meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Rebecca Solnit on Harvey Weinstein, feminism, and social change

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

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

4.511.1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2020

⏱️ 106 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Rebecca Solnit is one of the great activist-essayists of our age. Her books and writing cover a vast amount of human existence, but a common thread in her work — and a focus of her upcoming memoir, Recollections of My Nonexistence — is what it means to be voiceless, ignored, and treated as a unreliable witness to the events of your own life.  “We always say nobody knows, and that means that everyone who knows was nobody,” Solnit says. “Everyone who was nobody knew about Harvey Weinstein.” This conversation is, in part, about what it means to be a nobody and what we’d learn if we listened to the voices on the margins of society. But it goes wide from there, covering the psychic toll of sexual violence, the Weinstein ruling, how visual art infuses Solnit’s journalism, the changing cultural role of San Francisco, what climate change will do to social relations, the different narratives of violence that men and women grow up with, and much more. A quick warning: We spoke just after the Weinstein ruling, and we discuss sexual violence both in terms of specific cases and larger cultural questions. It’s an important conversation, and Solnit’s thinking here is essential and humane, but listeners should be prepared for it. Book recommendations: On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado There There by Tommy Orange 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) The “Why We’re Polarized” tour continues, with events in Austin, Nashville, Chicago, and Greenville. Go to WhyWerePolarized.com for the full schedule! Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.com Credits: Engineer - Cynthia Gil Producer/Editor - Jeff Geld Researcher - Roge Karma Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

When you drive a Chevy electric vehicle, you're getting more than a way to get from point A to point B.

0:06.0

You're saying goodbye to gas stations and how low to open roads.

0:09.0

With the growing network of public charging stations, you'll be able to charge your EV while you shop, work, or do whatever you want to be doing with your time.

0:17.0

Chevy is making EVs for everyone, everywhere. Go to chevrelay.com slash electric to learn more.

0:25.0

First, sweet tarts dare to combine sweet and tart. But they didn't stop there.

0:33.0

Now they've combined soft and bouncy to bring you new sweet tarts, gummies fruity splits.

0:39.0

A uniquely delicious dual-sided gummy with one side that's sweet and the other side that's tart.

0:46.0

But entirely smooth and squishy. A powerfully perfect combo.

0:51.0

Sweet tarts dare to combine.

0:56.0

Big ideas, big transformations, social revolutions, new frameworks and transformations.

1:04.0

They end up in the center, but they never begin in the center.

1:07.0

The centers were their validated. The centers where they come into the spotlight.

1:12.0

And a lot more people know that they're there.

1:21.0

Hello and welcome to his recline show on the box Media Podcast Network.

1:30.0

This episode was such a pleasure. I got to talk to Rebecca Solnit, who is one of my favorite writers and essayists.

1:36.0

She's written a ton of books on just an unbelievably vast range of topics.

1:40.0

She wrote men explain things to me, which the title essay I think gives our culture the idea of mansplaining.

1:46.0

She wrote the mother of all questions. She wrote this beautiful book Apparitice built in hell about the communities that rise in the aftermath of disaster.

1:53.0

She's written beautiful atlases of places like SF. She's written about walking in wanderlust and her field guide to getting lost.

1:59.0

She's just a truly wide ranging writer intellectual historian activist.

2:04.0

And she's written the new memoir recollections of my non-existence, which is one of the more beautiful books I've had the occasion to read recently.

2:10.0

And also tough. It's not an easy narrative of growing up and succeeding.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Vox Media Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Vox Media Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.