35 episodes

Black stories are more than a fad or fodder for opportunistic outsiders. We know them. We love them. We’re moved by them. They change our lives. And on this podcast, Black stories are the default.

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    • Arts
    • 4.6 • 24 Ratings

Black stories are more than a fad or fodder for opportunistic outsiders. We know them. We love them. We’re moved by them. They change our lives. And on this podcast, Black stories are the default.

    Archive Alive

    Archive Alive

    Yves and Katie share the mic with archivists who detail the funniest or most poignant stories they’ve discovered while in the stacks.

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    • 35 min
    A VERY Important Announcement

    A VERY Important Announcement

    Katie and Yves share a very important announcement about the show. 
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    • 2 min
    Living, Breathing Poetry

    Living, Breathing Poetry

    Many anthologies of nature poetry and Black poetry have excluded Black nature poetry. But Black people have always written poetry about nature. We write about the land that supports us and challenges us. We write about the animals we care for and the disasters that destroy our homes. We write about the rivers we cross and the soil we till.

    Black nature poems reflect the enormous range of experiences that we have in our physical environments. As they show us, nature can haunt, and nature can heal. In today’s episode, Katie and Yves discuss the work of a few writers who train their words on the natural world.

     

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    • 35 min
    Pixel Power

    Pixel Power

    Every photo tells a story. In this week’s episode, Katie and Yves take a look at specific instances when pictures were used for good…and for evil. Sometimes they expose the truth, but sometimes they obscure it.

     

    Act I: The Most Photographed Man In America

    How Frederick Douglass used his portraits to advance the abolitionist movement.

     

    Act II: The Polaroid Protest

    Two Polaroid employees discover that the company's technology was being used by the South African government to enforce apartheid. How they forced Polaroid into becoming the first major American company to withdraw from South Africa.

     

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    • 29 min
    Rediscovering THE Pauline Hopkins

    Rediscovering THE Pauline Hopkins

    Pauline Hopkins was a literary pioneer in the science fiction, fantasy, romance, and detective genres. She wrote plenty of short stories, essays, books, and plays.

    But as is the case with so many Black women writers from the 19th and early 20th centuries, Hopkins’s work fell into relative obscurity. Thanks to the work of scholars like Dr. Claudia Tate, Dr. Mary Helen Washington, and Ann Allen Shockley, Hopkins is now getting recognition for being the literary pioneer that she was.

    There are many more pieces to Pauline’s puzzle that have yet to be found. But the rediscovery of Pauline’s legacy is an ongoing labor of love. In this episode, Yves and Katie honor the life and work of the legendary author and editor Pauline Hopkins.

     

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    • 25 min
    The Myth of Atlanta

    The Myth of Atlanta

    It’s 404 Day, an annual celebration of all things Atlanta. And because Katie and Yves love Atlanta — Black Atlanta specifically — they’re talking about the myths Atlanta perpetuates and how those myths impact Black folks. 

     

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    • 38 min

Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5
24 Ratings

24 Ratings

ross_liggett ,

Love

Love this podcast and look forward to it every week. The beef and literary detectives episodes were especially great!

The Real MamaLee ,

Enjoyable variety of topics!

And the cohost engagement is nice too, looking forward to more in 2024🎉

Artfulears ,

Magnificent Listen

The production dazzles, the stories enrapt, the chemistry enchants. My new favorite show😊😊😊

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