Roxane Gay
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The one thing that unifies people across political parties is the hatred of women. And the people from every political persuasion assault women and take advantage of women.
Welcome to Reclaiming Roxanne. Oh, thank you, Monica.
It's great to be here.
Thank you, really, for coming and being on. I think the first time we met in person. So you tell me, I think we became Twitter friends.
We did.
I think the first time we met in person was when you were being honored at the Mothball. Yes, that is. And Debbie Millman was there, your wife. She wasn't your wife yet.
No, not yet. It was pre-COVID.
Right. And do you know, I'm sure we've talked about this before, that... Debbie and My Publicist Share an Ex-Husband. I love to say that line as often as I can because it's kind of amazing.
I think I maybe knew in the dark recesses of my mind, but that's hilarious. Like, the world is small.
It's a small world. There's probably a great title for something in Our Shared Ex-Husband.
Oh, that is a great title. Right. Yes.
You're welcome to it. Thank you. Thank you. I'll see what I can do with that. But your parents were there.
Yes, they were.
And they were so proud of you. Yes. So it was really special to get to meet you in person for the first time with your parents there.
Yeah, they are a lot of fun. Now it's just my dad, but they really have enjoyed it. coming along. And I've invited them. I've wanted them to be there at some of these significant moments in my career or just in my life. The moth thing was very fun because the moth storytellers tell such beautiful and fascinating stories. And the moth itself really prioritizes the art of storytelling. It's more than just writing And it's really a thinking about the shape of a story and the texture of a story. And so for them to recognize my writing in that way was an honor. And it was also, you know, I met Padma Lakshmi's ex. Yes. Oh, that's right.
They were at our table.
Yes, they were. And I met Padma for the first time as well. And I just thought, look at all these people. Fancy people here. What is happening? So it was a fun night.
Yeah. One of my besties, Otha, was my date for the night. Yes.
My best gay. He was very handsome.
I know.
Very well acquitted. Always like, Otha, are you sure?
Yes, Monica. Yes. I know. But alas, that's for the wrong team.
That's okay, though, because he's still a beautiful, beautiful man. And he was wearing a really nice suit. Yeah. And I just remember thinking, what a fine suit.
Yeah. No, he's a fine human. But I just like getting ready for today. There's so many new things that you have going on to talk to you about. Your online magazine, The Rumpus, right? Your book imprint, Roxane Gay Books, that you are writing a romance novel with Magic Mike.
I am.
Channing Tatum.
I am.
And so I want to talk about all the new things, too. But it felt really... Almost like to my soul, it would feel disingenuous to not start with sort of your work that impacted me so much of hunger, a memoir of my body. Oh, thank you. Yes. And I just want to thank you for being so brave and giving so much. Words to things that so many of us feel, think, and somehow don't know how to articulate outside of the depth of a pain of a feeling with that.
Thank you. You know, Hunger was a difficult book to write. And people often express, oh, you were so brave. And I was like, no, no, no. I was really scared. It took me a long time to even start writing the book because I was so afraid of making myself vulnerable in that way. But I remember when I was first conceiving of the book, I thought, and I've said this in interviews before, but I really did think. oh, the thing I really don't want to write about is fatness. And then that ended up being the thing I understood immediately was like, oh, that's probably what I need to write about then because the fact that I immediately have this clarity that I never want to write about it lets me know that there's probably something very intellectually fruitful there.
And there was, but it's also really challenging to write about the body that you're living in, the body that is the subject of public disdain and derision.
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