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Colson Whitehead And Barry Jenkins On Making ‘The Underground Railroad’ (Rebroadcast)

Jenn White speaks with director and showrunner Barry Jenkins and author Colson Whitehead during a virtual event about The Underground Railroad.
Jenn White speaks with director and showrunner Barry Jenkins and author Colson Whitehead during a virtual event about The Underground Railroad.

When the novel “The Underground Railroad” was published in 2016, it caught the world’s attention for its stark portrayal of slavery in America.  

The story reimagines the metaphorical underground railroad as an actual underground railroad, with train tracks, stations, and so on. Readers follow the journey of Cora, a young woman escaping slavery in Georgia.  

Now, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel has been adapted into a limited TV series of the same name, available to stream on Amazon Prime. 

On June 3, 1A hosted a virtual event to discuss the book and its adaptation.  

The conversation has been edited for broadcast.

Copyright 2022 WAMU 88.5

Avery Kleinman