Listen Now

From joy to trauma to history, our kids are expressing their Blackness through podcasting. We celebrate Black child podcasts, featuring Jackson and Avery - hosts of the podcast ‘Hey Black Child’, and Story Jean Brown - host of the podcast ‘Story on Stories’. Today, we listen to the kids!

Why do some people feel the need to gatekeep? From the art world to the corporate world, Black gatekeeping is real. Today we hear a classic gatekeeping experience from the comedy duo Frangela, and talk to author Jennifer Farmer about the deep-seated reasons why some people still feel the need to gatekeep.

Put butter on that burn. Don't put your purse on the floor. The wives tales, sayings, superstitions & home remedies - the things we heard from our mamas, papas and grandparents are all part of our folk heritage. In this episode, we hear some, we look at why they're important, we do some fact checking, and Hana and Leila explore why we believe some of the things we believe.

Some of us who chose not to go to HBCU's have some major envy, and regret.  In this episode we hear from people about their experiences at Black colleges. Stories about when they fit in and when they didn't. Featuring Special guest: Stacey Abrams 

We've heard people threaten to pack it up and move abroad, and today we to talk to two of them who followed through. Natalie Gill  now lives in Ethiopia and Noleca Radway relocated to Amsterdam. Two stories about making the move, and getting the hell out in order to redefine home. Includes interviews with: Creshawn Wright & Michael Oshindoro

It's been 33 years since the original film Coming to America, a film that gave many of us some laughs at a time when tensions were high. Now with the new film are we still laughing? We get into the African perspective and talk about what made us laugh and what made our Jheri curls feel dry.   

What is a sound that embodies Blackness?  Today we invite you to unwind, lean back, disconnect and drift while we ask some phenomenal personalities, like LeVar Burton, Stacey Abrams, David Oyelewo, Shangela and more what is a sound that is undeniably Black?  

Sellassie doesn't plan to take the Covid vaccine. He doesn't trust it. But it feels like the whole world is trying to convince him to. We unpack 'Black hesitancy' and talk to some of the people tasked with convincing their communities to vaccinate. 

Lately,  some of have been watching our back. It's not something we always want to admit, but the current vibe is triggering. We're back, a new season, and today we get a bit personal. We meet two people with different takes on maneuvering their neighborhoods where there aren't too many Black kith and kin in sight.

Black is King, the visually stunning film by Beyoncé has brought up a lot of conversation. We talk to “the blue man” dancer Papi Oji about his role in the film and dig deeper into some of the praise and criticisms from Africans and African Americans. We hear from writers across the diaspora who help us take a deeper look at the art that has some of us in awe, and others conflicted. Guests: Dancer Stephen Ojo, and writers Judicaelle Irakoze and Tineka Smith

We're at that moment — again. Another black person gone, and another, and another. It hurts. Everyone seems to be watching, and everyone seems to have questions.    But this isn't new, and we're not here for everyone. We're here for 14-year-old Ima. 

For many of us, success and 'making it' also means you're expected to help out and support your family. Whether you're Black American, or a child of Black immigrants- that 'Black Tax' is often something you're going to be thinking about. Today we get personal with a story from Mwende Hinojosa who explains how What's App brings her Kenyan family together but it can also be very...taxing.  

We're getting into the myths surrounding the coronavirus and discussing how Covid-19 could have a different impact on black people. We also hear from workers in the service industry who share their stories about how they are pushing through. Let’s stoop it out together.

The pen, the mic, the camera - all powerful tools that people in media have used to get our attention, but for Black women journalists, getting a hold of that power and keeping it, has been a tough path to navigate. From how we sound, to what we look like, to how we say thangs. We explore the profession with journalist Jemele Hill, and hear about the past from veteran journalist Belva Davis, while Hana and Leila get into some of their own experiences in the field.

In this episode we meet Deborah from Brooklyn, who’s about to pack her bags and move to  Paris. It's a place she’s always adored, along with the likes of other famous African Americans; Richard Wright, James Baldwin, and Josephine Baker to name of few. Many black Americans have moved there for a particular reason, many were exhausted by the racial dynamics and conversations in the U.S. , just like Deborah,  who feels these are conversations that go in circles. France has prided itself on its citizens being “French” before identifying with an ethnicity and this is something that appealed to Deborah who’s chosen not to “lead with her blackness”. In this episode we go to France to talk about how black people are identifying and discuss some of the tensions behind a word like “noir” that can be seen as an insult for some and pure pride for others.

Why might things be different for a Black introvert? When writer Sequoia Holmes broke it down in her essay "Black Women aren't allowed to be Introverted"  we wanted to stoop this out some more. So we sent our introverted producer Jessica Jupiter out to find answers. In this episode we're digging  into how it can be different to be an introvert while Black. We also hear from nonprofit organizer and educator Kelly Wickham Hurst who has focused on correcting the ways we treat introverted Black students.

Should we support Black no matter what? We discuss the pressure to conform with liking all things Black, even when you don’t. Whether it’s Black art, the Black politician, or a hashtag. The feeling that we have to always align is tied to a psychological concept called 'social desirability bias.' We’ll break down why we do it with a Black psychologist from Stanford, hear from a culture critic who says we shouldn’t succumb to it, and hosts Hana and Leila question their own motives.

Season 4 is here! In this episode we're talking about Black folk and water. Yes, swimming.  We hear from a man who nearly lost his life while on vacation, and take a deeper look into our relationship to swimming. There are a lot  of jokes and myths within our community about why we don’t swim more, but what isn't funny is that nearly 70% of African American kids don't know how to swim. Today, we break down stereotypes that we've even heard our own family members reinforce.  Editor: Jen Chien Sound Designer: Seth Samuel Associate Producer: Natalie Peart          

It's our season finale and we're getting into issues of the fam; the things that our families say and do that have helped us or hurt us. We get into what it's like to gain a family unexpectedly and hear from a family whose cultural differences and jealousy nearly divided them. In this special episode we also stoop it with author, therapist, Netflix’ Fab 5 member, and unexpected father Karamo Brown. Keep it in the fam. We'll be back with a brand new season soon!