In our next bi-weekly conversation on race and racism, we will discuss a video of a recent book talk at Politics and Prose with Jonathan Metzl, author of Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment is Killing America's Heartland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNZRUKyF3m8

Please watch the video and join in the conversation.

In this era, many lower- and middle-class white Americans are drawn to politicians who pledge to make their lives great again. But as Dying of Whiteness shows, the policies that result actually place white Americans at ever-greater risk of sickness and death.

Physician Jonathan M. Metzl's quest to understand the health implications of "backlash governance" leads him across America's heartland. White Americans, Metzl argues, must reject the racial hierarchies that promise to aid them but in fact, lead our nation to demise.

Metzl is in conversation with Jamil Smith, Senior Writer at Rolling Stone, where he covers national affairs and culture. Throughout his career as a journalist and Emmy Award-winning television producer, he has explored the intersection of politics and identity.