On this episode of the show I’m talking to
, my older brother and the recently anointed editor of Arc, the magazine formerly known as Religion and Politics.Our text is recent article of his, “Why Is a Publisher of Antisemitic and Homophobic Authors Winning a National Book Award? Paul Coates, father of Ta-Nehisi Coates, is getting a lifetime achievement award from people who don’t want to talk about what he’s actually done.”
We talk about the article, which goes into a lot of depth about the authors and texts published by Coates’s indie press, Black Classic Press, and then also about the broader context. Why did the National Book Foundation seek to recognize Coates in the first place? Why did they not know (and we're taking it as a given that they didn't know) that he had a record of publishing homophobic, anti-Semitic, and racist writers? Why have they remained mostly silent on the topic, since better information has come out, and why has the part of the media that tends to cover literary controversies opted out of covering this one.
In addition to his work for Arc, Mark is the author of five books, including Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting & the Soul of a Neighborhood, and Knocking on Heaven's Door: American Religion in the Age of Counterculture. He’s finishing up a biography of Judy Blume, which should come out in the next year or two.
Show Notes
Here's the summary and time stamps that the Descript bot gave me, which seem roughly accurate if not always super helpful.
00:00 Introduction and Milestones
01:28 Upcoming Episodes and Guests
03:06 Interview with Mark Oppenheimer
05:25 Paul Coates and Black Classic Press
08:28 Controversies and Criticisms
23:16 Media Response and Broader Implications
38:12 The Role of Myths in Society
38:47 Debate on Afrocentric Myths
39:43 Flexibility of Religious Myths
41:50 Healthy vs. Poisonous Myths
43:06 Paul Coates and Black Classic Press
48:50 The National Book Foundation Controversy
58:31 The Role of the Free Press
01:09:52 Concluding Thoughts on Intellectual Discourse
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