60: Love and Work feat. Joseph Earl Thomas

Jul 20, 2024

Joseph Earl Thomas, an acclaimed writer and academic behind the memoir Sink and a novel God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer, joins the conversation. He discusses the complexities of trauma, both in literature and real life, challenging oversimplified narratives. The interplay of food, gaming, and family dynamics adds depth to the dialogue, revealing how personal experiences intertwine with broader societal issues. Thomas also reflects on the significance of virtual spaces and their influence on identity, blending humor and depth throughout.

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Intro

00:00 • 2min

The Intersection of Gaming and Reality in War-Torn Spaces

01:50 • 3min

Spaces of Memory and Conflict

05:08 • 5min

Navigating Reality in the Digital Era

10:03 • 9min

Navigating Education: From Biology to Writing

19:19 • 2min

Navigating Trauma and Familial Bonds

21:18 • 22min

Navigating Trauma and Healing

43:41 • 22min

Muffins and Memory: Food's Cultural Narrative

01:05:36 • 25min

Exploring Emotional Connections in Worldbuilding

01:30:39 • 10min

Abby and Patrick welcome writer and academic Joseph Earl Thomas, author of the 2023 memoir Sink and a new novel, God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer. Set over the course of a single, chaotic day in a North Philadelphia hospital, Thomas’ novel unfolds across a multiplicity of geographies and timelines, and weaves together a dense network of human attachments in all their pleasures and pains. The conversation ranges widely as Abby, Patrick, and Joseph discuss what “trauma” means in popular discourse, literary criticism, and real-world trauma centers; the pleasures of food, video games, and genre expectations; Freud, the family, and authentic human connections sustained online; liberal narratives of universality and the dignity of work; the rhetoric of “boundaries”; and living and working through familial relationships that defy neat categorization and challenge us at every turn.

Key texts cited in the episode:

Elaine Castillo, How To Read Now

Omari Akil, “Warning: Playing Pokémon GO is a Death Sentence if You are a Black Man, “ available at https://medium.com/dayone-a-new-perspective/warning-pokemon-go-is-a-death-sentence-if-you-are-a-black-man-acacb4bdae7f

Parul Sehgal, “The Tyranny of the Tale,” available at https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/07/10/seduced-by-story-peter-brooks-bewitching-the-modern-mind-christian-salmon-the-story-paradox-jonathan-gottschall-book-review

Sehgal, “The Case Against the Trauma Plot,” available at https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/03/the-case-against-the-trauma-plot

Saidiya Hartman, Scenes of Subjection: Terror, Slavery, and Self-Making in Nineteenth-century America

Mat Johnson, Pym

Gayl Jones, Mosquito

Patrick Jagoda, “On Difficulty in Video Games,” available at https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/699585

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