Colson Whitehead on his imagined real 'Underground Railroad'

The Presidential candidates were asked during Monday’s debate about race relations in this nation – specifically, how each candidate would heal the racial divide. But to heal it, you first have to acknowledge what caused it. Namely, slavery. That’s the subject of Colson Whitehead’s new novel, titled “The Underground Railroad.” It follows a teenage slave named Cora to a hard-won freedom from a plantation in Georgia, through and escape via anliteral underground railroad. Whitehead spoke to Press Play about that little bit of magical realism.