Bedrosian Bookclub Podcast

Special bonus track! An interview with Rez Life author David Treuer. To participate in Native American History Month, we read Rez Life: An Indian's Journey Through Reservation Life by USC Professor David Treuer. Novelist David Treuer's book "blends memoir and history" to render the uniquely beautiful story of the uniquely American places known as reservations. Treuer spirals in and out of personal story, interviews, and historical narrative to paint a full picture of life as an Ojibwe from Leech Lake Reservation. An important book about the power of individual and collective action, the power of place, and how history lives on in our (collective) lives today. "None of the people are dead, none of the sense they made of their lives is dead, and on the reservation at least, none of the whims, acts, and actions of presidents, Indian agents, congressional reformers, tribal leaders, and tribal citizens are dead. Or if any of this is dead, it is certainly not buried: nowhere more than in reservation life can we see, can we feel, the past shaping the present. On the reservation the past is hardly past at all." For links to some of the things we talk about check out the showpage: https://bedrosian.usc.edu/blog/podcast/rez-life. This podcast was produced by Aubrey Hicks and Jonathan Schwartz, recorded and mixed by Ryan Hedden.

Sponsored by the USC Bedrosian Center
http://bedrosian.usc.edu/ 

Recorded at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy
http://priceschool.usc.edu 

To participate in Native American History Month, we read Rez Life: An Indian's Journey Through Reservation Life by USC Professor David Treuer. Novelist David Treuer's book "blends memoir and history" to render the uniquely beautiful story of the uniquely American places known as reservations. Treuer spirals in and out of personal story, interviews, and historical narrative to paint a full picture of life as an Ojibwe from Leech Lake Reservation. An important book about the power of individual and collective action, the power of place, and how history lives on in our (collective) lives today. "None of the people are dead, none of the sense they made of their lives is dead, and on the reservation at least, none of the whims, acts, and actions of presidents, Indian agents, congressional reformers, tribal leaders, and tribal citizens are dead. Or if any of this is dead, it is certainly not buried: nowhere more than in reservation life can we see, can we feel, the past shaping the present. On the reservation the past is hardly past at all." For links to some of the things we talk about check out the showpage: https://bedrosian.usc.edu/blog/podcast/rez-life This podcast was produced by Aubrey Hicks and Jonathan Schwartz, recorded and mixed by Corey Hedden.

Sponsored by the USC Bedrosian Center
http://bedrosian.usc.edu/ 

Recorded at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy
http://priceschool.usc.edu 

In this edition of the Bedrosian Book Club Podcast, we’re taking a look to the past. We read Peggy Noonan's 1990 memoir, What I Saw at the Revolution. This is a political memoir for those who don't usually read political memoirs. This book is a testimony to the power of language in politics. Noonan was a speechwriter for President Reagan, in both of his terms. This is a portrait of life in Washington, D.C. as well as both the Reagan and Bush administrations. She has a critical eye for the mechanisms of political speech writing. She describes the pull between the policy wonks, the writers, and the politicians. Join us for a conversation on the power of language in politics and for a look at how our Federal government works. For links to some of the things we talk about in this podcast: https://bedrosian.usc.edu/blog/podcast/what-i-saw-at-the-revolution/

Sponsored by the USC Bedrosian Center
http://bedrosian.usc.edu/ 

Recorded at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy
http://priceschool.usc.ed

In this edition of the Bedrosian Book Club Podcast, we’re continuing our conversation about race in America, with the book Toni Morrison calls “required reading.” Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates is ostensibly a letter to his son about growing up a black male in America. This prize winning (GENIUS) correspondent of The Atlantic tackles the very big questions of our time. How do we find a way to live in our country, with all its fraught history and its fraught present? How can he teach his son to be black in America? Coates sheds light on our brutal past, confronts our present with raw lyrical truth, and though our panelists disagree on this point, offers a way forward. For links to some of the things we talk about, click here http://bedrosian.usc.edu/blog/podcast/between-the-world-and-me/

Sponsored by the USC Bedrosian Center
http://bedrosian.usc.edu/ 

Recorded at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy
http://priceschool.usc.ed

In this edition of the Bedrosian Book Club Podcast, we're continuing our conversation about race in America, from a slightly different angle. Walter Mosley, most known for his LA crime fiction, tackles aging and agency in this beautiful novel, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey. Ptolemy Grey is 91 years old and spends most of his time locked in a cluttered apartment in South LA hiding from rotten neighbors and the dangers of his neighborhood. When his grandnephew and part-time care taker is murdered, the family sends along a young woman to coax Ptolemy to the funeral. The two form a bond and suddenly Ptolemy has reason to want to live in the present and make good on some promises he made long ago. We examine the central choice of the novel and issues of aging in America.

