In this episode, meet author and photojournalist Deborah Copaken, author of Ladyparts, writer and activist Rebecca Walker, author of Black White and Jewish, and American Ballet Theatre principal dancer James Whiteside, author of Center Center. In their audiobooks, these authors reflect on struggles with identity and offer perspectives on their unique experiences. Listen to Deborah Copaken on breaking down barriers for women in workplace settings, Rebecca Walker on childhood and belonging, and James Whiteside on inspiration from Roald Dahl.
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Listen to clips from the audiobooks mentioned in this episode:
Ladyparts is Copaken’s irreverent inventory of both the female body and the body politic of womanhood in America, the story of one woman brought to her knees by the one-two-twelve punch of divorce, solo motherhood, unaffordable childcare, shady landlords, her father’s death, corporate indifference, ageism, sexism, and plain old bad luck.
The Civil Rights movement brought author Alice Walker and lawyer Mel Leventhal together, and in 1969 their daughter, Rebecca, was born. In Black White and Jewish, Rebecca Leventhal Walker attempts to define herself as a soul instead of a symbol—and offers a new look at the challenge of personal identity, in a story at once strikingly unique and truly universal.
Plus, don’t miss Rebecca Walker’s memoir of motherhood, Baby Love.
Center Center is an exuberant behind-the-scenes tour of primo ballerino James Whiteside’s triple life, both on and offstage—a raunchy, curious, and unapologetic celebration of queerness, self-expression, friendship, sex, creativity, and pushing boundaries that will entertain you, shock you, embolden you…and maybe even make you cry.
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