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Kindred

Published by USC Bedrosian Center on

Dana, a black woman living in 1976 Los Angeles and protagonist of Octavia Butler’s Kindred, must confront the violent acts that begin her direct familial line. She is drawn back in time again and again to save one Rufus Weylin from death. Rufus turns out to be the white slave owner who will eventually (if he lives) become Dan’s own great, great, great, grandfather. Dana must choose to save this terrible man in order to both protect the many generations of her own family, her self.

How does the legacy of slavery live on in the present? Join us for a conversation of this classic and important novel.

Host Jeffery Jenkins (@jaj7d) is joined by guests Ange-Marie Alfaro (@AngeMarieH), Caroline Bhalla (@Coodence), and Aubrey Hicks (@AubreyHi).

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To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of the “Kindred” episode click the arrow in the player on this post. Or you can download it and subscribe through ApplePodcasts, Soundcloud, Google Play, Stitcher or your favorite podcasting app!

Links & further immersion:

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (book, podcast)
Interlude: slavery and ‘Americanness.’ (excerpt from ‘Playing in the Dark’)(The Routes and Traces of Slaves).” (Library access may be needed to access this article)

 

Next Month …

We’ll return to conversations about the Federal Reserve with a look a new work from Sarah Binder and Mark Spindel questioning the traditional view of the relationship between Congress and the Federal Reserve: The Myth of Independence. For some more on this book, check out the video of the authors’ visits to USC this past Fall.

 

Read along with us! Let us know what you think of the book & our podcasts on Facebook or Twitter.

This podcast was produced by Aubrey Hicks and Jonathan Schwartz, recorded and mixed by The Brothers Hedden, Ryan and Corey Hedden.

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