Earlier this year, E.A. Hanks—also known as Elizabeth—made her literary debut The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road. Considering its framing, it is no surprise that the book was recommended to Ten Across by many. The 10 documents Elizabeth's re-creation of a fraught childhood road trip taken with her mother in 1996, traveling Interstate 10 from end to end. In retracing her mother’s path, she reflects on the diverse nature of the region itself and its influence on events both large and small.  

What results is, in significant part, a series of provocative questions about identity—personal, political, and place-based. For example, what makes Texas and California so different, and at the same time so equally vivid in the American imagination? Why do people around the world recognize so much of this singular transect? Is New Orleans the American city? How long can Phoenix exist as it has? How do we define a border? Finally, and most importantly, how do such places inform our future—as individuals and as a nation?  

In this special two-part interview, Elizabeth Hanks and Ten Across founder Duke Reiter attempt to answer all the above and find many new questions and revelations along the way. Keep an eye out for part two, which will be released wherever you get your podcasts on July 24.  

Relevant Ten Across Conversations podcasts:  

“Addressing Historical Inequities in Our National Infrastructure, Then and Now”  

“Asking the Right Question: What Texas and Arizona Can Tell Us About the Country”  

“Why Phoenix is the ‘Most American City’ with George Packer”  

Listen to “The 10” on Spotify, or other audiobook services

Credits:
Host: Duke Reiter
Producer and editor: Taylor Griffith
Music by: American Legion  
Research and support provided by: Kate Carefoot, Rae Ulrich and Sabine Butler

About our guest:
E.A. Hanks is the author of The 10: A Memoir of Family and the Open Road. She is a former editorial assistant for Vanity Fair and news editor for The Huffington Post. Her culture reporting has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Time Magazine, and The Awl, among others.