Vox's Jamil Smith speaks with novelist and author Kiese Laymon in a far-ranging conversation about Laymon's reacquiring the rights to his own books, the struggle of retelling our own stories, and the challenges of articulating American narratives that include all Americans accurately.Host: Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith), Senior Correspondent, VoxGuest: Kiese Laymon (@KieseLaymon), authorReferences: 

"What we owe and are owed" by Kiese Laymon (Vox; May 17)

Long Division by Kiese Laymon (Scribner; 2021)

How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America by Kiese Laymon (Scribner; 2020)

Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon (Scribner; 2018)

"Why I Paid Tenfold to Buy Back the Rights for Two of My Books" by Kiese Laymon (Literary Hub; Nov. 10, 2020)

"'RS Interview: Special Edition' With Ta-Nehisi Coates" by Jamil Smith (Rolling Stone; Nov. 20, 2020)

"The Roots of Structural Racism Project: Twenty-First Century Racial Residential Segregation in the United States" by Stephen Menendian, Arthur Gailes, and Samir Gambhir (Othering & Belonging Institute; 2021)

"Black churches taught us to forgive white people. We learned to shame ourselves" by Kiese Laymon (The Guardian; June 23, 2015)

"Now Here We Go Again, We See the Crystal Visions" by Kiese Laymon (Vanity Fair; Nov. 19, 2020)

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