Mary Poppins is a black man
HENRY LOUIS GATES is a phenomenon in America, but virtually unknown in Britain. That may be about to change thanks to a six-part television series, “Into Africa”, broadcast over the past month on BBC2 and, from October, on PBS in America. Part travelogue and part ancient history, it is the story of a singular African-American confronting his roots from Zanzibar to Timbuktu.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Mary Poppins is a black man”
Discover more
Germany’s former chancellor sets out to restore her reputation
But her new memoir is unlikely to change her critics’ minds
The best books of 2024, as chosen by The Economist
Readers will never think the same way again about games, horses and spies
What to read to understand Elon Musk
The world’s richest man was shaped by science fiction
Tech and religion are very much alike
They both have gods, rich institutions and secretive cultures
Woodrow Wilson’s reputation continues to decline
A dispassionate new biography chronicles the former president’s hostility to suffrage
The cult of Jordan Peterson
What the Canadian intellectual gets right about young men