Myisha Cherry, "The Case for Rage: Why Anger Is Essential to Anti-Racist Struggle" (Oxford UP, 2021)
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What is the premise of Myisha Cherry’s book *The Case for Rage* and why does she argue anger matters?
Hi everyone, this is Marshall Poe. I'm the founder of the New Books Network, and I'm also a historian. I used to be a history professor, and I love maps, so I'm especially happy to tell you that this episode is sponsored by What's Your Map, which was the winner of the Best Education Podcast at the 2025 British Podcast Awards. What's Your Map is hosted by historian and prize-winning author Professor Jerry Broughton. In each episode, he invites a guest to share a map close to their heart and unfurl the ideas, inspirations, and stories behind it. I can tell you I've listened and it's fascinating. The podcast is in its sixth series and is enjoyed by audiences around the globe. You can explore all the maps in the podcast online.
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Hello, and thanks for joining us for this episode of New Books and Philosophy, which is part of the New Books Network. I'm Robert Talese. I teach philosophy at Vanderbilt University. I host the program with Carrie Figder, Malcolm Keating, and Sarah Tyson. My guest today is Maisha Cherry. Maisha is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of California at Riverside. She specializes in moral psychology, social and political philosophy, philosophy of race, and feminist philosophy. Myesha also hosts the popular Unmute podcast. Her new book has recently been published with Oxford University Press. It's titled The Case for Rage, Why Anger is Essential to Anti-Racist Struggle. Now, according to a broad consensus among philosophers across the ages, anger is almost always regrettable.
counterproductive, and bad. It's something that we need to overcome or suppress. It's treated as something that involves an immoral drive for revenge or some naive commitment to cosmic justice. It's often said to involve a corruption of the person. Anger eats away at us or plunges us into madness. However, given the state of the world, it's difficult not to be angry. Thus, the shelves of your local bookstore are filled with self-help titles that promise to release you from anger and bring you peace. But maybe anger has been underappreciated. Perhaps we've failed to make the right distinctions between different kinds of anger. And maybe we've therefore overlooked the kind or the kinds of anger that are productive and appropriate.
In the case for rage, Maisha Cherry argues that we need to give anger a chance. After distinguishing different forms of anger, she defends a kind of anger that she calls Lordian rage, which she argues is central to anti-racist social progress. Now, as usual, there's a lot to talk about, but we'll begin as we normally do with our guest. Hi, Myesha. How you doing, Bob? I'm doing great. How are you today?
I'm good. Just woke up from a nap. So I'm like full of energy, but also fatigued, if that makes sense. Come up with a word with a combination of both.
Well, I'm really excited to be talking with you today about your book. Likewise. But before we get into
it, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself? Well, you've already mentioned kind of like the academic tidbits. I guess I say a little bit about myself that people may not know, only those that are close to me. So I love all things Wes Anderson, all things Francois Truffaut, all things Ozu. So I became a cinephile during the pandemic. So I like to that was a flex in some way, but also a description. Also, I'm a huge record collector and jazz is really the most treasured aspect of my record collection. So I'm currently collecting all the original Donald Byrd albums. So if anyone is listening and they're thinking about getting rid of their record collection and they have some original Donald Byrd collections, you know, send me an email.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the premise of Myisha Cherry’s book *The Case for Rage* and why does she argue anger matters?
0:00–8:15
2
How does Cherry differentiate between the various kinds of anger relevant to anti‑racist struggle?
8:15–17:02
3
What defines Lordean Rage and why is it presented as essential for anti‑racist social progress?
17:02–25:55
4
How do rogue, narcissistic, and other forms of rage contrast with Lordean Rage?
25:55–33:45
5
What are the racial ‘feeling rules’ that shape how anger is judged and expressed?
33:45–41:17
6
How can allies employ anger constructively without reinforcing the very systems they oppose?
41:17–50:13
7
What practical strategies does Cherry propose for managing and sustaining productive Lordean Rage?
50:13–57:09
8
What are Cherry’s upcoming projects on anger, forgiveness, and related emotions?
57:09–1:04:32
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from New Books in Philosophy
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