9: A Whole New Kind of Obscenity?

For episode 9, V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell talk with Ron Charles, editor of The Washington Post Book World and Shanthi Sekaran, author of Lucky Boy, about obscenity, literature, and immigration. In the first half of the show, Charles leads us through the famous 1933 obscenity trial involving James Joyce's Ulysses and the 1964 trial involving Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer. Then Shanthi Sekaran talks to us about Trump's infamous shithole comments, his immigration policy, and how she believes the language surrounding immigration—"ICE," "illegal alien"—is more profane than any curse word. Plus: Whitney reads the dirtiest passage he can find in Ulysses and embarrasses his mother. Readings: Ulysses by James Joyce; Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller; The Awakening by Kate Chopin; Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran. In the Stacks features Anthony Stromoski of Rough Draft Bar and Books in Kingston, NY.

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