Support Kritika | Support H-Net | Buy Books Here | Join the NBN and NBN en Español on Patreon | Visit New Books Network en Español!
- African Studies
- African American Studies
- American Politics
- American Studies
- American South
- American West
- Asian American Studies
- Australian and New Zealand Studies
- British Studies
- Canadian Studies
- Caribbean Studies
- Central Asian Studies
- Chinese Studies
- East Asian Studies
- Eastern European Studies
- European Politics
- French Studies
- German Studies
- Iberian Studies
- India Studies
- Indian Ocean World
- Indigenous Studies
- Iranian Studies
- Irish Studies
- Israel Studies
- Italian Studies
- Japanese Studies
- Korean Studies
- Latino Studies
- Latin American Studies
- Mexican Studies
- Middle Eastern Studies
- Pacific Studies
- Polish Studies
- Russian and Eurasian Studies
- Southeast Asian Studies
- South Asian Studies
- Taiwan Studies
- Turkish Studies
- Ukrainian Studies
- Western European Studies
- World Affairs
- Animal Studies
- Anthropology
- Archaeology
- Business, Management, and Marketing
- Media and Communications
- Critical Theory
- Disability Studies
- Drugs, Addiction and Recovery
- Education
- Somatics
- Finance
- Economics
- Special Series
- Geography
- Big Ideas
- Gender Studies
- Celebration Studies
- Genocide Studies
- Co-Authored
- Higher Education
- Cover Story
- Human Rights
- Historical Materialism
- Journalism
- History Ex Silo
- Language and Translation
- Interpretive Political and Social Science
- Law
- Invested Investor
- LGBTQ+ Studies
- Landscape Architecture
- National Security
- Mormonism
- Philanthropy
- NBN Seminar
- Philosophy
- New Books with Miranda Melcher
- Policing, Incarceration, and Reform
- On the Cusp: Between Strategy and Ethics
- Political Science
- Postscript: Conversations on Politics and Political Science
- Practical History
- Politics & Polemics
- Preparing for Life After Grad School
- Psychology and Climate Change
- Public Policy
- Syriac Studies
- Sex, Sexuality, and Sex Work
- The Chair: In The Room at the Fed
- Sociology
- Oceanic Studies
- Sound Studies
- Sports
- Princeton UP Ideas Podcast
- Urban Studies
- The Harvard Brief
- The Ideas Letter Podcast
- In Conversation: An OUP Podcast
- Library of America presents LOA LIVE
- Exchanges: A Cambridge UP Podcast
- The Truth About Bullshit
- The University of Alberta Press Podcast
- The University of Arizona Press Podcast
- Behind the Book: A Nebraska UP Podcast
- Behind the Cover with Indiana University Press
- Beyond the Margins: The University of California Press Podcast
- Beyond Pages: A SUNY Press Podcast
- Biblical Studies
- Science & Technology
- Biblical Studies
- UCL Press Podcast
- Christian Studies
- CEU Press Podcast
- Catholic Studies
- The University of Chicago Press Podcast
- Indian Religions
- The Edinburgh University Press Podcast
- Islamic Studies
- Florida Press Podcast
- Jewish Studies
- From the Square: An NYU Press Podcast
- Religion
- University of Georgia Press Podcast
- Spiritual Practice and Mindfulness
- Georgetown University Press Podcast
- Secularism
- The Goldsmiths Press Podcast
- World Christianity
- The Harvard Education Press Podcast
- Science & Technology
- Big Ideas
- Gender Studies
- Celebration Studies
- Genocide Studies
- Co-Authored
- Higher Education
- Cover Story
- Human Rights
- Historical Materialism
- Journalism
- History Ex Silo
- Language and Translation
- Interpretive Political and Social Science
- Law
- Invested Investor
- LGBTQ+ Studies
- Landscape Architecture
- National Security
- Mormonism
- Philanthropy
- NBN Seminar
- Philosophy
- New Books with Miranda Melcher
- Policing, Incarceration, and Reform
- On the Cusp: Between Strategy and Ethics
- Political Science
- Postscript: Conversations on Politics and Political Science
- Practical History
- Politics & Polemics
- Preparing for Life After Grad School
- Psychology and Climate Change
- Public Policy
- Syriac Studies
- Sex, Sexuality, and Sex Work
- The Chair: In The Room at the Fed
- Sociology
- Oceanic Studies
- Science & Technology
Jun 2, 2026
Something We Said
Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word and Me
Summary
The N-word is one of the most perplexing, controversial and misunderstood words in the American lexicon. It’s a word that Elizabeth Pryor has not only contemplated, it’s one that she has taught and observed up close.
When a white student quoted her father and blurted out the N-word in the middle of a class she was teaching, Professor Pryor’s worlds collided. In that moment, she was forced to confront the history of the notorious slur in the United States, and her complicated relationship with her father Richard Pryor, who made the word a trademark of his comedy in the 1970s.
As she dives into her research, her own memories of the N-word come flooding back in unprocessed memories that she hadn’t thought about for decades. In reckoning with those memories, Elizabeth goes on a more public journey of discovery of the messy and sometimes surprising legacies of racism in the United States.
A braided narrative that seamlessly integrates the history of the N-word with Elizabeth’s own story of growing up the Black Jewish daughter of Richard Pryor, Something We Said: Richard Pryor, a Notorious Word and Me (37 Ink, 2026) follows Elizabeth as she becomes a leading scholar and teacher of the very word her father put on the pop culture map.
You can find Elizabeth on her website, Instagram, and TikTok. Her viral Ted talk, “Why it’s so hard to talk about the N-word,” is here. And Richard Pryor: Live in Concern (1979) can be streamed on YouTube.
Subscribe, like, follow, and rate Additions to the Archive with Sullivan Summer on Instagram, Substack, and wherever you get your podcasts.
Comments