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It's been 50 years since the release of the 1974 film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, THE GREAT GATSBY. Highlighting the 50th anniversary of the 1974 version of THE GREAT GATSBY is another opportunity to talk with author and professor of English Emily Bernard about this 1920s novel adapted for film and the themes that continue to resonate with our own times. Our conversation with Emily about the film adaptation of Nella Larsen's 1929 novel PASSING in episode 2 of the podcast, remains one of our most popular listens. Directed by Jack Clayton, and featuring Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby, Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan, and Sam Waterston as Nick Carraway, the film is a window into the roaring 1920s or the "Jazz Age," as Fitzgerald is credited for coining the phrase. The story is also a mirror on American social constructs for wealth, class, and illusion, as well as the destructive power to recapture the past. ----- Notes: "Negro" is used in its proper historical context in this conversation. *Spoiler alert* for persons who've never seen any film or television adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's book "The Great Gatsby," or read the book. ----- Download the Transcript for Episode 50 PLEASE NOTE: TRANSCRIPTS ARE GENERATED USING A COMBINATION OF SPEECH RECOGNITION SOFTWARE AND HUMAN TRANSCRIBERS, AND MAY CONTAIN ERRORS. 0:08 - Opening 1:22 - Intro to THE GREAT GATSBY novel and film 6:11 - Intro to Emily Bernard, Professor, Scholar, Writer 16:12 - Wealth, power, identity, and narcissism in Fitzgerald's Novel 23:05 - Place and Identity in "The Great Gatsby" 24:48 - New York as symbol in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "Jazz Age" 31:12 - Race, identity, and adaptation 36:00 - American Class distinctions and the "American Dream" 41:14 - Daisy Buchanan, "the great white beauty" 47:55 - Break 48:00 - George Wilson, "true victim" in "The Great Gatsby" 57:07 - Race and performance in literature 58:01 - Class and "passing" in "The Great Gatsby" 1:02:25 - Authenticity and celebrity: Do we know what it means to be "natural?" 1:08:02 - Blackness, identity and cultural appropriation in 1920s America 1:11:59 - Race, power and privilege in literature and film 1:16:09 - Lothrop Stoddard, WEB DuBois, and legacy of racial eugenics 1:20:21 - Gatsby's end (spoiler alert) 1:28:04 - "The Great Gatsby" film adaptations 1:30: 22 - Closing 1:31:51 - Disclaimer STAY ENGAGED with HISTORICAL DRAMA WITH THE BOSTON SISTERS SUBSCRIBE to the podcast on your favorite podcast platform LISTEN to past past podcasts and bonus episodes SIGN UP for our mailing list SUPPORT this podcast on Spotify or SHOP THE PODCAST on our affiliate bookstore Thank you for listening! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/historicaldramasisters/support
As a child, Emily Bernard worried she was not black enough. As an adult, she wonders whether she's too black for America today. Her new book is built on that kind of nuance. "Black is the Body" is a collection of first-person essays that explore vast themes like race, identity and trauma — through the personal details of her own life. She was born in the South, lives now in the Northeast, and is married to a white man. "Blackness is an art, not a science," writes Bernard. "It is a paradox: intangible and visceral; a situation and a story." She believes that approaching these volatile topics through stories, not lectures, will create a safe place that nurtures vulnerability — and vulnerability is needed for true understanding. MPR News host Kerri Miller spoke with Bernard in 2019 about the complexity of being black in America today. It's a fitting prelude to this week's upcoming Big Books and Bold Ideas conversation with Boyah J. Farah about his journey from a refugee camp in Somalia to the United States, which he details in “America Made Me a Black Man.” Guest: Emily Bernard is professor of English at the University of Vermont and the author of several books, including “Black is the Body.” To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above. Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or RSS. Subscribe to the Thread newsletter for the latest book and author news and must-read recommendations.
