Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-full"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="296" height="450" src="https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/TheImprobableVictoriaWoodhull.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-61055" srcset="https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/TheImprobableVictoriaWoodhull.jpeg 296w, https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/TheImprobableVictoriaWoodhull-250x380.jpeg 250w" sizes="(max-width: 296px) 100vw, 296px" /></figure>
</div>


This week on Writer’s Voice, two authors explore fascinating episodes from women’s history—stories of bold individuals who challenged the boundaries of power, speech, and social convention.



Journalist <a href="https://www.edencollinsworth.com/the-improbable-victoria-woodhull/">Eden Collinsworth</a> discusses <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-sisters-of-book-row-shelley-noble?variant=43876133404706" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-sisters-of-book-row-shelley-noble?variant=43876133404706">The Improbable Mrs. Woodhull</a>, her biography of Victoria Woodhull—an astonishing figure who rose from poverty to become a stockbroker, newspaper publisher, and the first woman to run for President of the United States in 1872.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“I, like you and most Americans, knew nothing of her.”
</blockquote>



Then novelist <a href="https://shelleynoble.com" data-type="link" data-id="https://shelleynoble.com">Shelley Noble</a> joins us to talk about <a href="https://shelleynoble.com/coming-soon.php">The Sisters of Book Row</a>, a historical novel set in 1915 New York during Anthony Comstock’s aggressive crusade against books and information he deemed “obscene.” Noble’s story centers on three sisters running a bookstore in Manhattan’s famous Book Row, where booksellers faced censorship, raids, and the threat of imprisonment.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“My thing as an author is to find those little niches of people who actually make history that we should know about, but we very often don’t know about.”
</blockquote>



Together, these conversations illuminate forgotten histories about the power of books and the struggle for women’s rights.



<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Improbable-Victoria-Woodhull-Suffrage-President/dp/0385549571">Read or Listen to A Sample from The Improbable Victoria Woodhull</a>



Follow us on Bluesky @writersvoice.bsky.social and&nbsp;<a href="https://writersvoice.substack.com/">subscribe to our Substack</a>. Or find us on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast.



<a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writersvoice/p/women-who-challenged-power-victoria?r=183be&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=true">Read The Transcript on Substack</a>



Tags: Victoria Woodhull, Eden Collinsworth, Shelley Noble, The Improbable Mrs. Woodhull, The Sisters of Book Row, Writer’s Voice podcast, women&#8217;s history, 







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Segment One: Victoria Woodhull: Radical Reformer – Eden Collinsworth</h2>



Victoria Woodhull was one of the most remarkable and controversial figures of the nineteenth century. Born into poverty with little formal education, she reinvented herself repeatedly—first as a spiritualist, then as a stockbroker on Wall Street, a newspaper publisher, and eventually the first woman to run for President of the United States.



Journalist Eden Collinsworth first encountered Woodhull’s story in an unlikely place: the archives of the British Museum. There she discovered the transcripts of a lawsuit Woodhull brought against the museum—a discovery that opened the door to a life story filled with audacity, ambition, and reinvention.



In this conversation, Collinsworth explores Woodhull’s complex legacy. Woodhull was a fierce advocate for women’s rights, labor reform, and what she called “free love,” arguing that women should have control over their own bodies and marriages. Her ideas shocked Victorian society and earned her both devoted supporters and bitter enemies.



Woodhull’s run for the presidency in 1872 was largely symbolic—women could not even vote at the time—but it made her a national sensation. Her life intersected with many of the major social movements of her era, from suffrage to spiritualism to the labor movement.



Collinsworth’s biography brings new attention to this extraordinary figure and examines why Woodhull’s story has largely been forgotten despite the boldness of her achievements.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img decoding="async" width="265" height="400" src="https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cover-the-sisters-of-book-row.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-61061" srcset="https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cover-the-sisters-of-book-row.jpg 265w, https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cover-the-sisters-of-book-row-250x377.jpg 250w" sizes="(max-width: 265px) 100vw, 265px" /></figure>
</div>


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Segment Two: The Sisters of Book Row – Shelley Noble</h2>



In her novel The Sisters of Book Row, Shelley Noble recreates a vanished literary world: Manhattan’s famous Book Row, a stretch of Fourth Avenue that once housed dozens of rare and secondhand bookstores.



