According to the prevailing logic, America has an anger management problem: it’s counterproductive, destructive, and, unchecked, might lead you to storm the Capitol. But not all anger is made equal, and perhaps the best way to master its uses and abuses is to understand its differences. In her new book, The Case for Rage, University of California philosophy professor Myisha Cherry contends that this misunderstood emotion—wielded successfully in the past by figures like Audre Lorde, Martin Luther King Jr., and Ida B. Wells—can fuel today’s fight against racism. Cherry joins us on the podcast to discuss how to cultivate the kind of rage we need to make a better world.

Go beyond the episode:

• Myisha Cherry’s The Case for Rage (read an excerpt here)
• Read Audre Lorde’s seminal essay, “The Uses of Anger,” which inspired Cherry’s coining of the term Lordean rage
• Listen to our interview with Pankaj Mishra about the ressentiment that fuels our Age of Anger
• Down with the Stoics, up with Epicureanism!

Tune in every week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek. Follow us on Twitter @TheAmScho or on Facebook.

Subscribe: iTunes • Feedburner • Stitcher • Google Play • Acast

Have suggestions for projects you’d like us to catch up on, or writers you want to hear from? Send us a note: podcast [at] theamericanscholar [dot] org. And rate us on iTunes! Our theme music was composed by Nathan Prillaman.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.