Wandering Stars: Tommy Orange and the Sovereign Center

Wandering Stars: Tommy Orange and the Sovereign Center

February 21, 2026 · 30 min

About this episode

The episode explores the implications of sympathy in storytelling through the lens of Tommy Orange's work.

What happens to the story when the ‘object’ of our sympathy looks back and refuses the role we’ve written for them? The allegory of the ‘Suffering Child’ is a powerful challenge, but it creates its own blind spots: it can turn a living history into a static prop. This week, we use Tommy Orange’s Wandering […]

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Host: Steve Chisnell

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