The story takes place in 1915, when Anthony Comstock’s anti-obscenity crusade cast a long shadow over American publishing. Comstock, a powerful moral reformer and postal inspector, used federal law to seize and destroy books, artworks, and even information about women’s health.



Noble’s novel follows three sisters who inherit their father’s bookstore and struggle to keep the shop alive amid increasing censorship and social pressure. As the sisters navigate their own ambitions and secrets, they become entangled in the broader struggle over knowledge, books, and freedom of expression.



Drawing on the rich history of Book Row and the world of early twentieth-century bookselling, Noble portrays a vibrant community of merchants, collectors, and readers who believed deeply in the cultural importance of books.



The novel also touches on the underground circulation of information about women’s health during the era of the Comstock laws, connecting the story of censorship with the emerging fight for reproductive rights.



Through the lives of ordinary people—booksellers, printers, activists—The Sisters of Book Row shows how cultural change often begins with individuals quietly resisting authority. 



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Key Topics</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li></li>
</ul>

<description>This week on Writer’s Voice: Two fascinating stories from women’s history. Eden Collinsworth tells the story of Victoria Woodhull—the first woman to run for President of the United States.
Then novelist Shelley Noble takes us to New York’s legendary Book Row during a fierce battle over censorship.</description>

This week on Writer’s Voice: Two fascinating stories from women’s history. Eden Collinsworth tells the story of Victoria Woodhull—the first woman to run for President of the United States. Then novelist Shelley Noble takes us to New York’s legendary Book Row during a fierce battle over censorship.

Victoria Woodhull’s Radical Life + The Booksellers  Who Defied America’s Most Powerful Censor

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-full"><img decoding="async" width="350" height="525" src="https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/9780063480049.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-60960" srcset="https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/9780063480049.jpeg 350w, https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/9780063480049-250x375.jpeg 250w" sizes="(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" /></figure>
</div>


In this episode of Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon speaks with bestselling author <a href="http://www.jungchang.net/biography" data-type="link" data-id="http://www.jungchang.net/biography">Jung Chang</a> about her memoir <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/fly-wild-swans-jung-chang?variant=43823064842274" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/fly-wild-swans-jung-chang?variant=43823064842274">Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself, and China</a>, the long-awaited sequel to her landmark book Wild Swans.



Chang recounts how her parents — once devoted Communists — became disillusioned by famine, repression, and the violence of the Cultural Revolution. Their refusal to betray their beliefs shaped her own commitment to truth and integrity.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“My mother was made to kneel on broken glass… but she still refused to denounce my father.” &nbsp;
</blockquote>



She also reflects on her extraordinary journey from Mao’s isolated China to becoming one of the first Chinese students to study in Britain, and how that experience transformed her thinking.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“I must only follow the evidence and arrive at conclusions from the evidence gathered.” &nbsp;
</blockquote>



Finally, Chang discusses the resurgence of authoritarianism under Xi Jinping and why she still believes China’s people ultimately desire freedom.



<a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/fly-wild-swans-jung-chang?variant=43823064842274" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/fly-wild-swans-jung-chang?variant=43823064842274">Read A Sample from Fly, Wild Swans</a> 



Follow us on Bluesky @writersvoice.bsky.social and&nbsp;<a href="https://writersvoice.substack.com/">subscribe to our Substack</a>. Or find us on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast.



<a href="https://writersvoice.substack.com/p/jung-chang-on-courage-truth-and-chinas">Read The Transcript on Substack</a>



Tags: Jung Chang interview, Fly Wild Swans, Wild Swans author, Chinese history memoir, China under Xi Jinping, authoritarianism China, Writer’s Voice podcast







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Segment: Jung Chang — Fly, Wild Swans</h2>



After Jung Chang wrote her first memoir, Wild Swans, she went on to write biographies of Mao Tse Tung and the last Empress of China.&nbsp;



Now, 25 years after her first book, Chang returns with Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself, and China, continuing the story after she became one of the first Chinese students allowed to leave Communist China and study in the West.