Acclaimed essayist Emily Bernard discusses life after her 2019 book Black is the Body, intimacy and the page, and her next project, a collection of essays about Black women artists in the public eye.Learn more about Emily Bernard at emilybernard.com.Download a transcript of this episode (PDF).Support the show
Emily Bernard is a certified health coach. She joins us this episode to discuss finding balance and taking a holistic approach to understanding and nurturing your physical and mental health. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/utopihen-talk/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/utopihen-talk/support
LoveBabz LoveTalk With Babz Rawls-Ivy: Emily Bernard by WNHH Community Radio
Emily Bernard (American literature scholar and author) dives into Passing, the Rebecca Hall (Netflix) film based on the 1929 novel by Nella Larsen, and talks about how the characters Clare Kendra's and Irene Redfield's struggles for identity and belonging mirror tensions about race, class, and sex that continue today. Passing, starring Ruth Negga (Clare) and Tessa Thompson (Irene), takes place in 1920s New York City where a Black woman finds her world upended when she reconnects by chance with a childhood friend who's passing as white. Emily Bernard wrote the introduction for the 2018 Penguin Books release of Nella Larsen's Passing. Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Emily Bernard is the Julian Lindsay Green and Gold Professor of English at the University of Vermont in Burlington. Her first book, Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her most recent book, Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, and Mine, won the 2020 LA Times Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose. Passing is available on Netflix (with a subscription) Emily Bernard's website More information --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/historicaldramasisters/support
When we first released our episode on Passing by Nella Larsen in June of 2020, we were already professing our excitement for the new movie starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Nega. This month, the film is finally releasing on Netflix. We can't wait to watch and see how the palpable tension and twisty tone translate to the screen. This episode contains spoilers, but we give you ample warning so feel free to listen before or after watching. Our discussion includes: Gatsby connections galore, and an argument for replacing Gatsby with Passing [16:35] Intersectionality and Irene's struggle with loyalty across race, gender, and class lines [27:56] Who should pick this up? [32:15] Plus, as always, we're recommending six contemporary books to pair with our classic, including a literary thriller and one of this summer's buzziest books. For more bonus episodes, nerdy classes, and extra book talk, join our Classics Club: patreon.com/novelpairings.com. Connect with us on Instagram or Twitter. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get updates and behind-the-scenes info. Get two audiobooks for the price of one from Libro.fm. Use our Libro.fm affiliate code NOVELPAIRINGS and support independent bookstores. Show Notes: Emily Bernard's intro Excerpt from Vanishing Half @reggiereads review Chelsey's Pairings: My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite [40:48] Black is the Body by Emily Bernard [47:05] The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert [53:17] Sara's Pairings: Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson [37:50] Born a Crime by Trevor Noah [43:14] The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett [50:00] Pick of the Week: You Must Remember This podcast “Passing for White, Merle Oberon” 13th the Ava DuVerny documentary
Emily Bernard is an author and professor. She holds a B.A. and Ph. D. in American Studies from Yale University. Her most recent book is the essay collection Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, and Mine.In this wide-ranging conversation, Emily speaks on motherhood, fear, forgiveness, rejecting shame and staying true to who you are as an artist. We also dive deep into having “the blues” - and I truly think it was the most joyful conversation on depression I've ever had!Emily radiates kindness, and is just a remarkable person. This episode was audio produced by Aaron Moring. Music is by Madisen Ward.
In this episode, Emily Bernard, a certified health coach, and I discuss what we consume dictates how we show in the world. Emily shades some light on the healthy lifestyle. It does not have to be as hard hitting and you do not need to take away every single desired food! Our mindset and relationship with food can reflect the way we show in the world. You will hear Emily's helpful tips and personal journey on how she embodied this life! Emily has helped me have a better outlook on my own personal consumption. If you would like some direct help, Emily is here to guide you to healthier habits suited to you! Check her out! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilygracebernard/
“Critical race theory” is the newest front in the culture wars, and conservative activists are intent on making Vermont one of its battlegrounds. At least 16 states with Republican-led legislatures or Republican governors are considering or have signed into law bills to limit the teaching of critical race theory, which, simply stated, considers how racism has been a powerful force in American history that has disadvantaged Black people and other people of color. About 100 residents packed a church in Essex Center, Vt., on May 28 to hear speakers denounce critical race theory, which they claimed was being taught in the Essex-Westford schools. The school district denies this. Liz Cady, a newly elected member of the Essex-Westford school board, labeled the theory “downright dangerous” and compared the Black Lives Matter movement to Nazism. Cady did not respond to an interview request for this program. Across the street at another church, members of the student-led Social Justice Union at Essex High School talked about the anti-racism work that students have been pursuing. “This is about racism. It is not complicated,” asserts Emily Bernard, the Julian Lindsay Green and Gold Professor of English at the University of Vermont. “Critical race theory is not coming to get you.” “There is a pocket of people in this country who are afraid of their ideas being challenged,” says Bernard. “There are people who were afraid of the telephone. They thought it would destroy society…. So this resistance, this fear, this hysteria is not new.” Bernard's latest book is Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, and Mine, which won the Christopher Isherwood Prize for autobiographical prose at the 2020 L.A. Times book prize competition. Last year, Bernard was named a 2020 Andrew Carnegie Fellow, a prestigious $200,000 award given to scholars who are working on “important and enduring issues confronting our society." “We are not going to end racism through your feelings," Bernard insists. "We have to end it by the work that you do and the work that you undo.”
