274 P1 – Exploring Ralph Ellison In The Modern Era: The Shadow & Act Essays Are Worryingly Relevant, With Tony Holt Jr

Educator & podcaster Tony Holt Jr returns to GCC to talk about the first of Ralph Ellison’s essays; Shadow and Act!

This massive conversation had to be split in two (all Patreon supporters already have it in full), but this week in part 1, Tony & Mike discuss Ellison’s writing style and the value & timelessness of the essays. The two come from different perspectives (Tony: a Black American and Mike: a White Englishman) and not only discuss how a healthy dialogue can be made, but also spend their time deconstructing the meaning and value of such discussions and the work of these essays, both on specific parts and on the overall themes within. Although we encourage you to read these essays, they are not essential to enjoying this incredibly important discussion on one of the 20th Century’s most talented and prolific authors.

Their first Ellison discussion on GCC was in ep 260 (February 2025) delving deep into Ellison’s most famous written work; Invisible Man.

Part 2 will release in two weeks, but if you want early access, as well as bonus episodes, including extra episodes for Spooky Season, including the Candyman and the Scooby-Doo movies, and more! Support at www.patreon.com/GenuineChitChat or https://ko-fi.com/GenuineChitChat

Find Tony Holt’s socials and more info on his website https://www.theproft.com & Linktree: http://linktr.ee/tonyholtjr

Tony’s appearance discussing Birth Of A Nation with Spider-Dan & Tonya Todd: https://tinyurl.com/2ctmeeo4
Tony also regularly appears on Tonya Todd’s Banned Books conversations, for 2025 he discussed Beyond Magenta, listen or watch here: https://podfollow.com/femme-on/episode/bca3215da1a297f2ad9cbacd4bda736a9c618d25/view & https://youtu.be/GTlqcO5_tO4

Tony’s Ellison/Black Panther essay is found in Comics Lit Vol 1: www.accomplishinginnovationpress.com/product/comics-lit-vol-1  

Find all of Mike’s social media & other links at https://linktr.ee/GenuineChitChat

If you’re a Star Wars fan, check out Star Wars Chit-Chat for Mike’s in-depth reviews, breakdowns & things you missed episodes for Andor, The Clone Wars and more, on any podcast app or on YouTube: https://podfollow.com/starwarschitchat & https://youtube.com/@starwarschitchat

Guest Spots:
Mike went on the 20th Century Geek podcast to talk about Child’s Play, here: https://pod.fo/e/32462c

Mike has been on the 20th Century Geek podcast, reviewing Superman ’78, Superman II, the Super/Man documentary and Superman 2025! https://pod.fo/e/2bea07

Please review/rate, subscribe and share – it helps the show out an incredible amount!