Arundhati Roy: Freedom, Fascism, Fiction and the Pandemic Portal

in Arundhati Roy, Fascism, Fiction, Freedom, Pandemic, The Laura Flanders Show

Two years ago this month, the first cases of Covid-19 were reported in the United States. “Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew,” wrote acclaimed author and activist Arundhati Roy just weeks into the shutdown. So have we? Two years on, what’s changed and what hasn’t in the US, India, and globally in a world that often seems to be teetering on the brink. If our goal is a better society, a world that is sustainable, just, and free, how are we doing, and what role do writers, literature, and language itself play in helping us find our way? This time on the LF Show, we explore all of this and more with Arundhati Roy who joins us from her home in New Delhi, India. Roy is the author of The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness as well as numerous essays on human rights, environmental justice, and global capitalism. This Spring, a new edition of her book of essays Azadi: Fascism, Fiction, and Freedom in the Time of the Virus will be out from Haymarket Books. All that and a closing commentary from Laura about American Exceptionalism and the pitfalls therein. 

GUESTS Arundhati Roy is a writer and a political activist. She is the author of the novels The God of Small Things, (1997 Booker Prize Recipient), and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. A collection of her essays from the past twenty years, My Seditious Heart, was recently published and Azadi: Fascism, Fiction, and Freedom in the Time of the Virus will be available in April also by Haymarket Books. CREDITS Executive Producer: Laura Flanders Creative Director: Matt Colaciello Communications Director: Jeremiah Cothren Editors: Nat Needham, David Neumann Radio & Podcast Producer: Jeannie Hopper Co-Director Development: Dominic Marcella Story Producer: Sabrina Artel Motion Graphics: Nat Needham Digital Content Creator: Leigh Friedman Production Assistant: Ryan Hotes Interns: Janet Hernandez Special Thanks: Anthony Arnove

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ACCESSIBILITY This episode is closed captioned.