Emily Bernard is the the Julian Lindsay Green & Gold Professor of English at the University of Vermont and an award winning author. In this episode, we explore the concept of vulnerability, a powerful theme present throughout her latest book Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine. Episode Resources Emily Bernard’s website Why I Finally Forgave My Fathers Mistress by Emily Bernard Episode Question What does vulnerability mean to you? What are some of the ways you incorporate vulnerability into your life? Who are you able to be vulnerable with? What is the purpose of vulnerability? What makes you feel powerful? Is feeling powerful important to you? What story are you writing about yourself?
LoveBabz LoveTalk with Babz Rawls-Ivy: Emily Bernard Author, Writer, Professor by WNHH Community Radio
Tobi Rachel speaks to Professor Emily Bernard, who is the author of the newly released book Black Is The Body. The pair discuss Emily surviving a stabbing and being an African-American woman married to a white man. They also touch on policing of the N-Word, experienced racism while needing emergency care and the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement. Listen to catch Emily's thoughts on whether Black-British actors should be playing African-American icons on screen. Yellow Cup Podcast is a fun and honest lifestyle and magazine podcast hosted by journalist Tobi Rachel. You can expect conversations with no filter ranging from social media trends to current affairs. Each episode will see Tobi Rachel invite guests - who she likes to call co-hosts - to join her in conversation as they drink from their "yellow cup." Host: Tobi Rachel Akingbade. Artwork: Kirz Art. Theme song vocals and production: Karl Nova. Theme song voice-over: Rachel-Yvonne McIntosh. Theme song mixing: Phil Mayers.
Narrative fiction can be very powerful in instilling empathy and helping readers understand other people's lives. In this episode, we share a list of narrative fiction/memoirs that can serve to make the Black experience more accessible to any reader and bring about perspective and understanding. https://amzn.to/3a6amd2 (The Boys Club) by Erica Katz https://amzn.to/3jDmt4z (The Last Story of Mina Lee) by Nancy Jooyun Kim https://amzn.to/36ZjONu (A Very Punchable Face) by Colin Jost https://amzn.to/3tLcoXE (White Ivy) by Susie Yang https://amzn.to/3d6Z5ex (The Kiss Quotient) by Helen Hoang https://amzn.to/371Zuep (Big Girl, Small Town) by Michelle Gallen https://www.netflix.com/title/80994340 (Firefly Lane) on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/80232398 (Bridgerton) on Netflix https://amzn.to/3rE5xNW (Conversations With Friends) by Sally Rooney https://amzn.to/2Ot3can (Passing) by Nella Larsen https://amzn.to/3jBWudD (The Twelve Tribes Of Hattie) by Ayana Mathis https://amzn.to/3qcew8X (The Travelers) by Regina Porter https://amzn.to/3aRZSgD (The World According to Fannie Davis) by Bridgett Davis https://amzn.to/2MSjGZb (Sing, Unburied, Sing) by Jesmyn Ward https://amzn.to/375pWDQ (A Life Apart) by L.Y. Marlow https://amzn.to/3tOygkS (The Nickel Boys) by Colson Whitehead https://amzn.to/2Z1xhzM (When No One Is Watching) by Alyssa Cole https://amzn.to/3pbk5TD (Transcendent Kingdom) by Yaa Gyasi https://amzn.to/3tJuHwt (Homegoing) by Yaa Gyasi https://amzn.to/3d0spTV (No One Is Coming To Save Us) by Stephanie Powell Watts https://amzn.to/3rTGDKz (The Great Gatsby) by F. Scott Fitzgerald https://amzn.to/3jCLBrT (Jump At The Sun) by Kim McLarin https://amzn.to/3rG3Ijx (TheTaste Of Salt) by Martha Southgate https://amzn.to/3d71Uw9 (Kindred) by Octavia Butler https://amzn.to/372uoDk (Silver Sparrow) by Tayari Jones https://amzn.to/3a4AF3g (Red At The Bone) by Jacqueline Woodson https://amzn.to/3d01QxX (Memorial Drive) by Natasha Tretheway https://amzn.to/3q8jMu0 (That Kind Of Mother) by Rumaan Alam https://amzn.to/2Z5ZQfy (Green) by Sam Graham-Felsen https://amzn.to/2MWP34G (Real American) by Julie Lythcott-Haims https://amzn.to/3aNAyZ2 (Black Is The Body) by Emily Bernard Support this podcast
You may remember Nell Freudenberger from Episode 7 of Bookable when she talked to Amanda about the metaphase typewriter (used to communicate with the dead) and her New York Times bestselling novel Lost and Wanted. Nell returns with Black is the Body author Emily Bernard. Emily and Nell cover a lot of ground, including the role race plays in their interracial friendship. From rituals around writing to how silence doesn’t save you, this conversation exceeded all of our expectations. Episode Credits:This episode was produced by Amanda Stern, Beau Friedlander and Andrew Dunn, who also mixed the episode and created Bookable's chill vibe. Our host is Amanda Stern. Beau Friedlander is Bookable's executive producer and editor in chief of Loud Tree Media. Music:"Books that Bounce" by Rufus Canis, "Different Strokes" by Jupyter, "Uni Swing Vox" by Rufus Canis.
