Episode One (Parts 1 and 2)
Junot Diaz, major author and creative writing professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, interviews Dan-el Padilla Peralta, Associate Professor of Classics at Princeton University on his memoir, Undocumented: A Dominican Boy’s Odyssey from a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League. Excavating experiences of hollowed-out public amenities, crushing carcerality, uncaring government bureaucracy, and the complexities of being both Black and Latinx, the conversation traverses the challenges of growing up in New York City’s Dominican diaspora.
Episode Two
Claire Messud, novelist and literature and creative writing professor, interviews poet and essayist Roya Hakakian on her book, A Beginner’s Guide to America: For the Immigrant and the Curious. The discussion explicates the ambiguities of being a newly arrived refugee in the United States, a country that both embraces and type-casts newcomers, especially recently when animus against immigrants has been a prominent feature of public discourse.
Episode Three (Parts 1 and 2)
In Episode Three, Sianne Ngai, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of English at the University of Chicago interviews poet and professor of English and creative writing at Rutgers-Newark University Cathy Park Hong on her memoir, Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning.
The Season Two podcasts are produced by Arthur George Kamya. The sound engineer is Ryan Blaney. The theme music is “Ne DoYefe,” composed by Nathaniel Braddock and performed by the Occidental Brothers Dance Band International.