David Levi Strauss is an American, writer, poet, and critic
Episode 193: David Levi Strauss is an American poet, critic, and author of several books.
David Levi Strauss and John Berger. Photograph: Yves Berger
This is the second episode that I have been lucky enough to record with Levi. The first episode was primarily a background episode, but we also delved deep into his excellent Photography and Belief published by David Zwirner Books for their Ekphrasis series. In this episode, we decided to speak a bit more about Levi’s political writings and delved deeper into his background, but also several more of his books.
2016-07-18 19 52.14 is a blind singer from Kentucky singing the National Anthem at the Republican National Convention, as the flag backdrop begins to come apart. Photo by David Levi Strauss.
In this episode, similar to how we ended our first discussion, we speak about the contemporary moment in American politics which seems to change by the minute, so some of this episode might seem politically speaking distant from the point of recording a few months back. We go through the landscape of America and David’s position on a number of topics relating to the Trump era and his coverage of the Republican National Convention and his book Co-Illusion in which he discusses the experience, but also the ideas behind “iconopolitics”. That book is illustrated with photographs by none other than Susan Meiselas and Peter Van Agtmael.
As always, Levi is generous with his time and his thoughts and is a passionate observer of American life at the crossroads of its political self and its will to be morally and ethically motivated. Listening to Levi speak is refreshing and reminds one of what it means to be thoughtful and resistant in the face of tyranny. Please tune in.
