Sunil Yapa's debut novel, Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of a Fist, returns us to 1999 during the WTO protests in Seattle. Taking on multiple perspectives during the first day of the meeting/protests, Yapa brings us stories that get to the nature of power versus empathy in democracy, in civil society. He said in an interview with Bethanne Patrick, "Empathy is a profound act of imagination and human connection. In fiction, we imagine ourselves into other people’s experiences. Of course, another word for that is 'reading.'" This fascinating book imagines what it means to be empathetic within the institutional violence of our system and the violence humans can commit against each other. Listen to our discussion about power and the necessity of protest within our democratic structure, and how protests should, and can, peacefully engage to solve the world's "wicked problems." This discussion features Raphael Bostic, Matt Gainer, William G. Resh, and Danielle Williams. For links to some of the things we talk about on today's podcast, check out the showpage at: https://bedrosian.usc.edu/podcast/your-heart-is-a-muscle-the-size-of-a-fist

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

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