Jung Chang recounts how her parents — once devoted Communists — became disillusioned by famine, repression, and the violence of the Cultural Revolution. She describes how her father’s protest against Mao’s policies led to brutal punishment — and how her mother refused to denounce him despite immense pressure. Their refusal to betray their beliefs shaped her own commitment to truth and integrity.



She also reflects on her extraordinary journey from Mao’s isolated China to becoming one of the first Chinese students to study in Britain, and how that experience transformed her thinking.



Finally, Chang tells us about the resurgence of authoritarianism under Xi Jinping and why she still believes China’s people ultimately want to be free.



In addition to her other books, Jung Chang is the author of Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister. 



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Key Topics</h3>



• Jung Chang’s memoir Fly, Wild Swans



• The legacy of Wild Swans



• Mao’s China and the Cultural Revolution



• Political courage and moral integrity



• The Great Chinese Famine



• Intellectual freedom and scholarship



• China under Xi Jinping



• Resistance to authoritarianism

<description>In this episode of Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon speaks with bestselling author Jung Chang about her memoir Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself, and China, the long-awaited sequel to her landmark book Wild Swans.</description>

In this episode of Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon speaks with bestselling author Jung Chang about her memoir Fly, Wild Swans: My Mother, Myself, and China, the long-awaited sequel to her landmark book Wild Swans.

Jung Chang on Fly, Wild Swans: China, Freedom + the Fight for Truth

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform.



In this episode of Writer’s Voice, Francesca Rheannon speaks with political philosopher <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/people/lea-ypi">Lea Ypi</a> about <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374614096/indignity/">Indignity: A Life Reimagined,</a> a genre-blending work of memoir, history, and philosophical inquiry that explores dignity under authoritarian regimes.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“I think of [dignity] as a property that is really what makes us human.” &#8212; Lea Ypi
</blockquote>



Then novelist<a href="https://www.eleanorshearer.com"> Eleanor Shearer </a>discusses <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/713327/fireflies-in-winter-by-eleanor-shearer/">Fireflies in Winter,</a> a lyrical historical novel following Jamaican Maroons exiled to Nova Scotia after the Second Maroon War. Through the story of Cora, Agnes, and Thursday, Shearer examines freedom, queer love, grief, and the moral tension between survival and solidarity.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="298" height="450" src="https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/9780593548073.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-60818" srcset="https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/9780593548073.jpeg 298w, https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/9780593548073-250x378.jpeg 250w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 298px) 100vw, 298px" /></figure>
</div>


<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“You were only ever a kind of set of stolen papers away… from having your freedom snatched from you.” &#8212; Eleanor Shearer
</blockquote>



Together, these conversations probe enduring questions:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>What is dignity?</li>



<li>What does it mean to be free inside systems designed to deny freedom?</li>



<li>How do we maintain moral agency when our survival is at stake?</li>
</ul>



Follow us on Bluesky @writersvoice.bsky.social and <a href="https://writersvoice.substack.com/">subscribe to our Substack</a>. Or find us on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast.



<a href="https://open.substack.com/pub/writersvoice/p/dignity-or-survival-two-writers-confront?r=183be&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=true" data-type="link" data-id="https://open.substack.com/pub/writersvoice/p/dignity-or-survival-two-writers-confront?r=183be&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;showWelcomeOnShare=true">Read The Transcript on Substack</a>



Tags: Lea Ypi interview, Indignity book, Eleanor Shearer interview, Fireflies in Winter novel, Jamaican Maroons history, historical fiction about slavery, queer historical fiction, Writer’s Voice podcast.



