Mat Johnson

Mat Johnson’s recent hard-drive failure wasn’t the first time he experienced data loss. This time, despite losing more work than ever before, he’s less panicked: “I can write new words,” he says.

Novelist Mat Johnson says the nation’s unresolved racial legacy, our love of guns and our method of policing have put the country on a fatal and disastrous path.

Mat Johnson grew up poor, but managed to land in the middle class as an adult. Still, he says, opportunities for advancement are few and far between, and it’s all too easy to slide back economically.