Ep. 411 I Don’t Believe Any Moment in History Is Dry with Heather Ann Thompson

The Stacks

Traci Thomas

Arts, Society & Culture, Books, Literature

4.9 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 11 February 2026

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today on The Stacks, we’re joined by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, historian, activist, and professor, Heather Ann Thompson, to discuss her new book Fear and Fury: The Reagan Eighties, the Bernie Goetz Shootings, and the Rebirth of White Rage. This book explores the ways that Bernhard Goetz's 1984 shooting of four Black teenagers on the New York City subway exposed the deep racial tensions of the Reagan era and set the tone for the politics of white rage we see today. In our conversation, Heather reveals why she wanted to tell this story right now, how the media’s role in this case mirrors the fear and power of the media landscape today, and how she transforms dense historical documents into accessible nonfiction.

The Stacks Book Club pick for February is Indigo by Beverly Jenkins. We’ll be discussing the book with Jasmine Guillory on February 25th.

You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks website: https://www.thestackspodcast.com/2026/2/11/ep-411-heather-ann-thompson

Connect with Heather: Website | Instagram | Threads | Bluesky | X/Twitter

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Transcript

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0:00.0	even at the time, of course, while Bernie Gets is being celebrated and he's being lauded as the celebrity,
0:08.0	particularly in the black community, but also the progressive white community in the Latinx community,
0:13.8	people are outraged.
0:15.8	And they are trying to get some justice for his victims.
0:18.9	And they are trying to speak up and they're trying to
0:21.5	turn the needle in in you know toward the the arc of justice right right and they lose because
0:27.6	the people who had the most to gain by pitting people against each other are are at it and they
0:34.6	still are today right now today if somebody did this on a New York City
0:38.2	subway, I'm pretty sure that the media would be trying to figure out exactly what those
0:44.8	people on that subway did to deserve it and celebrate the shooter.
0:58.1	Welcome to the Stacks, a podcast about books and the people who read them.
1:09.0	I'm your host, Tracy Thomas, and today I am joined again by author, historian, professor, activist, and Pulitzer Prize winner, Heather Ann Thompson.
1:13.0	She is here today to discuss her new book, Fear and Fury,
1:19.2	the Reagan 80s, the Bernie Gets shootings, and the rebirth of white rage. This book takes us back to December 1984 to explore the ways that the Bernard gets shooting of four black teenagers
1:24.6	on the New York City subway exposed the deep racial tensions of the Reagan era and set the tone for the politics of white rage we are seeing right now today.
1:34.3	On today's episode, Heather and I talk about why it is important for her to re-center the victims in her storytelling, how this book is in conversation with her Pulitzer Prize winning book,
1:44.8	Blood in the Water, about the Attica Prison Uprising of 1971, and what she hopes people will
1:50.7	take away from Fear and Fury.
1:53.3	Our book club pick for February is the romance classic Indigo by Beverly Jenkins.
1:58.4	We will be discussing the book with Jasmine Guillillery on Wednesday, February 25th. Everything we talk about on each episode of the Stacks is linked in our show notes. If you like this podcast, if you want more bookish content and community, consider joining the Stacks pack on Patreon and subscribing to my newsletter unstacked on substack.
2:18.3	And each of these places, you are going to earn different perks, including bonus episodes,
2:22.9	access to our Discord community, virtual book club, writing, hot takes, and a lot more.
	...

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