A cultural movement of Black writers and artists was flourishing a century ago in uptown New York, and it’s being remembered now with various virtual events. As WNYC’s Sara Fishko tells us in this episode of Fishko Files, the Harlem Renaissance movement was rich with ideas. Emily Bernard is a professor at the University of Vermont and the editor of Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten. Harlem Renaissance 100 continues with its second, virtual phase. Next up: The Importance of Being Earnest, presented by the Harlem Shakespeare Festival, on July 26. A box set from the Library of Congress, Harlem Renaissance Novels, offers a deeper dive into the literature of the movement. Gladys Bentley on "You Bet Your Life" with Groucho Marx (1958) Fishko Files with Sara Fishko Assistant Producer: Olivia BrileyMix Engineer: Wayne ShulmisterEditor: Karen Frillmann
Emily Bernard's latest book of essays, Black is the Body: Stories from my Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, and Mine, was named a Best Book of 2019 by NPR and received the LA Times Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose. …
Emily Bernard's latest book of essays, Black is the Body: Stories from my Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, and Mine, was named a Best Book of 2019 by NPR and received the LA Times Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose. …
Today Chelsey and Sara are chatting about Passing by Nella Larsen. Published in 1929, Passing is a book about two women: Clare and Irene, who grew up in the same middle class Black community in Chicago and come back into each other's lives as adults. Irene is living in Harlem with her husband, a successful doctor, while Clare has left the family and friends of her youth behind to marry a white man and pass as white. Clare and Irene’s bond is built on a shared past and a deep mutual affection, but also curiosity and jealousy over the lives each of them might have had. As their lives become more and more intertwined the tension builds, and a sense of impending doom makes this book impossible to put down. Our discussion includes: Gatsby connections galore, and an argument for replacing Gatsby with Passing [16:35] Intersectionality and Irene’s struggle with loyalty across race, gender, and class lines [27:56] Who should pick this up? [32:15] Plus, as always, we’re recommending six contemporary books to pair with our classic, including a literary thriller and one of this summer’s buzziest books. This episode will be mostly spoiler-free, except for a brief discussion of the ending. We’ll warn you in advance before we get into it, and timestamps are listed below. Show Notes: Emily Bernard’s intro Excerpt from Vanishing Half @reggiereads review Pairings listed below! . . . . . . . Chelsey’s Pairings: My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite [40:48] Black is the Body by Emily Bernard [47:05] The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert [53:17] Sara’s Pairings: Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson [37:50] Born a Crime by Trevor Noah [43:14] The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett [50:00] Pick of the Week: You Must Remember This podcast “Passing for White, Merle Oberon” 13th the Ava DuVerny documentary
Emily Bernard holds a B. A. and Ph. D. in American Studies from Yale University. Her work has appeared in The American Scholar, The Boston Globe Magazine, Creative Nonfiction, Green Mountains Review, Oxtford American, Ploughshares, TheNew Republic, and theatlantic.com. Her essays have been reprinted in Best American Essays, Best African American Essays, and Best of Creative Nonfiction. Her first book, Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. She has received fellowships and grants from Yale University, Harvard University, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Vermont Arts Council, the Vermont Studio Center, and The MacDowell Colony. A contributing editor at The American Scholar, Emily is the Julian Lindsay Green and Gold Professor of English at the University of Vermont.
