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Department of American Studies and Ethnicity

Dorinne Kondo published two new episodes of her podcast, “The Arts of Racial Reckoning”

 

September 2022

Dorinne Kondo has published two new episodes of her podcast, The Arts of Racial Reckoning, published in collaboration with the USC Consortium for Gender, Sexuality, Race, and Public Culture.

 

The premiere episode of The Arts of Racial Reckoning commemorates the 30th anniversary of the Los Angeles uprisings and changes in the arts and society between then and now, through the medium of theater pioneer Anna Deavere Smith’s play Twilight: Los Angeles 1992. Gordon Davidson originally commissioned this groundbreaking play. Gordon Davidson originally commissioned this groundbreaking work. I speak with Smith, whose performances of verbatim interviews with Angelenos staged race and class contradictions that still bristle with urgency.

 

In Episode 2 Kondo interviews two fellow dramaturgs who served on the Twilight world premiere: Oskar Eustis and Héctor Tobar, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and a character in the latest version of Twilight.

 

In Episode 3 Dorinne speaks with Dr. Elizabeth Alexander, the renowned poet, New York Times bestselling author and President of the Mellon Foundation. Our conversation explores the intersection of the arts, politics, and scholarship through the creative process for Twilight: Los Angeles 1992, Alexander’s book The Trayvon Generation, and Alexander’s pathbreaking role as President of the Mellon Foundation, the nation’s largest funder in arts and culture, and humanities in higher education. Alexander inspires my concluding meditation on the life-giving power of art and beauty in our perilous times.

All episodes can be found through Kondo’s Linktree: https://linktr.ee/dorinnekondo.

 

Direct link to episode 1:

https://usc-gss-consortium.libsyn.com/the-arts-of-racial-reckoning-anna-deavere-smith

 

Direct link to episode 2:

https://usc-gss-consortium.libsyn.com/the-arts-of-racial-reckoning-oskar-eustis-hctor-tobar

 

Direct link to episode 3:

https://usc-gss-consortium.libsyn.com/the-arts-of-racial-reckoning-dr-elizabeth-alexander