***Update 1/17/18: Transcript available here (transcribed by Scott McLellan)***
Special guest co-host James Padilioni, Jr. joins B and John to discuss several works in the vital, burgeoning discourses of Afro-Pessimism and Black Optimism. Join us as we talk about texts from Jared Sexton, Hortense Spillers, Fred Moten, Saidiya Hartman, and Frank B. Wilderson III. After overviewing major arguments and stakes of these discourses, we discuss black social life and black social death, ‘the political’ and whether lived experience remains a valid category, the relationship between blackness and critical theory, resistance and performance, and more. Not to mention dream analysis about a labyrinthian journey and its obstacles, and advice about a potentially-racist office mate.
Thanks to James and to Eric T. for suggesting these readings. Requests for texts for us to discuss? Dreams for us to interpret? Advice questions for us to answer? Email us at alwaysalreadypodcast AT gmail DOT com. Subscribe on iTunes. Like our Facebook page. Get the mp3 of the episode here. RSS feed here. This episode’s music by Jordan Cass and by B.
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Links!
- James Padilioni Jr.’s previous visit to the show, discussing his work on St. Martin de Porres; find James on academia.edu on Twitter @ApontesGhost
- Websites: Hartman; Wilderson III; Sexton; Spillers; Moten
- Many relevant books: Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks; Patterson, Slavery and Social Death; Hartman, Scenes of Subjection; Moten, In the Break; Wilderson III, Red, White, and Black – which we will be discussing in an upcoming episode
- An overview and bibliography of Afro-Pessimism from Wilderson III
- Jared Sexton lecture, “People-of-Color-Blindness”
- Hortense Spillers lecture, “The Idea of Black Culture”
- Video conversation between Robin DG Kelley and Fred Moten, “Do Black Lives Matter”
- Wilderson III gives a talk on afro-pessimism
- Moten’s curated playlist for a special issue of the journal Women & Performance
James Padilioni, Jr.
Hartman
Wilderson
Sexton
Spillers
Moten
Always Already Podcast 
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