Marilynne Robinson on writing, metaphysics, and the Donald Trump dilemma

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

Politics, News, Society & Culture, News Commentary, Philosophy

4.5 • 11.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 October 2020

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Marilynne Robinson is one of the greatest American novelists alive today. She’s the author of the Pulitzer-prize winning Gilead — one of my favorite books, ever — as well as Housekeeping, Home, Lila, and her latest, Jack. She’s also produced four brilliant collections of nonfiction essays. But Robinson is not simply a beautiful writer; her work is inextricably bound up with the most important issues of our times: race, religion, education, geography, and democracy — so much so that in 2015, Barack Obama chose to interview her on the state of the country while he was still the sitting president. This was a joy of a conversation to have right now, and it covers vast amounts of ground, including: • Robinson’s obsession with the doctrine of predestination • What we know -- and all we don’t know -- about the nature of reality • The power of loneliness • How, for all the talk of polarization, there are certain ideas that Americans widely, quietly share • How the logic of efficiency and growth has come to invade every aspect of our lives • The differences between writing fiction and nonfiction • How to train yourself to notice the world around you • The sobering purpose of studying history • What it will take to keep American democracy alive and well • The particular problem that Donald Trump poses • The baseline assumptions and practices a democracy demands we share And much more. I found this conversation a tonic to have in this moment. I hope it’s the same for you. Book recommendations: Birdman of Alcatraz by Thomas E. Gaddis Credits: Producer - Jeff Geld Audio engineer - Jackson Bierfeldt Researcher - Roge Karma Please consider making a contribution to Vox to support this show: bit.ly/givepodcasts Your support will help us keep having ambitious conversations about big ideas. New to the show? Want to check out Ezra’s favorite episodes? Check out the Ezra Klein Show beginner’s guide (http://bit.ly/EKSbeginhere) Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I think that a lot of people grew in loneliness by worrying about it.
0:04.0	And in fact, it could be a scene of revelation, you know, in sense is great and small.
0:22.5	Hello and welcome because we're playing show on the box Media Podcast Network.
0:26.2	This episode was such a pleasure for me. It was so needed right now. It was so needed.
0:31.6	Marilyn Robinson is one of probably the greatest living novelists. She wrote Gilead back in the
0:37.4	day, which won the Pulitzer Prize. She's written a number of other books, Home, Lila, Homecoming. Her
0:42.0	new book is Jack. She's also done a series of beautiful essay collections. And her book's just
0:48.4	making a better person. That's probably the simplest way for me to put them. I'm Gilead,
0:52.1	like for a lot of people. It's simply one of my favorite works. But a lot of her work just,
0:57.4	she has a quality of being able to see the wonder in the world and being able to believe in
1:05.0	its promise, even as being clear-eyed about its failures that it is really inspiring. And this is
1:11.7	not, I want to note a show that is disconnected somehow from the issues of the moment.
1:17.8	Robinson's books are very, very political in their way, very political in the classic American,
1:23.2	since very concerned with questions of race and democracy. And what does it mean to live in
1:27.3	fellowship with each other? It's a reason she was president Obama's favorite novelist. And she did
1:31.9	a series of interviews with him or actually more to the point. He did a series of interviews with her
1:35.8	when he was a sitting president, which was a little bit of an unusual thing. But so she's in her
1:40.4	own way been an important player and inspiration at the highest levels of American politics. But
1:46.7	just getting a chance to step back from what is happening right now and immerse myself in her work
1:51.7	and think about the world, the way she thinks about it was such a pleasure right now. And the
1:55.5	conversation itself was a joy and I hope it is all those things for you also. As always, my email is
2:01.8	as her client show at box.com here is Marilyn Robinson. Marilyn Robinson, welcome to the podcast.
	...

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