“I love the fact that the Olympics always happen in election years. It’s like, what does this sort of patriotic gesture mean, if I root for an American? What we see in athletics is deep effort, exertion, and style all being employed toward not following a pattern of national identity, but creating new ways to conceive that at every turn. That democracy and citizenship are forms of fashioning—processes, not destinations—that open up new possibilities.”
-Vinson Cunningham, episode 379 of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
Vinson Cunningham has been a staff writer at The New Yorker for the past eight years, covering theater, television, and politics. He joins us this week to unpack his personal debut novel Great Expectations.
At the top, we discuss the state of the US election (5:00), the emergence of the new Democratic ticket in Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (10:00), and the fickleness of internet hype (15:00). Then, Cunningham explains how his new book dovetails with his time working on Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential campaign (19:00), his process writing fiction (30:00), and his early memories of getting involved in politics (35:30).
On the back-half, we talk about Vinson’s upbringing in the church (38:00), the role of faith in his life (47:00), and his personal feelings about divine intervention (57:00), both in politics and on the heels of a tragic personal loss (1:01:40). To close, he shares a moving piece of his review of Hamlet (1:07:00), reflects on his growth over the past year (1:15:00), and reveals why this moment for Kamala Harris gives him hope for his daughters (1:22:00).
This conversation was recorded at Spotify Studios and Condé Nast. Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at sf@talkeasypod.com.
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Show-notes:
- Order Vinson’s novel Great Expectations.
- Read his criticism and listen to his podcast Critics at Large at The New Yorker.
- Find the pieces referenced today: The Case for Being Unburdened by What Has Been (Rebecca Traister, New York Magazine), In Search of Kamala Harris (Astead Herndon, The New York Times Magazine), and A Sexy, Mysterious Hamlet, in Central Park (Vinson Cunningham, The New Yorker).
- Follow Vinson Cunningham on Instagram, Twitter, and Threads.
- For more conversations, hear our talks with David Remnick, Zadie Smith, Jennifer Egan, and Evan Osnos.
- Order your Talk Easy mug in cream and navy or our vinyl record with Fran Lebowitz.
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Original illustration by Krishna Shenoi. Reference photograph by Arielle Gray.
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