The Gray Area with Sean Illing

The new American Reconstruction

Listen Later

Sean Illing talks with historian and author Peniel Joseph about his new book The Third Reconstruction, which argues that the time we're currently living in can be understood as on a continuum with the civil rights era of the '50s and '60s. and the original American Reconstruction following the Civil War. Sean and Peniel discuss the Black Lives Matter movement, the Obama presidency — and important differences between the two — as well as the dangers of American exceptionalism and the importance of maintaining hope in the ongoing fight for racial justice.

Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area

Guest: Peniel Joseph (@PenielJoseph), author; founding director, Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin

References: 

  • The Third Reconstruction: America's Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century by Peniel E. Joseph (Basic; 2022)
  • "DeSantis claims it was only the American Revolution that caused people to question slavery" by Graig Graziosi (The Independent; Sept. 23)
  • Black Reconstruction in America by W.E.B. Du Bois (1935)
  • "The Undoing of Reconstruction" by W. Archibald Dunning (The Atlantic; Oct. 1901)
  • Barack Obama's Speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention (C-SPAN; YouTube)
  • The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (New Press; 2010, updated 2020)
  • Shelby County v. Holder (570 US 529; 2013), in which the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
  • "Harming Our Common Future: America's Segregated Schools 65 Years after Brown" by Gary Orfield, et al. (Civil Rights Project; 2019)
  • Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (551 US 701; 2007)
  • "A North Carolina city begins to reckon with the massacre in its white supremacist past" by Scott Neuman (NPR; Nov. 10, 2021)
  • How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi (One World; 2019)
  • White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo (Beacon; 2018)
  • "Why I hope 2022 will be another 1866" by Manisha Sinha (CNN; Oct. 12)
  • President Kennedy's Televised Address to the Nation on Civil Rights (June 11, 1963)

     

    Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

    Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app.

    Support Vox Conversations by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts

    This episode was made by: 

    • Producer: Erikk Geannikis
    • Editor: Amy Drozdowska
    • Engineer: Patrick Boyd
    • Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall

      Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

      ...more
      View all episodesView all episodes
      Download on the App Store
      The Gray Area with Sean IllingBy Vox
      • 4.5
      • 4.5
      • 4.5
      • 4.5
      • 4.5

      4.5

      10,606 ratings

      More shows like The Gray Area with Sean Illing

      View all
      Fresh Air by NPR

      Fresh Air

      38,442 Listeners

      The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

      The New Yorker Radio Hour

      6,900 Listeners

      On the Media by WNYC Studios

      On the Media

      9,235 Listeners

      The Political Scene | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

      The Political Scene | The New Yorker

      4,109 Listeners

      Explain It to Me by Vox

      Explain It to Me

      7,879 Listeners

      Switched on Pop by Vulture

      Switched on Pop

      2,676 Listeners

      Pivot by New York Magazine

      Pivot

      9,734 Listeners

      Gastropod by Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

      Gastropod

      3,653 Listeners

      Decoder with Nilay Patel by The Verge

      Decoder with Nilay Patel

      3,143 Listeners

      The Daily by The New York Times

      The Daily

      113,294 Listeners

      Good One by Vulture

      Good One

      1,483 Listeners

      Radio Atlantic by The Atlantic

      Radio Atlantic

      2,401 Listeners

      Today, Explained by Vox

      Today, Explained

      10,320 Listeners

      Interesting Times with Ross Douthat by New York Times Opinion

      Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

      7,241 Listeners

      Throughline by NPR

      Throughline

      16,510 Listeners

      Land of the Giants by Vulture

      Land of the Giants

      2,164 Listeners

      Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast by MKBHD

      Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast

      41 Listeners

      Unlocking Us with Brené Brown by Vox Media Podcast Network

      Unlocking Us with Brené Brown

      23,564 Listeners

      A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe by Vox Media Podcast Network

      A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe

      738 Listeners

      Hard Fork by The New York Times

      Hard Fork

      5,593 Listeners

      Good Noticings by Vox Media Podcast Network

      Good Noticings

      6,492 Listeners

      The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

      The Ezra Klein Show

      16,494 Listeners

      Unexplainable by Vox

      Unexplainable

      2,305 Listeners

      Cover Story by New York Magazine

      Cover Story

      1,217 Listeners

      The Interview by The New York Times

      The Interview

      1,606 Listeners

      Not Just Football with Cam Heyward by Cam Heyward

      Not Just Football with Cam Heyward

      150 Listeners

      Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF by Vivian Tu

      Networth and Chill with Your Rich BFF

      1,792 Listeners

      Prof G Markets by Vox Media Podcast Network

      Prof G Markets

      1,474 Listeners

      The Opinions by The New York Times Opinion

      The Opinions

      632 Listeners

      Bird's Eye View with Sue Bird by Sue Bird

      Bird's Eye View with Sue Bird

      435 Listeners

      Solutions with Henry Blodget by Vox Media Podcast Network

      Solutions with Henry Blodget

      34 Listeners