34:I[58016,["/_next/static/chunks/a10b49cc1be72925.js","/_next/static/chunks/b5ea50e123aa84a6.js","/_next/static/chunks/48003610e91209eb.js","/_next/static/chunks/de880ec5a0241b38.js","/_next/static/chunks/81ce7bf5f20dbd5a.js","/_next/static/chunks/2a1deca7496c1284.js","/_next/static/chunks/53f751967ccc7d59.js","/_next/static/chunks/15a1b1fbd3cf7d4a.js","/_next/static/chunks/9d18ca3107644c0d.js","/_next/static/chunks/88bed98e5cd5e639.js","/_next/static/chunks/2a1278cba709ea3b.js"],"ProcessEpisodeButton"] 38:I[56939,["/_next/static/chunks/a10b49cc1be72925.js","/_next/static/chunks/b5ea50e123aa84a6.js","/_next/static/chunks/48003610e91209eb.js","/_next/static/chunks/de880ec5a0241b38.js","/_next/static/chunks/81ce7bf5f20dbd5a.js","/_next/static/chunks/2a1deca7496c1284.js","/_next/static/chunks/53f751967ccc7d59.js","/_next/static/chunks/15a1b1fbd3cf7d4a.js","/_next/static/chunks/9d18ca3107644c0d.js","/_next/static/chunks/88bed98e5cd5e639.js","/_next/static/chunks/2a1278cba709ea3b.js"],"EpisodeTranscript"] 2e:["$","div",null,{"className":"absolute inset-0 rounded-3xl ring-1 ring-inset ring-black/10 dark:ring-white/10"}] 35:T4bf,

One year ago, The New Yorker staff writer and critic Hua Hsu published his singular memoir entitled Stay True. Earlier this May, the autobiography won a Pulitzer Prize.

Upon its paperback release, Hsu joins us to discuss the epigraph that frames the book (5:30) and his nomadic upbringing (9:45) scored by mixtapes (12:23) created by his Taiwanese father (15:14). Hsu then reflects on his arrival at UC Berkeley in the mid-90s (23:09) and how he formed an unexpected bond with a schoolmate named Ken (24:20).

On the back-half, Hsu describes the horrific night that Ken’s life was taken (36:58), the aftermath of this tragedy (40:15), his attempts to make sense of the past twenty-four years in Stay True (46:20), his complicated relationship to memory (49:00) and music (58:30), and how he’s held onto hope (1:03:02) through telling this enduring story of friendship.

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Author and Critic Hua Hsu (The New Yorker) ‘Stays True’

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