You may also like: <a href="https://www.writersvoice.net/2024/09/jacob-mikanowski-goodbye-eastern-europe-michael-lerner-remembered/">Jacob Mikanowski, GOODBYE EASTERN EUROPE</a>, <a href="https://www.writersvoice.net/2019/03/damaris-hill-a-bound-woman-stephen-nash-grand-canyon/">DaMaris Hill, A Bound Woman Is A Dangerous Thing</a>






<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="525" height="806" src="https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Indignity-525x806.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-60821" style="aspect-ratio:0.6513804398689752;width:289px;height:auto" srcset="https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Indignity-525x806.jpg 525w, https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Indignity-250x384.jpg 250w, https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Indignity-768x1178.jpg 768w, https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Indignity-1001x1536.jpg 1001w, https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Indignity-1335x2048.jpg 1335w, https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Indignity-scaled.jpg 1668w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px" /></figure>
</div>


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Segment One: Lea Ypi</h2>



A haunting honeymoon photograph of her grandmother — posted online by a stranger and met with accusations and insults — launches Lea Ypi into a philosophical and archival investigation.



Ypi’s grandmother lived through the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, fascism, communism, and neoliberal capitalism. The book asks: What does it cost to defend dignity when systems of power are dedicated to erase it?



Ypi explores:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Dignity as a universal human capacity for moral agency</li>



<li>The archive as an instrument of power</li>



<li>Communist surveillance and modern surveillance capitalism</li>



<li>Nationalism, fascism, and historical repetition</li>



<li>The responsibility of art to “rescue dignity”</li>
</ul>



<a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374614096/indignity/">Read An Excerpt</a>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Segment Two: Eleanor Shearer</h2>



Shearer brings to life the little-known history of Jamaican Maroons exiled to Nova Scotia in the 1790s.



Her protagonist Cora has never been enslaved — yet her freedom is deeply precarious. In Nova Scotia, she encounters Agnes, a formerly enslaved woman surviving in the forest, and Thursday, an indentured laborer whose freedom hangs by a thread.



Shearer explores:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>The ambiguity between legal freedom and lived freedom</li>



<li>Indentureship and stolen contracts</li>



<li>Queer love as resistance</li>



<li>The moral collision between survival and solidarity</li>



<li>Grief as a shaping force</li>
</ul>



<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/713327/fireflies-in-winter-by-eleanor-shearer/">Read or Listen to A Sample</a>

<description>Political philosopher Lea Ypi reflects on dignity, archives, and the manipulation of history in Indignity.
Then Eleanor Shearer brings us into the world of the Jamaican Maroons exiled to Nova Scotia in Fireflies in Winter — a novel about freedom, queer love, and the moral cost of survival.</description>

Political philosopher Lea Ypi reflects on dignity, archives, and the manipulation of history in Indignity. Then Eleanor Shearer brings us into the world of the Jamaican Maroons exiled to Nova Scotia in Fireflies in Winter — a novel about freedom, queer love, and the moral cost of survival.

Dignity or Survival? Two Writers Confront Freedom Under Pressure

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Resistance Is the Story</h3>



When we tell the history of slavery, too often we tell it as a story of suffering relieved by benevolent reformers. But what if resistance — not submission — was the central thread all along?


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="525" height="785" src="https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/CleanShot-2026-02-20-at-14.49.11@2x-525x785.png" alt="" class="wp-image-60684" style="aspect-ratio:0.6688055733797782;width:287px;height:auto" srcset="https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/CleanShot-2026-02-20-at-14.49.11@2x-525x785.png 525w, https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/CleanShot-2026-02-20-at-14.49.11@2x-250x374.png 250w, https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/CleanShot-2026-02-20-at-14.49.11@2x-768x1148.png 768w, https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/CleanShot-2026-02-20-at-14.49.11@2x.png 1018w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px" /></figure>
</div>


