“When you’re writing a profile, you walk into the situation not as a self, but as a person who is going to give yourself over to the subject. You listen constructively, and you don’t interrupt the emotional panorama of what’s happening. You morph with the storytelling. You’re engaged on a level where you become part of their consciousness.”
-Hilton Als, episode 317 of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
For the holiday week, we’re revisiting one of our favorite conversations with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and critic Hilton Als.
At the top, we unpack his approach to writing profiles (5:50), inspired by the words of photographer Diane Arbus (6:10), and how he captured Prince in a new, two-part memoir entitled My Pinup (7:55). Then, Als reflects on his upbringing in Brownsville, Brooklyn (10:25), a timely passage from his 2020 essay “Homecoming” (14:40), and formative works by writers Adrienne Kennedy (20:58) and the late Joan Didion (27:05).
On the back-half, we discuss the interplay of memory and writing (36:38), Hilton’s writing routine (40:55), his sources of hope today (44:30), and to close, a dialogue from Jean Rhys’ unfinished autobiography Smile Please (48:25).
Thoughts or future guest ideas? Email us at [email protected].
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Show-notes:
- Order Hilton’s book, My Pinup: A Paean to Prince.
- Learn about his past exhibition Joan Didion: What She Means.
- Read more of his work on his website and The New Yorker.
- Follow Hilton on Instagram.
- Find the works referenced in this talk: A Movie Star Has to Start in Black and White by Adrienne Kennedy, A Book of Common Prayer by Joan Didion, White Girls by Hilton Als, and Smile Please: An Unfinished Autobiography by Jean Rhys.
- For more conversations, hear our talks with Zadie Smith, David Remnick, Vinson Cunningham, Margo Jefferson, Ocean Vuong, Marina Abramović, and George Saunders.
- 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 image by Ali Smith.
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