Illustration by Krishna Bala Shenoi.
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Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso is a weekly series of intimate conversations with artists, authors, and politicians. It’s a podcast where people sound like people. New episodes air every Sunday, distributed by Pushkin Industries.
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For the past decade, Jason Reynolds has become an inspiring voice in the literary world. He’s a New York Times bestselling author and as of this month, a 2024 MacArthur fellow.
Reynolds sits with us today to share his latest YA novel Twenty-Four Seconds from Now…, why he was interested in writing a story about boyhood and masculinity, and an early passage from the book that captures the distinct rhythm of his writing. Then, we talk about the story structure of this new novel, how Queen Latifah’s Black Reign introduced him to poetry, and how his early memories of writing and a singular high school teacher saved his life.
On the back-half, Reynolds describes a meaningful post-college job at rag & bone, what he’s seen in the education system post-pandemic, his hope for the next generation, and his lifelong mission to embolden students to see the value in their own narratives.
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From the episode:
Sam Fragoso: What about this new book Twenty-Four Seconds from Now… spoke to you in this moment? Why this story right now?
Jason Reynolds: Years ago, I was spending time at a juvenile detention center, and there was a librarian there who asked me—if I had to guess—what books were the most checked out, what would I guess?
So, I ran down a laundry list of all the grittiest books I could think of. And she said, “No, it’s romance novels.” I was shocked, and then I was sad. I was shocked because I didn’t realize that of course they’re reading romance novels because if they were not incarcerated they would be experiencing the things that they’re reading about in romance novels. Their first kisses and their first loves and their first heartbreaks and so forth and so on. Then, I grew saddened at the idea that these young men would not feel as comfortable reading these same books if they were not incarcerated.
SF: Explain that.
JR: If I were to ask a public school librarian right now, what are the most checked out books by boys? there’s a good chance they would not say the romance novels. But while incarcerated, something has been stolen. A real part of life has been muzzled, and so they’re forced to sort of actualize it through some sort of avatar that they find in these books. What I want is for young men to feel like they could read those same books on the outside. What I want is for young men to know that they also are a part of a love story, that they are a part of romance and desire and tenderness and gentleness. That’s always been my desire— to push back and buck the ideas around masculinity and subvert it as much as I can. Most people just don’t assume that boys have interior lives. We’re feral animals to everyone, and the truth of the matter is that we’re whole people who require whole attention and thought.
