The Argument: Who Can Write About What?
b'Today we\'re bringing you an episode from our friends at The Argument, about cultural appropriation in creative work. In recent years, book written by white authors like \\u201cAmerican Dirt\\u201d and \\u201cThe Help" have been criticized for their portrayals of characters of color. Artists\\u2019 job is to imagine and create, but what do we do when they get it wrong?\\n\\nTo discuss, Jane Coaston is joined by the Opinion writers Roxane Gay and Jay Caspian Kang. In their work, both have thought deeply about the thorny issues of writing across identities \\u2014 including what makes work authentic, the pressure of representation for writers of color and the roles social media and the publishing industry play in literary criticism. \\u201cI don\\u2019t think it\\u2019s that complicated,\\u201d Roxane says. \\u201cIt\\u2019s not that we divorce identity from the conversation. It\\u2019s that we treat it as inherent because we can\\u2019t separate out parts of ourselves.\\u201d\\n\\nMentioned:\\n\\n\\u201cWhite Fever Dreams\\u201d by Roxane Gay in Gay Magazine\\n\\n\\u201cThe Pity of the Elites\\u201d by Jay Caspian Kang\\n\\nThoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com. \\n\\nYou can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of \\u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\\u201d at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast, and you can find Ezra on Twitter @ezraklein. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.\\n\\n\\u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\\u201d is produced by Annie Galvin and Rog\\xe9 Karma; fact-checking by Michelle Harris, Rollin Hu, Mary Marge Locker and Kate Sinclair; original music by Isaac Jones and Pat McCusker; mixing by Pat McCusker; audience strategy by Shannon Busta. Special thanks to Kristin Lin and Kristina Samulewski.'