Episode
"I thought Jimmy Carter was black" | Tayari Jones interview
- Published
- Jun 27, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1922
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.newstatesman.com/podcasts
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Summary
Tayari Jones is one of America's most celebrated novelists, twice chosen by Oprah, shortlisted for prizes on both sides of the Atlantic, and read by presidents. Her newest book was meant to be a tale of gentrification in the American South, she found herself an entirely different story. Kin follows two motherless girls coming of age in 1950s Louisiana, the Jim Crow South.It's a novel about female friendship, class, race, and motherhood. Jones discusses her latest book, about growing up "bourgeois and segregated" in Atlanta as the daughter of civil rights activists, and what it's like to watch America try to turn the clock back on progress as it approaches its 250th birthday.