This week on Writer’s Voice, we begin with historian <a href="https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/dr-sudhir-hazareesingh" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/dr-sudhir-hazareesingh">Sudhir Hazareesingh</a>, whose groundbreaking book <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374611088/daringtobefree/" data-type="link" data-id="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374611088/daringtobefree/">Daring to Be Free</a> reframes the history of Atlantic slavery as a history of rebellion: from African defense militias and shipboard revolts to maroon communities and the Haitian Revolution. He restores enslaved women and men to the center of their own liberation struggles — not as passive victims, but as strategists, spiritual leaders, and revolutionaries.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“From the very moment slave raiding parties are sent out… people begin to resist.” — Sudhir Hazareesingh
</blockquote>



Then we <a href="https://www.writersvoice.net/2012/12/sojourner-truth-ma-humanities/">revisit my 2012 conversation</a> with novelist Jacqueline Sheehan about The Comet’s Tale, her powerful work of historical fiction about Sojourner Truth. Through Truth’s childhood in bondage, her spiritual awakening, and her emergence as a fearless abolitionist and women’s rights advocate, we explore resilience, moral courage, and the making of a revolutionary life.



Follow us on Bluesky @writersvoice.bsky.social and <a href="https://writersvoice.substack.com/">subscribe to our Substack</a>. Or find us on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast.



Tags: Sudhir Hazareesingh, Daring to Be Free, Atlantic slavery, slave resistance, Haitian Revolution, Solitude of Guadeloupe, maroon communities, Sojourner Truth, Jacqueline Sheehan, The Comet’s Tale, Abolition movement, Black history, Writers Voice podcast,



You May Also Like: <a href="https://www.writersvoice.net/2025/02/black-history-month-aaron-robertson-the-black-utopians-also-cory-doctorow-picks-and-shovels/">Aaron Robertson, THE BLACK UTOPIANS</a>, <a href="https://www.writersvoice.net/2025/11/ben-passmore-on-black-resistance-david-baron-on-the-martian-craze/">Ben Passmore on Black Resistance</a>



Read The Transcript







<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Segment One: Sudhir Hazareesingh</h3>



There are many histories of the Atlantic slave trade. Few center the enslaved as agents of their own freedom.



In Daring to Be Free, Sudhir Hazareesingh challenges the myth that resistance was rare or exceptional. Instead, he shows that resistance was woven into the fabric of slavery from the very beginning.



Solitude and the Erased Women of Resistance



Hazareesingh opens with the story of Solitude of Guadeloupe — a freedom fighter who resisted Napoleon’s 1802 attempt to reinstate slavery and was executed while remaining defiant . Her story, erased for generations, symbolizes what he calls a “hidden history” of resistance.



For too long, he argues, histories focused on male leaders and major revolutions, especially Haiti. But enslaved resistance was constant — and women were central actors: strategists, healers, organizers, spiritual leaders .



Resistance Began in Africa



Hazareesingh emphasizes that rebellion did not begin in the Americas. It began in Africa itself.



From the moment slave raiders entered African villages, communities organized militias, fought capture, resisted transport, and even planned revolts while confined on the coast .



Shipboard insurrections were often planned before captives even boarded the ships. Resistance was integral to the system — not an exception to it.



Spiritual Traditions as Sources of Power



African religious traditions — including Obeah and Islam — fortified resistance movements . These spiritual systems preserved identity, offered psychological protection, and helped organize rebellion.



Under conditions of near-total domination, enslaved people carved out autonomous interior worlds — sustaining languages, faiths, and networks of solidarity .



Women as Network Builders



Women, often working inside plantation households, gathered intelligence and helped coordinate revolts . They maintained kinship networks that countered what one historian called slavery’s “social death.”



Hazareesingh discovered instead a story of social persistence: communities forming bonds across plantations, across ethnic lines, and even across racial boundaries.



Palmares and Cross-Boundary Alliances



One astonishing example: Palmares in 17th-century Brazil — a vast maroon society of thousands that developed political systems, agriculture, trade, and military defenses .



Palmares blended African and Indigenous military traditions and even attracted poor whites seeking more humane community .



Resistance was multiracial, transnational, and sustained.



Haiti: Rank-and-File Revolution



While Hazareesingh has written on Toussaint L’Ouverture, in this book he emphasizes rank-and-file insurgents .