Weekly JourneywithJesus.net postings, read by Debie Thomas. Essay by Debie Thomas: *Unless I See* for Sunday, 19 April 2020; book review by Dan Clendenin: *Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, and Mine* by Emily Bernard (2019); film review by Dan Clendenin: *Bird Brain* (2017); poem selected by Debie Thomas: *On Belief in the Physical Resurrection of Jesus* by Denise Levertov.
Emily Bernard never felt close to her judgmental, domineering father, who, for most of her life, denied he’d ever been unfaithful to her mother. It wasn’t until her dad’s sudden death that Emily began the process of getting to know the woman who caused her family so much pain: her father’s longtime mistress. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers
Nella Larsen's gripping 1929 novel Passing recounts the fateful encounter, first on a fancy Chicago hotel rooftop restaurant on a sweltering August afternoon and later in New York City, of two women who grew up together and then lost touch, and who can pass from being black to white, and back again -- with devastating moral and social consequences. The book examines the American mythology of race, and its real-world effects, at the height of the Harlem Renaissance and during a time when racial segregation regulated the lives of all Americans and severely disadvantaged African-Americans in nearly all aspects of existence. Many people chose to escape this injustice by 'passing' for white, which gave Larsen the idea to examine race and racism in a powerful work of fiction. I spoke with Professor Emily Bernard, Julian Lindsay Green & Gold Professor at the University of Vermont and the author of many award-winning books, including: Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten; Some of My Best Friends: Writers on Interracial Friendship; Michelle Obama: The First Lady in Photographs; Carl Van Vechten and the Harlem Renaissance: A Portrait in Black and White, and the 2019 Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine. Uli Baer is a professor at New York University. He is also the host of the excellent podcast "Think About It" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nella Larsen's gripping 1929 novel Passing recounts the fateful encounter, first on a fancy Chicago hotel rooftop restaurant on a sweltering August afternoon and later in New York City, of two women who grew up together and then lost touch, and who can pass from being black to white, and back again -- with devastating moral and social consequences. The book examines the American mythology of race, and its real-world effects, at the height of the Harlem Renaissance and during a time when racial segregation regulated the lives of all Americans and severely disadvantaged African-Americans in nearly all aspects of existence. Many people chose to escape this injustice by 'passing' for white, which gave Larsen the idea to examine race and racism in a powerful work of fiction. I spoke with Professor Emily Bernard, Julian Lindsay Green & Gold Professor at the University of Vermont and the author of many award-winning books, including: Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten; Some of My Best Friends: Writers on Interracial Friendship; Michelle Obama: The First Lady in Photographs; Carl Van Vechten and the Harlem Renaissance: A Portrait in Black and White, and the 2019 Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine. Uli Baer is a professor at New York University. He is also the host of the excellent podcast "Think About It" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nella Larsen's gripping 1929 novel Passing recounts the fateful encounter, first on a fancy Chicago hotel rooftop restaurant on a sweltering August afternoon and later in New York City, of two women who grew up together and then lost touch, and who can pass from being black to white, and back again -- with devastating moral and social consequences. The book examines the American mythology of race, and its real-world effects, at the height of the Harlem Renaissance and during a time when racial segregation regulated the lives of all Americans and severely disadvantaged African-Americans in nearly all aspects of existence. Many people chose to escape this injustice by 'passing' for white, which gave Larsen the idea to examine race and racism in a powerful work of fiction. I spoke with Professor Emily Bernard, Julian Lindsay Green & Gold Professor at the University of Vermont and the author of many award-winning books, including: Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten; Some of My Best Friends: Writers on Interracial Friendship; Michelle Obama: The First Lady in Photographs; Carl Van Vechten and the Harlem Renaissance: A Portrait in Black and White, and the 2019 Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine. Uli Baer is a professor at New York University. He is also the host of the excellent podcast "Think About It" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nella Larsen's gripping 1929 novel Passing recounts the fateful encounter, first on a fancy Chicago hotel rooftop restaurant on a sweltering August afternoon and later in New York City, of two women who grew up together and then lost touch, and who can pass from being black to white, and back again -- with devastating moral and social consequences. The book examines the American mythology of race, and its real-world effects, at the height of the Harlem Renaissance and during a time when racial segregation regulated the lives of all Americans and severely disadvantaged African-Americans in nearly all aspects of existence. Many people chose to escape this injustice by 'passing' for white, which gave Larsen the idea to examine race and racism in a powerful work of fiction. I spoke with Professor Emily Bernard, Julian Lindsay Green & Gold Professor at the University of Vermont and the author of many award-winning books, including: Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten; Some of My Best Friends: Writers on Interracial Friendship; Michelle Obama: The First Lady in Photographs; Carl Van Vechten and the Harlem Renaissance: A Portrait in Black and White, and the 2019 Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, and Mine. Uli Baer is a professor at New York University. He is also the host of the excellent podcast "Think About It" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies
In this in-depth and personal discussion of race and womanhood in America, authors and close friends Susan Straight (In the Country of Women) and Emily Bernard (Black Is the Body) discuss their new memoirs and their differing but overlapping experiences. (Recorded at the Fort Greene store on August 20, 2019.)
