Episode 541: Donovan X. Ramsey

Donovan X. Ramsey is a journalist and author of the new book When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era.

“I've only ever wanted to write about Black people—and that includes the elements of our lives that are difficult. I’ve always prided myself on being able to metabolize that information and not really be harmed by it. And this book really taught me that writing and processing is not just something that you do in your head. That the information does go through you as you're trying to make sense of it. And it's not happening to you, right? It's not like a direct form of PTSD that you have, but you do experience some trauma when you open up your imagination in that way.”

Show notes:

• @donovanxramsey
• donovanxramsey.com
• Ramsey on Longform Podcast
• When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era (One World • 2023)
• 02:00 Ramsey's Los Angeles Times archive
• 05:00 The Warmth of Other Suns (Isabel Wilkerson • Vintage • 2011)
• 35:00 "America’s ‘crack’ plague has roots in Nicaragua war" (Gary Webb • San Jose Mercury News • Aug 1996)
• 35:00 "Shadowy origins of ‘crack’ epidemic" (Gary Webb • San Jose Mercury News • Aug 1996)
• 35:00 "War on drugs has unequal impact on black Americans" (Gary Webb • San Jose Mercury News • Aug 1996)
• 45:00 The 1619 Project (Nikole Hannah-Jones et al. • New York Times • 2019)

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