Daisy Hernández with Jia Lynn Yang: Citizenship
From Library Talks by The New York Public Library
April 1, 2026 · 57 min
About this episode
Daisy Hernández discusses the complexities of citizenship in America with Jia Lynn Yang, blending personal and national narratives.
In this episode of Library Talks , Author Daisy Hernández explores one of the most contested questions in contemporary American life: who belongs. Hernández is joined in discussion with journalist Jia Lynn Yang. Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth braids memoir, history, and cultural criticism to reveal how citizenship functions less as a guarantee than as a narrative we tell about ourselves as a nation. Drawing on her own family's stories—a mother from Colombia and a father who fled Castro's Cuba—Hernández's narrative is both national and personal, and it challenges us to reframe our understanding of what it means to be an American.
People in this episode
Guest: Daisy Hernández
Topics covered
- citizenship
- American identity
- memoir
- cultural criticism
- history
Keywords
- citizenship
- American identity
- Daisy Hernández
- Jia Lynn Yang
- memoir
- cultural criticism
- history
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The New York Public Library
Books & works: Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth
Places: Colombia, Cuba
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