The Most Important Thing I Heard to This Year — Slow Burn, Season 8: Becoming Justice Thomas
I am 44 years old.
Clarence Thomas has been on the Supreme Court of the United States since I was in seventh grade. In four years, he will pass William O. Douglas as the longest-serving justice in Supreme Court history. Thomas’ term on the bench is consequential. He actively promotes a radical reinterpretation of the Constitution, laying the groundwork for America's future legal landscape. Much as the rise of MAGA within the GOP represents a victory for the Pat Buchanan contingent in the party, Thomas’ views, which when he first joined the court were fringe, are now the mainstream of conservative judicial philosophy.
His brand of conservatism entails a radical reimagining of our Constitution—a capitulation of federal authority—that chips away at long-established rights: reproductive rights, protections for people in the criminal justice system, same-sex marriage, and potentially the precedent of Loving vs Virginia, which compels states to recognize marriages between people of different races.
It’s ironic to refer to Thomas as a spokesperson for the movement because we hear from him so little. The justices on the bench tend to be reclusive but Thomas is even more so. He famously remained silent during oral arguments for an entire decade, although as of late he’s been more chirpy. Thomas doesn’t grant many interviews and generally only speaks to friendly (and wealthy audiences). Most notably, we’ve never gotten the definitive Thomas book, aside from some hagiographic nonsense from two decades ago. That’s why Slow Burn, Season 8: Becoming Justice Thomas is so important.
Slow Burn is a podcast series from Slate where they take on, in detail, a topic or political figure for an entire season. It’s their answer to Serial. Prior Slow Burn seasons have discussed the Watergate Scandal, the Clinton Impeachment, and the political career of Klan leader David Duke.
In this season, produced by Joel Anderson, they dig into Thomas’ childhood, raised by his grandmother. You learn about Thomas becoming a Black nationalist in university and how he broke with the movement. Most interesting, Anderson explores the origins of Thomas’ vehement anti-affirmative-action stance, despite demonstrably benefitting from the affirmative action programs, and his problematic relationship with Black women.
Becoming Justice Thomas is the best examination of one of the least understood political actors of our lifetime. If you’re traveling over the holidays, it’s worth a listen. If you want to hear Anderson talk about making the series, I recommend this interview with Bakari Sellers.
Reader Recommendations
In the prior newsletter, I wrote about Matthew Desmond’s Poverty, By America. This week a reader sent me this video of Desmond talking about our collective blindspot about poverty and how we constantly focus on the lives and habits of people living in poverty, rather than the people and practices that keep them there. You can find the video below.
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At the end of that newsletter, I asked readers for book recommendations. This one came from a reader in California: “This year I read Palo Alto by Malcolm Harris. It's a history of Silicon Valley beginning with Spanish colonialism. I grew up in Silicon Valley and this book addressed disconnects I always could feel but could not fully articulate… I recently moved back to San Jose from Tacoma. After being away and especially after reading this book, I see my hometown in a whole new light.”
An American teacher, currently based in Saudi Arabia, suggested the book Broken Money: Why Our Financial System Is Failing Us and How We Can Make It Better by Lyn Alden. They said, “Who owns the ledger?... is the central question in the text. Strong discussion about credit-based money, commodity-based money, inflation, interest rates, money as a tool of extraction from the global south, etc.” I have heard Alden interviewed on several occasions, so this piqued my interest.
Lastly, a reader from Parts Unknown suggested that I check out a fun, silly film called Polite Society but suggested I not watch the preview and go into it cold. Listen, Pakistani, martial arts, comedy recs don’t come your way every day—so I was in! We watched it on Saturday. It’s bonkers. Don’t read another word about it. Don’t watch the trailer. Just watch it.
Next week, I am going to tackle some stuff related to policing in the US and the most important thing I watched this year but if you have suggestions for stuff I should listen to, including music recs, hit me up.
As always, if you have any thoughts or feedback about the newsletter, I welcome it, and I appreciate it when folks share Takes & Typos with their friends.
As always, if you have any thoughts or feedback about the newsletter, I welcome it, and I really appreciate it when folks share the newsletter with their friends.