The Roxane Gay Agenda

June Diane Raphael on the psychological challenge of being a woman on TV and film sets, and why she’s leery of being “the good girl.” The comedian/actor/screenwriter/podcaster also talks about everything from menstrual moods to career ambitions. Plus, Roxane recounts the plot of one of her favorite bad movies.

Mentions:

• “Oh God, A Show About Abortion” https://www.ohgodshow.com/
• “Battl...

Designer and podcaster Debbie Millman on creativity, vanity projects, and how to inspire people to change. Also, she is Roxane’s wife, and Roxane tells us how they met and fell in love.

Mentions:

• Marcy Dermansky’s novel “Hurricane Girl” http://www.marcydermansky.com/hurricane-girl-book
• C.J.Hauser’s book of essays “The Crane Wife” https://cjhauser.com/
• “The Crane Wife” essay...

Imani Barbarin uses humor and truth to bring attention to the increasingly dire plight of disabled people in America. The pandemic has revealed a broken system that keeps the disabled in poverty. She talks about how she personally deals with the injustice, and what might be done to improve things. Also, what makes a joke a good joke for the disabled?

Mentions:

●     Imani Barbarin’s Tik Tok fee...

Actor, comedian and memorist Cameron Esposito is practicing vulnerability. Here she talks to Roxane about their gender-fluidity, about why performing feels normal for them, and about why it’s important not to be funny all the time.

Mentions:

●     Take My Wife on Starz https://www.starz.com/us/en/series/38334/episodes?season=1

●     Save Yourself https://www.esowonbooks...

Devotional artist Genesis Tramaine is painting some of the most striking portraits of our time. She talks to Roxane about her process and her practice, and how her faith informs it all. Also, Roxane reflects on her own religious upbringing.

Mentions:

●     Recent Gallery Show https://www.alminerech.com/artists/5928-genesis-tramaine

●     Genesis Tramaine’s Instagram Page https...

Actor, producer and director Numa Perrier is making space for herself. Her autobiographical film “Jezebel,” about a young woman grieving for her mother while working as a cam girl in Las Vegas, breaks new ground in independent cinema for its complex candor. Roxane talks to her about how a girl from a Washington state farm ended up making TV and movies. Plus, Roxane on the hell that is contemporary air travel.

Mentions:

...

Cultural critic Margo Jefferson deconstructs her nervous system… or at least explains to Roxane how the culture, not just family, has made her who she is. She talks about her new memoir, which situates cultural criticism alongside personal memories. Also, Roxane reflects on what memoirists reveal, and don’t reveal, to their readers.

Mentions:

●     C.J. Hauser’s essay “The Crane Wif...

1980’s movie star Ally Sheedy is back with a plum role in a new TV series. She talks to Roxane about her other careers as an editor and teacher. Plus, Roxane speculates on why The Slap (at the Oscars ceremony) has grabbed so much of our attention.

Mentions:

●     Single Drunk Female https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13790652/?ref_%3Dfn_al_tt_1

●     Ally’s essay on Hollywood ...

Roxane on the pleasures and perils of collecting art, and a conversation with one of the artists whose work she collects. Barbara Kruger came up through the magazine industry, where she applied her editorial design skills in the making of provocative, conceptual images, films and sculptures. She talks about her belated success, and how there’s not just one art world anymore.

 Mentions:

●     Barb...

How Janicza Bravo turned a hilarious Twitter thread into a hilarious movie. Aziah King’s epic Twitter thread about a road trip gone bad took the internet by storm in 2015. Several years and a pandemic later, Janicza Bravo translated it into “Zola.” Here, she explains some of the creative decisions she made—like not showing the nudity.

Mentions:

●     Aziah King’s original Twitter thread. https://www.dontdiewondering.com/check-out-the...

Sanaz Toosi channeled her anger about the Muslim travel ban into comedy. Her play “English,” set in Iran, explores the lives of an English teacher and her students. She talks to Roxane about the experience of so many immigrants–imperfectly speaking a second language, never fully fitting in. Plus, Roxane reflects on her own parents’ accents.

Mentions:

●     “English” at the Atlantic Theater Company. https://atlantictheater.org/product...

Cerise Castle broke the first extensive investigation about alleged gangs in the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department in a 15-part series for KNOCK LA. Now, Cerise Castle reports with a bodyguard by her side. Roxane and Cerise discuss the shocking details of Cerise’s investigative series and political, and personal, consequences of her work. Plus, Roxane reflects on the frustrated ambitions of the movement to change the police.

 Mention...

Dorothy Brown says she got into tax law precisely because it had nothing to do with race. After twenty years of research, Dorothy discovered—and this is going to shock you—the tax system is racist as hell. Roxane and Dorothy explore how the tax code caters to white Americans in almost every way, from home ownership to marriage. Plus, Roxane reflects on the collective responsibility of paying Uncle Sam.

Mentions:

●     Dorothy A. ...

Randa Jarrar says her skin is neither thick or thin when it comes to attacks on her writing. Roxane and Randa explore how to stay creative under difficult circumstances. Plus, Roxane reflects on the toll her haters have taken on her and her writing.

Mentions:

• Randa Jarrar’s books: https://randajarrar.com/home/books/

Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Yessenia Moreno is the intern. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams and...

Comedian and actress Nicole Byer on the ups and downs and ups of her young career, and why things are looking up for fat, Black performers. Plus, Roxane waxes poetic about her cake catastrophes.

Mentions:

●     Killing Eve https://www.bbcamerica.com/shows/killing-eve/seasons/season-1--1010619

●     Nailed It! https://www.netflix.com/title/80179138

●     Grand Crew https://www.nbc.com/grand-crew

●     Zola (MOVIE) https://www.imdb.co...

 Crime novelist S.A. Cosby on tragic masculinity, growing up poor, and what he wants people to understand about the South. Plus, Roxane talks about the important escapist pleasures of genre fiction.

Mentions:

●     Razorblade Tears, by S.A. Cosby https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250252708

●     Abbott Elementary: https://abc.com/shows/abbott-elementary

●     The Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean M. Auel. https://bookshop.org/books/t...

What do pottery and pot do for Seth Rogen? The writer and actor talks to Roxane about the pleasures of making something that doesn’t matter, the secrets of his longstanding collaborations, and about what he brings to the weed business. Plus, Roxane tells how she got eaten by an edible.

Mentions:

●     Euphoria: https://www.hbo.com/euphoria

●     Houseplant: https://www.houseplant.com

●     Yearbook, by Seth Rogen: https://www.yearb...

Novelist Terry McMillan set the table for so many Black creative women working today. She tells Roxane about how she became a writer without knowing she was one, and how she continues to write narratives that so many Black women identify with.

Mentions:

●     Roxane’s Story “North Country” is in her book Difficult Women: https://roxanegay.com/books/difficult-women/

●     Terry McMillan’s Website: https://www.terrymcmillan.com/

●   ...

Roxane introduces the new podcast with her former co-host, Tressie McMillan Cottom. They talk about the new year, new endeavors (including a new dog), Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s vacuity, and the real meaning of Morgan Wallen’s mullet.

Mentions

• Tressie's New York Times newsletter: https://www.nytimes.com/column/tressie-mcmillan-cottom

Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Yessenia Moreno is the intern. Production help from K...