"CLARENCE THOMAS," SAYS GINNI THOMAS in a 2018 installment of her long-running Daily Caller interview series on the subject of leadership, "you're the best man walking the face of the earth." He chuckles. They sit a few feet apart in a small room near a clock, a bookshelf full of file folders, a plant in a wicker basket.
"It's an honor to interview you."
"Well, I'm really stressed out about this interview," he says, not smiling, then smiling, then laughing. Halfway through their time together, Clarence Thomas is talking about coming from a place where many of the adults around him were illiterate. He's talking about the deep pleasure he finds in old books, "like Christmas every day," the sense of gratitude for this knowledge denied his aunt, mother, grandfather.
"Now I know you think I'm a little different," he says. "And I am. But... you get to read Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson-many people kind of roll their eyes-"
Clarence, perhaps reading the lack of interest in Ginni's eyes, starts laughing.
"But just think of all the people," he says, motioning forward with his hand in a Clintonian gesture of explanation, "who were around him. Whether it was Edmund Burke or Adam Smith." He laughs again. "I mean, wouldn't you want to read Boswell's Life of Samuel he can hardly get the words out now, he's laughing so hard-"Johnson?"
Ginni laughs quietly.
"I'll put it on my list, Justice," she says with a little flick of the wrist and coy look into the distance.
"I'll lend you my copy," he says with a straight face.
"As long as you underline it for me."
He loses it.
"Okay," she says, ready to move on with her list of questions.
"What about," he says, leaning in, very serious now, "Wealth of Nations?"
"Just-" she says.
And he loses it again, a high-pitched laugh that tilts him forward in his chair.
"I have a life to live," she says, sighing.
Denne historien er fra June 19-July 2, 2023-utgaven av New York magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra June 19-July 2, 2023-utgaven av New York magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Trapped in Time
A woman relives the same day in a stunning Danish novel.
Polyphonic City
A SOFT, SHIMMERING beauty permeates the images of Mumbai that open Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light. For all the nighttime bustle on display-the heave of people, the constant activity and chaos-Kapadia shoots with a flair for the illusory.
Lear at the Fountain of Youth
Kenneth Branagh's production is nipped, tucked, and facile.
A Belfast Lad Goes Home
After playing some iconic Americans, Anthony Boyle is a beloved IRA commander in a riveting new series about the Troubles.
The Pluck of the Irish
Artists from the Indiana-size island continue to dominate popular culture. Online, they've gained a rep as the \"good Europeans.\"
Houston's on Houston
The Corner Store is like an upscale chain for downtown scene-chasers.
A Brownstone That's Pink Inside
Artist Vivian Reiss's Murray Hill house of whimsy.
These Jeans Made Me Gay
The Citizens of Humanity Horseshoe pants complete my queer style.
Manic, STONED, Throttle, No Brakes
Less than six months after her Gagosian sölu show, the artist JAMIAN JULIANO-VILLAND lost her gallery and all her money and was preparing for an exhibition with two the biggest living American artists.
WHO EVER THOUGHT THAT BRIGHT PINK MEAT THAT LASTS FOR WEEKS WAS A GOOD IDEA?
Deli Meat Is Rotten