The Haitian Revolution became a beacon of Black sovereignty — and a terror to slaveholding powers . News of the uprising spread rapidly via sailors and refugee networks .



Yet Haiti paid a devastating price: punitive indemnities imposed by France in 1825, U.S. intervention under Woodrow Wilson, and ongoing destabilization .



The Enslaved as the True Abolitionists



Hazareesingh challenges the narrative that white reformers abolished slavery. Most abolitionists advocated gradualism. The enslaved demanded — and fought for — immediate freedom .



Their revolts and persistent pressure forced political change.



Honoring Our Debts



In concluding, Hazareesingh calls for a “debt of memory” — telling the story truthfully — and for serious engagement with material reparations .



And he offers a lesson for today: unity, resilience, and moral courage in the face of authoritarianism .



<a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374611088/daringtobefree/">Read An Excerpt</a>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Segment Two: Jacqueline Sheehan</h3>



The Comet’s Tale — A Novel of Sojourner Truth



In our encore conversation from 2012, novelist Jacqueline Sheehan explores the inner life of Sojourner Truth.



Isabella’s Childhood in Bondage



Born Isabella Baumfree in Dutch New York, Sojourner Truth’s first language was Dutch .



Sheehan spent five years researching Truth’s early life, drawing from the dictated narrative recorded by Olive Gilbert in Massachusetts .



Her novel focuses intensely on childhood — the psychological resilience required to survive being treated as property and sold away from family .



The Power of Story



The title The Comet’s Tale comes from a fictionalized birth story told by Isabella’s mother — illustrating how oral tradition helped enslaved parents maintain connection with children sold away .



Storytelling becomes an act of survival.



Spiritual Seeking and Dangerous Faith



After gaining freedom, Isabella moved to New York City during a period of religious ferment .



She became involved in the cult of Matthias — a charismatic religious leader who manipulated followers and dictated their lives .



Later, after a profound spiritual epiphany, she renamed herself Sojourner Truth — believing God had called her to preach .



Though illiterate, she became a mesmerizing orator; newspaper accounts described the hair standing on listeners’ necks .



Florence, Massachusetts: Political Awakening



Truth eventually found community at the Northampton Association for Education and Industry — a utopian, abolitionist community based on equality of labor and one person, one vote .



There she interacted with Frederick Douglass and David Ruggles, and blended her spirituality with abolitionism and women’s rights activism .



She later supported Black soldiers during the Civil War and met Abraham Lincoln .



Resilience as Choice



Sheehan emphasizes Truth’s moral agency: despite enduring profound injustice, she chose not to live in hatred .



Her life illustrates that even under brutal conditions, individuals retain the capacity for courageous choice.






<div class="wp-block-jetpack-ai-assistant"></div>

<description>Slavery was never passively endured. Sudhir Hazareesingh on the vast, global resistance of the enslaved — from Africa to Haiti.
Plus: Jacqueline Sheehan on Sojourner Truth’s extraordinary moral courage.</description>

Slavery was never passively endured. Sudhir Hazareesingh on the vast, global resistance of the enslaved — from Africa to Haiti. Plus: Jacqueline Sheehan on Sojourner Truth’s extraordinary moral courage.

Daring To Be Free: Sudhir Hazareesingh on Slave Rebellion & Resistance

Writer’s Voice: compelling conversations with authors who challenge, inspire, and inform.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Episode Summary</h3>



Something feels wrong with our attention — and with reality itself.



In Attensity! A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement, editors D. Graham Burnett, Alyssa Loh, and Peter Schmidt argue that this crisis is not about individual willpower. It’s about a multi-trillion-dollar industry built to monetize human attention.



They call it “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/jan/18/how-can-we-defend-ourselves-from-the-new-plague-of-human-fracking">human fracking</a>.”


