What Clarence Thomas really thinks

The Gray Area with Sean Illing

Vox Media Podcast Network

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

4.5 • 11.1K Ratings

🗓️ 14 August 2023

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, which was originally published in August 2022, Sean Illing talks with Corey Robin, author of a 2019 book about the life and thought of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Robin discusses how Thomas — whose concurring opinion in the case that overturned Roe v. Wade garnered recent attention — developed the ideological basis of his extremist judicial philosophy, how his views went from the hard-right fringe to more mainstream over the course of his 30 years on the Supreme Court, and how the failures of the 1960s movements shaped his fundamental pessimism about racial progress in America. Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling), host, The Gray Area Guest: Corey Robin (@CoreyRobin), author; professor of political science, Brooklyn College and CUNY Graduate Center References: The Enigma of Clarence Thomas by Corey Robin (Metropolitan; 2019) "The Self-Fulfilling Prophecies of Clarence Thomas" by Corey Robin (New Yorker; July 9) Clarence Thomas's opening statement, Anita Hill hearing (C-SPAN; Oct. 11, 1991) Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison (1952) Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022); Thomas's concurrence American Negro Slave Revolts by Herbert Aptheker (1943) Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution - 1863–1877 by Eric Foner (1988; updated 2014) The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in An Age of Diminishing Expectations by Christopher Lasch (Norton; 1979) The Rhetoric of Reaction by Albert O. Hirschman (Harvard; 1991) Enjoyed this episode? Rate The Gray Area ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe for free. Be the first to hear the next episode of The Gray Area. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Support The Gray Area by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts This episode was made by: Producer: Erikk Geannikis Editor: Amy Drozdowska Engineer: Patrick Boyd Deputy Editorial Director, Vox Talk: A.M. Hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Sean. Today's episode features a conversation we previously ran on a show called Vox Conversations in August of 2022.
0:09.6	That's actually what the gray area used to be called. Anyway, it's about Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court Justice,
0:17.6	who has made a lot of headlines during the past few months for his
0:21.5	outsized role in a series of high-profile cases, most notably overturning affirmative action.
0:28.9	And of course, there are also the stories about his friendship with billionaire Harlan Crow
0:34.3	and how they spent time on Crow's private jet and his yacht taking trips all around the world.
0:41.3	Thomas, as you know, is a deeply conservative judge, but, interestingly, he wasn't always conservative.
0:51.3	And I think it's fascinating and important to understand how he became, well, who he is today.
0:59.2	All of which is to say, this conversation you're about to hear is more relevant than ever, and I hope you enjoy it.
1:08.0	I, Clarence Thomas. I, Clarence Thomas, do solemnly swear,
1:12.6	do solemnly swear, that I will well and faithfully perform, that I will well and faithfully perform.
1:19.6	The duties of the office on which I'm...
1:21.6	It's hard to find a more polarizing figure in American politics than Clarence Thomas. So help me God.
1:29.3	There have been many difficult days as we all went through the confirmation battle,
1:36.3	and I mean we all.
1:38.3	But on this sunny day in October, there is joy.
1:43.3	Joy in the morning.
1:48.1	He was appointed to the court in 1991 after a contentious confirmation hearing, where he
1:53.8	was accused of sexual misconduct by Anita Hill.
1:58.5	Thomas has now been on the Supreme Court for over three decades, longer than any other
2:03.9	sitting justice.
2:06.1	And from the bench, his hard-line positions have bedeviled the left and made him a hero
	...

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