There There
Novel by Tommy OrangeWikipedia
5
MENTIONS
3
EPISODES
3
PODCASTS
Search complete. 5 mentions across 3 episodes found for "There There".
Oct 12, 2026
Tommy OrangeGUEST
There's an emotional cost.
Chris BentleyHOST
[upbeat music] Native American novelist Tommy Orange reckons with finding out one of his influences was not indigenous.
Chris BentleyHOST
It's Monday, October 12th, and this is Here and Now Anytime from NPR and WBUR.
Chris BentleyHOST
I'm Chris Bentley.
AaronHOST
So Tommy Orange is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma, according to his biography.
AaronHOST
And so two books that I have on my shelf that he has written that I've yet to read, uh, the first is There There, and it follows 12 Native characters whose lives converge at the Big Oakland Powwow.
AaronHOST
It should be a goal of mine this month to read at least one or two new Indigenous authors, and I think Tommy Orange is gonna be one of those.
AaronHOST
Another book he also wrote was called Wandering Stars, and I think this was the first book that I ever bought by him, and it's actually a multi-generational novel that, uh, traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School into the present.
AaronHOST
I love stories like that.
AaronHOST
Um, and so I think if I were to pick one first to read by him, it would be Wandering Stars just based on that synopsis.
AaronHOST
But I've heard that they're connected, and I could be wrong that Wandering Stars extends the characters in There There, but I'm not sure because I haven't read them.
AaronHOST
So listeners, if I am correct ...
Fil DeptulaHOST
This is the terminology that Yerge uses.
Fil DeptulaHOST
And after reading, you know, Tommy Orange's There There this year, I have to admit, I am far less certain and far more confused about what is considered the correct word to describe the people who lived on this continent before European colonialism.
Fil DeptulaHOST
But, you know, I feel like having the correct vernacular when it comes down to genocide was probably on the very fucking low end of what we were trying to do,
Jacek DeptulaGUEST
right?
Jacek DeptulaGUEST
Neither am I.
Jacek DeptulaGUEST
But
Fil DeptulaHOST
again, read Tommy Orange's There There and get less confused or more.
Fil DeptulaHOST
Now, this quote deals with the inspiration of the background and setting where the many battles within the trilogy takes place, which is the step in present-day Ukraine.