Gish Jen’s “The Resisters”

About this episode

<p><span>In the near future, the Internet is sentient and her name is Aunt Nettie. Gish Jen’s novel “The Resisters” imagines a dystopian world with two classes: the “netted” (people who work) and the “surplus” (people who merely consume). The book follows Gwen, a terrific baseball pitcher from a surplus family that’s politically active. When her pitching attracts the attention of Aunt Nettie, she must choose between realizing her talents or staying with her family and being a resister. Baseball, for Jen, epitomizes the magic of chance and natural talent. “I wanted to write about our times,” she tells </span><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/katy-waldman"><span>Katy Waldman</span></a><span>. “But, to write in a realistic mode about our times and everything that’s happening, we would have nothing but shock and anger.” </span></p> <p> </p> <p><span>“The Resisters”</span> <span>was published on February 4th. </span></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>