You really have a feeling that here is a building that looks fantastically beautiful, and it’s got its whole façade simply blown off by this war. -Philipp Blom World War I presented civilization with unprecedented violence and destruction. The shock of the first modern, “industrial” war extended far into the 20th century and even into the 21st, and changed how people saw the world and themselves. And that was reflected in the cultural responses to the war – which included a burgeoning obsession with beauty and body image, the birth of jazz, new thinking about the human psyche, the Harlem Renaissance, Surrealism...and more. WNYC's Sara Fishko and guests sift through the lingering effects of the Great War on modern art and life in Shell Shock 1919: How the Great War Changed Culture. Guests include Jon Batiste, Ann Temkin, David Lubin, Philipp Blom, Jay Winter, Ana Carden-Coyne, Sabine Rewald, David Levering Lewis, Emma Chambers, Marion von Osten, Emily Bernard, and Gail Stavitsky ‘L.H.O.O.Q.’ by Marcel Duchamp; readymade [postcard reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa] and pencil (1919) (Philadelphia Museum of Art) James Reese Europe and the 369th Regiment band, also known as the Harlem Hellfighters (1918) (U.S. National Archives and Record Administration) Margaret Gorman, the first Miss America, on the Atlantic City boardwalk (1921) (Wikimedia Commons) Still from Wallace Worsley’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923, Universal) starring Lon Chaney as Quasimodo and Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda (Universal Pictures) The Cenotaph in Whitehall, London on November 9, 2015, surrounded by poppy wreaths for Remembrance Day (Bailey-Cooper Photography / Alamy Stock Photo) Producer/Host: Sara FishkoAssociate Producer: Olivia BrileyTechnical Director: Ed HaberEditor: Karen Frillmann Production help from Terence Mickey, Meara Sharma, and Frederic Castel With the voices of Michael Wist and Alexis Cuadrado Thanks to Loren Schoenberg, Jennifer Keene, Jo Fox, Katy Wan, Marion von Osten, Marion Kiesow II, Patrick Helber, Shannon Connolly, and Natalia Ramirez Shell Shock 1919 is supported by the Revada Foundation of the Logan Family
You really have a feeling that here is a building that looks fantastically beautiful, and it’s got its whole façade simply blown off by this war. -Philipp Blom World War I presented civilization with unprecedented violence and destruction. The shock of the first modern, “industrial” war extended far into the 20th century and even into the 21st, and changed how people saw the world and themselves. And that was reflected in the cultural responses to the war – which included a burgeoning obsession with beauty and body image, the birth of jazz, new thinking about the human psyche, the Harlem Renaissance, Surrealism...and more. WNYC's Sara Fishko and guests sift through the lingering effects of the Great War on modern art and life in Shell Shock 1919: How the Great War Changed Culture. Guests include Jon Batiste, Ann Temkin, David Lubin, Philipp Blom, Jay Winter, Ana Carden-Coyne, Sabine Rewald, David Levering Lewis, Emma Chambers, Marion von Osten, Emily Bernard, and Gail Stavitsky ‘L.H.O.O.Q.’ by Marcel Duchamp; readymade [postcard reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa] and pencil (1919) (Philadelphia Museum of Art) James Reese Europe and the 369th Regiment band, also known as the Harlem Hellfighters (1918) (U.S. National Archives and Record Administration) Margaret Gorman, the first Miss America, on the Atlantic City boardwalk (1921) (Wikimedia Commons) Still from Wallace Worsley’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923, Universal) starring Lon Chaney as Quasimodo and Patsy Ruth Miller as Esmeralda (Universal Pictures) The Cenotaph in Whitehall, London on November 9, 2015, surrounded by poppy wreaths for Remembrance Day (Bailey-Cooper Photography / Alamy Stock Photo) Producer/Host: Sara FishkoAssociate Producer: Olivia BrileyTechnical Director: Ed HaberEditor: Karen Frillmann Production help from Terence Mickey, Meara Sharma, and Frederic Castel With the voices of Michael Wist and Alexis Cuadrado Thanks to Loren Schoenberg, Jennifer Keene, Jo Fox, Katy Wan, Marion von Osten, Marion Kiesow II, Patrick Helber, Shannon Connolly, and Natalia Ramirez Shell Shock 1919 is supported by the Revada Foundation of the Logan Family On Thursday, November 7, hear more from Sara Fishko and guests, live at The Greene Space. Tickets are available now. Radio Air Dates: Sunday, November 10 at 11 am on 93.9 FM. Sunday, November 10 at 6 pm on AM 820. Veterans Day, Monday November 11 at 2 pm on 93.9 FM. Saturday, November 16 at 10 pm on AM 820.
