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Your Call

Rebecca Solnit on the importance of calling things by their true names

Portrait by Adrian Mendoza

  On this edition of Your Call, we talk with writer Rebecca Solnit who says the revolt against brutality begins with a revolt against the language that hides brutality.

In her collection of essays, Call Them by Their True Names, Solnit shows how language can erase, distort and distract from the truth and how disputes over what to call something are at the heart of many social problems. How do the words we use change our perceptions and conversations about our values and priorities?

Guest:

Rebecca Solnit, author of more than 20 books, including the international bestseller Men Explain Things To Me and most recently Call Them by Their True Names

Web Resources:

Rewire News: Resisting the Rage That Paralyzes: Rebecca Solnit Writes of Organized Anger

Literary Hub:To Break The Story, You Must Break The Status Quo

Harpers: The Monument Wars

Rose Aguilar has been the host of Your Call since 2006. She became a regular media roundtable guest in 2001. In 2019, the San Francisco Press Club named Your Call the best public affairs program. In 2017, The Nation named it the most valuable local radio show.