Studio 2 Extra: Author Namwali Serpell on Toni Morrison

Studio 2 co-host Cherri Gregg sits down with author and Harvard professor Namwali Serpell to discuss her new book, "On Morrison."

Air Date: March 6, 2026 1:51 pm

Renowned novelist and longtime Princeton professor Toni Morrison did not want her personal life studied. She resisted biographies and turned down a contract to write a memoir. But a new book, “On Morrison,” is not trying to trace her life story.

We think about her as this icon of Black excellence, but I really wanted to get at ‘what did Morrison have to teach us as a philosopher?’

Harvard professor Namwali Serpell wanted to write about the way Toni Morrison challenged readers and, in doing so, revealed a lot about the woman herself.

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