Emily Bernard was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. She holds a B. A. and Ph. D. in American Studies from Yale University. Her work has appeared in The American Scholar, The Boston Globe Magazine, Creative Nonfiction, Green Mountains Review, Oxtford American, Ploughshares, The New Republic, and theatlantic.com. Her essay collection is called Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, and Mine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
First Draft interview with Emily Bernard
In this episode, Lissa speaks with Author and Professor Emily Bernard about her debut collection of personal essays Black is the Body: stories from my grandmother's time, my mother's time, and mine (Alfred A. Knopf, 2019). Emily was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. She holds a B. A. and Ph. D. in American Studies from Yale University. A contributing editor at The American Scholar, Emily is the Julian Lindsay Green and Gold Professor of English at the University of Vermont. To learn more about Emily Bernard's work and purchase her book, visit her website
Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine is Emily Bernard’s latest book. It is illuminating in its vulnerability, its honesty - and its frank examination of race and being female in our ever challenging society.
Nella Larsen's gripping 1929 novel Passing recounts the fateful encounter, first on a fancy Chicago hotel rooftop restaurant on a sweltering August afternoon and later in New York City, of two women who grew up together and then lost touch, and who can pass from being black to white, and back again -- with devastating moral and social consequences. The book examines the American mythology of race, and its real-world effects, at the height of the Harlem Renaissance and during a time when racial segregation regulated the lives of all Americans and severely disadvantaged African-Americans in nearly all aspects of existence. Many people chose to escape this injustice by 'passing' for white, which gave Larsen the idea to examine race and racism in a powerful work of fiction. I spoke with Professor Emily Bernard, Julian Lindsay Green & Gold Professor at the University of Vermont and the author of many award-winning books, including: Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten; Some of My Best Friends: Writers on Interracial Friendship; Michelle Obama: The First Lady in Photographs; Carl Van Vechten and the Harlem Renaissance: A Portrait in Black and White, and the 2019 Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine.
Tennessee native Emily Bernard is intimately familiar with, and endlessly fascinated by, the “complexities and paradoxes” of growing up as a person of color in the American South. She captures […]
Tennessee native Emily Bernard is intimately familiar with, and endlessly fascinated by, the “complexities and paradoxes” of growing up as a person of color in the American South. She captures her insights and takeaways in the much anticipated essay anthology Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine. In […]
Tennessee native Emily Bernard is intimately familiar with, and endlessly fascinated by, the “complexities and paradoxes” of growing up as a person of color in the American South. She captures her insights and takeaways in the much anticipated essay anthology Black is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mine. In an advance review for the […]
Black artists, intellectuals, and writers have long been asked to process their pain for white audiences—which has led some well-intentioned white progressives to view pain as the entirety of the black experience. Recognizing this fact inevitably leads us to wonder: what would have James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time been like if he had only addressed his fourteen-year-old nephew, or included a letter to his nieces? Emily Bernard, author of Black Is the Body, and Mychal Denzel Smith, author of Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching, both seek to expand and break out of limiting narratives around race in their work. On March 7, Harper's Magazine senior editor Rachel Poser moderated a discussion with Bernard and Smith at Book Culture that weighed the delicacies of genre, the expectations of audiences, and the act of parlaying experience into art.
