44. Native Son: Masculinity, Emotions, and Being Misunderstood

In this episode, Miles and Jan talk about a book that Miles read recently: Native Son by Richard Wright. It's a crazy and complex book that has an even more important legacy. We talk about why the book had such a big impact, what’s relatable and realistic about Bigger Thomas, dive into what it really means to understand other people's emotions and our own. CW: In discussing Native Son, we talk about the novel’s depictions of sexual violence. 3:04 Books that Native Son influenced 6:00 Non-Fiction Writers who are great novelists 6:45 Richard Wright's writing about Africa 7:00 Talk about Native Son’s Impact Culturally 9:45 The Difference Between Bigger Thomas and Richard Wright 11:45 Why was Native Son written? 13:10 What did you take away from the book? 16:00 Comparing Native Son and Get Out 19:14 What it means to be understood 21:20 What being self-conscious even means 24:20 The link between masculinity and violence 29:50 James Baldwin’s Here Be Dragons: Freaks and the Ideal of American Manhood 33:15 “Emotions are bigger than people” 36:30 Good writers are masters of emotion 38:37 Does Miles recommend Native Son? 42:00 Fight Club author’s take on internal dialogue 45:30 Miles thinks of stupid literary experiment haha --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/realballersread/support