The Sunday Magazine for May 22, 2022
This week on The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay:
Why we need to know more than just George Floyd's name
Wednesday will mark the two-year anniversary of George Floyd's murder. Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa join Chattopadhyay to discuss the life of the man whose death, under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, sparked an international conversation about race, and whose name came to symbolize racial injustice and police brutality in the United States. Their new book, His Name Is George Floyd, shows how systemic racism shaped Floyd's life, and how he repeatedly tried to rise above it. Samuels and Olorunnipa interviewed more than 400 people, including lawyers, teachers, family members, and friends to tell Floyd's story, revealing all the ways he was loved, and how he arrived at his fateful final day.
Exploring art, history and belonging through the lens of the Tibetan diaspora
In April 2012, New York's Rubin Museum of Art – which specializes in Himalayan regions – had an unnamed 15th century mudstone statue on display. It seemed to depict a mythic Buddhist figure from Tibet, but it was nameless and devoid of a backstory. When writer Tsering Yangzom Lama looked at the icon, she saw a symbol of all that's been lost for those who fled Tibet — an autonomous region in China that it claims as part of its territory, but that many Tibetans have claimed as independent for centuries. The statue also inspired Lama's debut novel, We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies, an intergenerational story of a Tibetan family in exile. Lama walks Chattopadhyay through her work of fiction, set between refugee settlements and one of the world's largest Tibetan diasporas: Toronto.
How to be a climate optimist
After 20 years covering climate change around the world, reporting on the newest strategies to lower emissions and following the scientists and policymakers working to make a better world, Calgary-based writer Chris Turner says he's finally turned the corner. He's gone from being a climate pessimist, to a climate optimist. In his new book, How to Be a Climate Optimist: Blueprints for a Better World, Turner delves into the global climate solutions that are making a difference, revealing why they give him hope for the future. He speaks with Chattopadhyay about the book and what more needs to be done to reach "net-zero" — and explains why he believes optimism is essential if we're going to tackle one of the most critical issues of our time.
Joan Jett continues defying rock expectations with new acoustic record
For the first time in a career that's spanned more than four decades, rock icon Joan Jett is trading in her electric axe for an acoustic guitar. Her new album, Changeup, sees her recording classics, like "Bad Reputation" and "Cherry Bomb", in a stripped-down way that uncovers the essence of her songs. In a wide-ranging conversation with Chattopadhyay, Jett opens up about what has been essential to her through the years — beneath the steely exterior — as an artist, entrepreneur, mentor and feminist trailblazer in rock 'n' roll.
Plus: We dig into The Sunday Magazine archives, to highlight what American soccer superstar and Olympic gold medallist Megan Rapinoe told Chattopadhyay in 2020 about her fight for pay equity, now that the U.S. Soccer Federation has signed-on.
Subscribe to The Sunday Magazine podcast or download the CBC Listen app.