Emily Bernard has offered her essays to The American Scholar since 2005, when we published “Teaching the N-Word.” She's written a lot of essays since then, essays that prove their etymology: the French word essayer—to try. She tries on different ways of thinking about what it means to be black, or the mother of daughters adopted from Ethiopia, or married to a white man, or the American daughter of a Trinidadian father. She joins us on the podcast to sort through the questions—and some of the answers—that form the heart of her new collection, Black Is the Body.Go beyond the episode:Emily Bernard’s Black Is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and MineRead her essays in The American Scholar: “Teaching the N-Word,” “Interstates,” “Scar Tissue,” and a bonus from our archives about friendship, “Fired.”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 • AcastHave 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. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Emily Bernard has offered her essays to The American Scholar since 2005, when we published “Teaching the N-Word.” She's written a lot of essays since then, essays that prove their etymology: the French word essayer—to try. She tries on different ways of thinking about what it means to be black, or the mother of daughters adopted from Ethiopia, or married to a white man, or the American daughter of a Trinidadian father. She joins us on the podcast to sort through the questions—and some of the answers—that form the heart of her new collection, Black Is the Body.Go beyond the episode:Emily Bernard’s Black Is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and MineRead her essays in The American Scholar: “Teaching the N-Word,” “Interstates,” “Scar Tissue,” and a bonus from our archives about friendship, “Fired.”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 • AcastHave 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. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Gayle and Nicole discuss current bookish news items, the majority of which are scandal free. They also talk about their current reads, and recommend some of theist books about the black experience in America, a topic they quickly find that they might need a second show to do justice to the topic. New https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/class-of-2019/ (books entering the public domain), which now includes works published in or prior to 1923. Gayle is moderating an author pane on March 14th at Kramer Books in Washington, DC. Come out and say hi! Gayle did a https://www.facebook.com/groups/292075681296111/ ( Galentine's Day Swap in the Spivey Book Facebook Group), and she's still waiting to find out what she got! WHAT WE'RE READING https://amzn.to/2EduA4u (Becoming) by Michelle Obama https://amzn.to/2V79sCR (The Wartime Sisters) by Lynda Cohen Loigman https://amzn.to/2IjHAJW (Here and Now and Then) by Mike Chen THE BLACK EXPERIENCE IN FICTION & NONFICTION https://amzn.to/2EduA4u (Becoming) by Michelle Obama https://amzn.to/2N8Iyrm (Real American) by Julie Lythcott-Haims https://amzn.to/2EemEjt (Sag Harbor) by Colson Whitehead https://amzn.to/2TRWVTt (Silver Sparrow) by Tayari Jones https://amzn.to/2Naw6ax (Leaving Atlanta) by Tayari Jones https://amzn.to/2MXzqWq (Black Is The Body: Stories From My Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time and Mine)by Emily Bernard https://amzn.to/2GtpNOW ( Never Look An American In The Eye: A Memoir of Flying Turtles, Colonial Ghosts, and the Making of a Nigerian American) by Okey Ndibe https://amzn.to/2IgGgYc (Underground Airlines) by Ben H. Winters https://amzn.to/2TU1EUO (The Underground Railroad) by Colson Whitehead https://amzn.to/2TU27q2 (Homegoing) by Yaa Gyasi https://amzn.to/2Ecz7Ez (Green) by Sam Graham-Felson https://amzn.to/2N8IMP8 (Jump At The Sun) by Kim McClari Support this podcast
S4 E01: In this episode, meet memoirist Dani Shapiro, author Soniah Kamal, and professor Emily Bernard. From fearless family memoirs to updating classic fiction to reflect her own culture, each of these authors’ works share deeply personal pieces of themselves. Hear how the recording process affected each writer and, discover which author’s dreams of being an actress were finally achieved in the recording booth. Enjoy! Inheritance by Dani Shapiro: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/554262/inheritance/ Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/567399/unmarriageable/ Black Is the Body by Emily Bernard: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/538934/black-is-the-body/
Carl Van Vechten, a best-selling novelist, archivist, photographer, and negrophile promoted black culture during the era known as the Harlem Renaissance, and beyond. The Harlem Renaissance was a black movement, but it needed whiteness in order to thrive. Carl Van Vechten embodied that necessary whiteness in ways that were multiple, fascinating, and contradictory. Emily Bernard, Professor of English and Ethnic Studies at the University of Vermont chronicles his life.