Harriet Clark comes from a long line of radicals. Her ancestors were gun runners in Minsk. Her grandparents were active members of the Communist Party USA, and the family moved to Moscow for a time, where her grandfather wrote for the Daily Worker. Her mother is Judith Clark, a former member of the Weather Underground and the May 19th Communist Organization, who was given a life sentence for her participation in the Brinks robbery in 1981 that killed three people. (Judith was paroled in 2019.)

Harriet Clark’s debut novel, The Hill, tells the story of a girl who vows to visit her mother every week in the upstate New York prison where she is being held. In this episode of On the Nose, Arielle Angel speaks with Harriet about her stunning new book, what comes after failure in radical movements, and the heroism of trying to keep families affected by incarceration together.

Thanks to Jesse Brenneman for editing and to Nathan Salsburg for the use of his song “VIII (All That Were Calculated Have Passed).”

Media Mentioned and Further Reading

The Hill by Harriet Clark

“I’m Not Black, I’m Kanye,” Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Atlantic

“Photos of the migrant caravan and the Trump military response tell different stories,” Johnny Simon, Quartz

Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey

“Judith Clark’s Radical Transformation,” Tom Robbins, The New York Times

House and Fire by Maria Hummel

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

“To a Student” by Diane Di Prima