Sponsored by the USC Bedrosian Center
http://bedrosian.usc.edu/ 

Recorded at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy
http://priceschool.usc.ed

In this edition of the Bedrosian Book Club Podcast, we’re neck deep in one of the most important issues of the day: mass incarceration. The US has used the War on drugs to create a racial caste system: a successor to the Jim Crow days we thought we left behind. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander is one of the most important American books in the last decade. Alexander systematically explores the policy changes from the days of Nixon through the present – exploring how each decision has created and allowed a system which criminalizes blackness, brownness, otherness in way that both creates new racial biases and confirms them by incarcerating millions of young black and brown men (and to a lesser extent, black and brown women). It’s been five years since this book was released. Finally we’re seeing some of us wake up … but the facts remain that US prisons hold an astonishing 25% of the worlds prisoners. Many prisoners are victims of the War on Drugs which, even though drug use stats are consistent regardless of race and class, imprisons disproportionally more black, brown, and poor young men and women. The victims of the War on Drugs are not often the kingpins, rather small time infractions are the backbone of this Prison Industrial Complex. And rather than making the problem better, we’ve only succeeded in making it worse and, in the process, destroyed communities across America. Our discussion focuses on the relevance today and looking forward. Read this book. Listen to our discussion and share your thoughts with us. For links to some of the things we discussed, go to http://bedrosian.usc.edu/blog/podcast/the-new-jim-crow/

Sponsored by the USC Bedrosian Center
http://bedrosian.usc.edu/ 

Recorded at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy
http://priceschool.usc.edu 

In this edition, we’re looking at the sci-fi classic Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick. DADES follows bounty hunter Rick Deckard on a mission to find and destroy 6 state of the art, rogue androids. The novel is the source material for the film Blade Runner. Written in 1968, DADES is set in a near future San Francisco amid a vast desertion to off-world colonies. Those remaining on Earth contend with nuclear fallout dust and other dangers. Dick asks fundamental questions in the novel and our discussion touches on just a few of these. Read next month’s book, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, along with us, and listen on July 27th. Let us know what you think. Tweet us @BedrosianCenter or, check out our showpage on the Bedrosian website, https://bedrosian.usc.edu, for links to speaker’s information and to some of the things we mention during the discussion. https://bedrosian.usc.edu/blog/podcast/do-androids-dream-of-electric-sheep/ This podcast was produced by Aubrey Hicks and Jonathan Schwartz.

Sponsored by the USC Bedrosian Center
http://bedrosian.usc.edu/ 

Recorded at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy
http://priceschool.usc.edu 

Featuring Raphael Bostic, David Sloane, Jeremy Loudenback, and Aubrey Hicks In this edition of the Bedrosian Book Club Podcast, we’re looking at the dystopian novel On Such a Full Sea by Chang-rae Lee. Lee's novel follows Fan, a young woman from one of the labor communities, as she leaves her home in search of her love. In a corporatized future world - where the wealthy fly in helicopters, workers try to compete with robots, and the really poor live in favelas - what becomes of social mobility and the notions of resilience and hope and equality? For more information, and for links to some of the things we discuss, check out the show page: https://bedrosian.usc.edu/blog/podcast/on-such-a-full-sea Next time we’ll discuss Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick – the classic science fiction novel that was the inspiration for the cult-classic film Blade Runner. We’ll continue our look at how envisioning the future is necessary to thinking about the present. We'll be joined by Colin Marshall, of the Notebook on Cities and Culture podcast: http://blog.colinmarshall.org/. The DADES episode will air June 26th, read along with us and share your thoughts on Facebook. Email Aubrey, at [email protected] if you are interested in joining the Facebook group.

Sponsored by the USC Bedrosian Center
http://bedrosian.usc.edu/ 

Recorded at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy
http://priceschool.usc.edu 

In this edition of the Bedrosian Book Club Podcast, we're looking at a book on gentrification called A Neighborhood That Never Changes, by Japonica Brown-Saracino. This podcast features Raphael Bostic, Sarah Mawhorter, Brettany Shannon, David Sloane, and Tess Thorman. Brown-Saracino, through studying people in four different neighborhoods, redefines the types of newcomers and how they interact with the standing neighborhood and neighbors. We question the notions of quality, authenticity, and change that are at the heart of the many narratives going on in neighborhoods across the world. For more information, and links to things we discussed in this podcast, go here: https://bedrosian.usc.edu/blog/podcast/a-neighborhood-that-never-changes/ NEXT MONTH we discuss ON SUCH A FULL SEA by Chang-Rae Lee.

Sponsored by the USC Bedrosian Center
http://bedrosian.usc.edu/ 

Recorded at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy
http://priceschool.usc.edu 

In this edition of the Bedrosian Book Club Podcast, we're looking at the classic nonfiction book, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, the book that launched the environmental movement. Edward O. Wilson said of the book, “We are still poisoning the air and water and eroding the biosphere, albeit less so than if Rachel Carson had not written. Today we understand better than ever why we must press the effort to save the environment all the way home, true to the mind and spirit of the valiant author of Silent Spring.” We look back at the book and the transformation in thinking that it engendered. For more information about things we talk about, check out the show page at http://bedrosian.usc.edu/blog/podcast/silent-spring/ And ... let us know what you think on facebook.com/BedrosianCenter or Twitter @BedrosianCenter

Sponsored by the USC Bedrosian Center
http://bedrosian.usc.edu/ 

Recorded at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy
http://priceschool.usc.edu