped By American Authors

Ben studied broadly in college but focused his passions and writing instincts on American writers and themes.
His honors thesis was on Allen Tate and he did extensive work on Ezra Pound during undergrad.

insights

INSIGHT

Didion: Interior Lives Meet Geopolitics

Fountain praises Joan Didion's The Last Thing He Wanted as a novel that fuses interiority with geopolitical context.
He values her mastery of tone, mood, and the way private lives process public forces.

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Why Books Matter in Dark Times

02:05 • 3min

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American Writers and Personal Formation

04:45 • 3min

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Joan Didion's Insight on America

08:00 • 2min

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Marilynne Robinson and the Puritan Legacy

10:23 • 3min

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Zadie Smith and Kara Walker's American Reckoning

13:09 • 2min

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Reality, Demagoguery, and Political Trance

15:23 • 32sec

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Why James Baldwin Resonates Over Decades

15:55 • 4min

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How Today's Moment Shapes Writing

19:55 • 19sec

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Fountain's Haiti Novel and Relevance

20:14 • 2min

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Short-Form Responses to Crises

Beautiful Country Burn Again

Ben Fountain

Brief Encounters with Shea Guevara, Stories of 2007

Ben Fountain

#14151

• Mentioned in 3 episodes

If Beale Street Could Talk

James Baldwin

The novel tells the story of Tish, a 19-year-old Black woman, and her lover Fonny, a young sculptor who is falsely accused of rape. The narrative explores the struggles of their families as they work to clear Fonny's name, highlighting the pervasive racism and injustice faced by Black Americans in the 1970s. Through Tish's perspective, the book delves into themes of love, family, community, and the systemic injustices that shape their lives. Baldwin's writing vividly portrays the emotional and social complexities of the characters, making the story both poignant and powerful.

#61074

The last thing he wanted

Joan Didion

The story centers on Elena McMahon, a reporter for The Washington Post, who quits her job to care for her father after her mother's death. She inherits his position as an arms dealer for the U.S. Government in Central America and becomes entangled in a complex web of spies, American military personnel, and the consequences of her father's actions. The narrative explores themes of power, memory, and the subjective nature of truth, set against the backdrop of the tumultuous political landscape of Central America in the 1980s.

#3170

• Mentioned in 11 episodes

Giovanni's Room

James Baldwin

Published in 1956, 'Giovanni's Room' is a groundbreaking novel by James Baldwin that delves into the life of David, a young American expatriate in Paris. David is caught between his desire for Giovanni, an Italian bartender, and his engagement to Hella, an American woman. The novel explores themes of love, shame, guilt, and the internal conflicts that arise from societal expectations and personal identity. As David navigates his relationships and grapples with his sexuality, the story unfolds into a tragic confrontation with the consequences of his choices and the unspoken complexities of the human heart.

#15462

• Mentioned in 2 episodes

Men in dark times

Hannah Arendt

Hannah Arendt's "Men in Dark Times" is a collection of essays exploring the lives and actions of individuals who resisted totalitarian regimes. Arendt, a renowned political theorist, examines the moral and intellectual challenges faced by those who opposed tyranny. The essays offer profound insights into the nature of evil, the importance of individual conscience, and the complexities of political action. Arendt's work is characterized by its intellectual rigor and its ethical sensitivity. The book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in understanding the dynamics of totalitarianism and the challenges of moral resistance. It remains highly relevant in contemporary discussions about political ethics and the fight against oppression.

#11676

• Mentioned in 3 episodes

Another Country

James Baldwin

Published in 1962, 'Another Country' by James Baldwin is a profound exploration of love, identity, and societal walls. The novel is set predominantly in Greenwich Village, Harlem, and France and revolves around the lives of a group of intertwined characters. At the heart of the tale is Rufus Scott, a black jazz musician, whose tragic death sets off a chain of events that forces his friends to search for the meaning of his death and to understand their own identities. The novel employs a loose, episodic structure and is known for its frank portrayal of bisexuality, homosexuality, and interracial relationships, which were taboo subjects at the time of its release.

#5726

• Mentioned in 6 episodes

Democracy

Joan Didion

Set in Hawaii and Southeast Asia at the end of the Vietnam War, 'Democracy' follows Inez Christian Victor, the wife of Senator Harry Victor, and her complex relationship with Jack Lovett, a CIA agent and war profiteer. The novel delves into themes of American politics, public and private life, the media, and image management. It is narrated by Joan Didion, who presents herself as an acquaintance of Inez, adding a layer of personal and reflective storytelling. The book is characterized by its fragmented structure, reflecting the anxiety and sense of helplessness of the modern age, and it critiques the superficiality of liberal politics and the disillusionment of contemporary life.

#4161

• Mentioned in 8 episodes

Housekeeping

Marilynne Robinson

#21397

• Mentioned in 2 episodes

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Ben Fountain

Marc Rubió Rodon

Ben Fountain is far more than just the author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, which won RTB hearts and minds (and the National Book Award) long before it became a weird Ang Lee movie.

Back in 2020's lockdown, RTB asked Fountain what was consoling and engaging him. American novels, especially those about Americans abroad (Joan Didion. say) have always done something special for him. Marilynne Robinson’s and James Baldwin’s work make us confront the reality that’s happening around us all the time, “a freaking massacre.” He carried the the (fictional but genuine) facts of Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk in his head for forty years.

Allen Tate, Fugitive poet (and author most famously of the tricky post-Eliotic 1928 “Ode to the Confederate Dead“)
Joan Didion, The Last Thing He Wanted (1996; “a masterpiece of tone and mood and character and profound interiority”; the movie, not so much)
Joan Didion, Democracy (1984; she goes “straight after the heart of that mystery, what is America?“)
Marilynne Robinson. Listeners, do you prefer her incisive nonfiction (“Poetry of Puritanism“) or the deep, torqued interiority of her first novel, Housekeeping ?
Zadie Smith on the amazing, terrifying Americanness of Kara Walker
Kara Walker’s “A Subtlety” (also referenced in our Silvia Bottinelli episode on food art!)
James Baldwin, A Letter to My Nephew (1962)
James Baldwin, e.g. If Beale Street Could Talk (Ben loves those Library of America volumes…)
Another Country (1962)
Giovanni’s Room (1956)
Sewanee Review, The Corona Correspondence
Chronicles of Now
George Saunders “A Letter to My Students…."

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