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="291" height="450" src="https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/9798217086153.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-60566" srcset="https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/9798217086153.jpg 291w, https://www.writersvoice.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/9798217086153-250x387.jpg 250w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 291px) 100vw, 291px" /></figure>
</div>


<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“These phones are the final node in a… $7 to $14 trillion industry that&#8217;s all about maximizing the amount of time that we engage with these devices… capturing our attention and turning it into money. And we call that ‘human fracking.’” &#8212; Peter Schmidt
</blockquote>



In this conversation, we explore how the commodification of attention reshapes nearly every aspect of our lives. 



We talk about attention as relational and ethical — not just measurable. And we examine why reclaiming attention must be a collective political movement, not a private detox.



Then, we listen to an excerpt from our 2025 <a href="https://www.writersvoice.net/2025/11/cory-doctorow-on-big-techs-enshittification-bill-mckibben-on-solar-hope-for-the-planet/" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.writersvoice.net/2025/11/cory-doctorow-on-big-techs-enshittification-bill-mckibben-on-solar-hope-for-the-planet/">conversation with Cory Doctorow about his book Enshittifcation</a>.



Follow us on Bluesky @writersvoice.bsky.social and&nbsp;<a href="https://writersvoice.substack.com/">subscribe to our Substack</a>. Or find us on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast.



Tags:&nbsp;Attention Liberation Movement, Attensity book, D. Graham Burnett, Peter Schmidt, Alyssa Loh, human fracking, attention economy, digital capitalism, social media harm, attention activism, Cory Doctorow enshittification, attention sanctuaries, Writers Voice podcast



You may also like: <a href="https://www.writersvoice.net/2025/11/cory-doctorow-on-big-techs-enshittification-bill-mckibben-on-solar-hope-for-the-planet/">Cory Doctorow, Enshittification</a>,<a href="https://www.writersvoice.net/2025/02/black-history-month-aaron-robertson-the-black-utopians-also-cory-doctorow-picks-and-shovels/"> Cory Doctorow, Picks and Shovels</a>



<a href="https://writersvoice.substack.com/p/writers-voice-human-fracking-and?r=183be" data-type="link" data-id="https://writersvoice.substack.com/p/writers-voice-human-fracking-and?r=183be">Read The Transcript</a>







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Segment Summary</h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The Crisis of Attention</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Why attention is “the key question of our moment”</li>



<li>The metaphor of “human fracking”</li>



<li>The internal environmental crisis of the mind</li>
</ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Attention as World-Making</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Attention as relational and ethical</li>



<li>Simone Weil and the spiritual dimensions of attention</li>



<li>How degraded attention makes reality feel unreal</li>
</ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Movement, Not Detox</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Converting private shame into collective anger</li>



<li>Why willpower isn’t enough</li>



<li>Parallels to environmental and civil rights movements</li>
</ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Sanctuaries of Attention</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Study, organizing, sanctuary</li>



<li>Libraries, classrooms, coffee shops, Sabbath</li>



<li>Reimagining civic institutions as attention infrastructure</li>
</ul>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">A Positive Vision</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Designing technologies for human flourishing</li>



<li>What a liberated attentional world might feel like for the next generation</li>
</ul>



<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/782387/attensity-by-the-friends-of-attention">Listen to or Read a Sample from the book</a>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center">Read the <a href="https://anthonywilsonpoetry.com/2013/02/05/lifesaving-poems-galway-kinnells-saint-francis-and-the-sow/ Saint Francis and the Sow">Poem: St. Francis and the Sow</a></h5>

<description>In this episode of Writer’s Voice, Francesca speaks with D. Graham Burnett, Alyssa Loh, and Peter Schmidt about Attensity!, a manifesto for what they call the Attention Liberation Movement.</description>

In this episode of Writer’s Voice, Francesca speaks with D. Graham Burnett, Alyssa Loh, and Peter Schmidt about Attensity!, a manifesto for what they call the Attention Liberation Movement.

Human Fracking? The Attention Liberation Movement vs. Big Tech

Francesca Rheannon talks to writers of all genres about matters that move us and make us think.

Writer's Voice with Francesca Rheannon

Details

Recent Episodes