29 min listen
Strange Fruit #42: Playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney
FromStrange Fruit
ratings:
Length:
50 minutes
Released:
Aug 17, 2013
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
Playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney has been called the next August Wilson. Maybe that can be partially attributed to the fact that there are so few prominent African American playwrights, but there's still no doubt he is carrying an important mantle.
At age 33, he's already had plays debut at the Royal Court London, New York's Vineyard Theatre, the Young Vic, and Steppenwolf Theatre, where he is an artist in residence. In March, he received the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize.
We spoke to McCraney this week about his career, and how and why he writes about black gay life. He told us the real-life roots of some of his most famous works, and about working as August Wilson's assistant at Yale (including an unforgettable story about buying Wilson an iPod).
In our Juicy Fruit segment this week, we had lots of news to cover: The #solidarityisforwhitewomen and #blackpowerisforblackmen hashtags, "straight" men who sleep with men, Oprah's experience of racism in Sweden, black ESPN colleagues calling each other racial slurs, and more.
Photo Credit: Playbill
At age 33, he's already had plays debut at the Royal Court London, New York's Vineyard Theatre, the Young Vic, and Steppenwolf Theatre, where he is an artist in residence. In March, he received the Windham-Campbell Literature Prize.
We spoke to McCraney this week about his career, and how and why he writes about black gay life. He told us the real-life roots of some of his most famous works, and about working as August Wilson's assistant at Yale (including an unforgettable story about buying Wilson an iPod).
In our Juicy Fruit segment this week, we had lots of news to cover: The #solidarityisforwhitewomen and #blackpowerisforblackmen hashtags, "straight" men who sleep with men, Oprah's experience of racism in Sweden, black ESPN colleagues calling each other racial slurs, and more.
Photo Credit: Playbill
Released:
Aug 17, 2013
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Strange Fruit #55: Legendary Ballroom Photographer Gerard H. Gaskin: _"My images try to show a more personal and intimate beauty, pride, dignity, courage, and grace that have been painfully challenged by mainstream society."_Photographer [Gerard H. Gaskin](http://gerardhgaskin.com/) has been documenting house ball life for twenty years. His latest book, "[Legendary: Inside the House Ball Scene](https://www.dukeupress.edu/Legendary/)" is a vivid and beautiful look at a subculture we usually only get to see when a mainstream entertainer co-opts it. We spoke with Gerard this week about the book, and about what the house ball scene means to him. In our Juicy Fruit segment, we talked about [George Zimmerman's latest arrest](http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-11-18/news/os-george-zimmerman-arrested-20131118_1_george-zimmerman-murdering-17-year-old-trayvon-martin-deputies), this time for domestic violence. We also talked about the Colorado father who [shot his toddler daughter and himse by Strange Fruit