The Roxane Gay Agenda

Sherrilyn Ifill still believes in the future. The famed civil rights attorney reflects on her time with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LCD) fighting against systemic racism in the courts. And she also has thoughts about the legitimacy crisis of the Supreme Court.   Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Our researcher is Yessenia Moreno. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams and Meg Pillow. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

June Diane Raphael on the psychological challenge of being a woman on TV and film sets, and why she’s leery of being “the good girl.” The comedian/actor/screenwriter/podcaster also talks about everything from menstrual moods to career ambitions. Plus, Roxane recounts the plot of one of her favorite bad movies.   Mentions: “Oh God, A Show About Abortion” https://www.ohgodshow.com/ “Battleship” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1440129/ “How Did This Get Made” podcast https://www.earwolf.com/show/how-did-this-get-made/ ” The Deep Dive with Jessica St. Clair and June Diane Raphael" https://www.earwolf.com/show/the-deep-dive-with-jessica-st-clair-and-june-diane-raphael/   Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Our researcher is Yessenia Moreno. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams and Meg Pillow. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Designer and podcaster Debbie Millman on creativity, vanity projects, and how to inspire people to change. Also, she is Roxane’s wife, and Roxane tells us how they met and fell in love. Mentions: Marcy Dermansky’s novel “Hurricane Girl” http://www.marcydermansky.com/hurricane-girl-book C.J.Hauser’s book of essays “The Crane Wife” https://cjhauser.com/ “The Crane Wife” essay in Paris Review https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/07/16/the-crane-wife/ “Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People” https://www.whydesignmatters.online/ Design Matters Podcast   Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Our researcher is Yessenia Moreno. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams and Meg Pillow. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imani Barbarin uses humor and truth to bring attention to the increasingly dire plight of disabled people in America. The pandemic has revealed a broken system that keeps the disabled in poverty. She talks about how she personally deals with the injustice, and what might be done to improve things. Also, what makes a joke a good joke for the disabled?   Mentions: ●     Imani Barbarin’s Tik Tok feed: https://www.tiktok.com/discover/imani-barbarin?lang=en Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Our researcher is Yessenia Moreno. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams and Meg Pillow. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Actor, comedian and memorist Cameron Esposito is practicing vulnerability. Here she talks to Roxane about their gender-fluidity, about why performing feels normal for them, and about why it’s important not to be funny all the time.   Mentions: ●     Take My Wife on Starz https://www.starz.com/us/en/series/38334/episodes?season=1 ●     Save Yourself https://www.esowonbookstore.com/book/9781538701362 ●     A Million Little Things https://abc.com/shows/a-million-little-things ●     Rape Jokes https://www.cameronesposito.com/rape-jokes/ ●     We Bare Bears: The Movie https://www.amazon.com/We-Bare-Bears-Eric-Edelstein/dp/B089DNJCFC ●     QUEERY https://www.cameronesposito.com/category/podcasts/   Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Our researcher is Yessenia Moreno. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams and Meg Pillow. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Devotional artist Genesis Tramaine is painting some of the most striking portraits of our time. She talks to Roxane about her process and her practice, and how her faith informs it all. Also, Roxane reflects on her own religious upbringing. Mentions: ●     Recent Gallery Show https://www.alminerech.com/artists/5928-genesis-tramaine ●     Genesis Tramaine’s Instagram Page https://www.instagram.com/genesistramaine Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Our researcher is Yessenia Moreno. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams and Meg Pillow. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Actor, producer and director Numa Perrier is making space for herself. Her autobiographical film “Jezebel,” about a young woman grieving for her mother while working as a cam girl in Las Vegas, breaks new ground in independent cinema for its complex candor. Roxane talks to her about how a girl from a Washington state farm ended up making TV and movies. Plus, Roxane on the hell that is contemporary air travel. Mentions: The Monet-Rothko Exhibit in France https://www.giverny-lareserve.com/en/monet-rothko-exhibition-at-the-musee-des-impressionismes-de-giverny/ “Jezebel” on Netflix https://www.netflix.com/title/81235729 App for Black and Sexy TV https://apps.apple.com/us/app/black-sexy-tv/id1050795028  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cultural critic Margo Jefferson deconstructs her nervous system… or at least explains to Roxane how the culture, not just family, has made her who she is. She talks about her new memoir, which situates cultural criticism alongside personal memories. Also, Roxane reflects on what memoirists reveal, and don’t reveal, to their readers. Mentions: ●     C.J. Hauser’s essay “The Crane Wife” https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2019/07/16/the-crane-wife/ ●     C.J. Hauser’s memoir “The Crane Wife” https://bookshop.org/books/the-crane-wife-a-memoir-in-essays/9780385547079 ●     Margo Jefferson’s “Negroland” https://bookshop.org/books/negroland-a-memoir/9780307473431 ●     Margo Jefferson’s “Constructing a Nervous System” https://bookshop.org/books/constructing-a-nervous-system-a-memoir/9781524748173   Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Our researcher is Yessenia Moreno. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams and Meg Pillow. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

1980’s movie star Ally Sheedy is back with a plum role in a new TV series. She talks to Roxane about her other careers as an editor and teacher. Plus, Roxane speculates on why The Slap (at the Oscars ceremony) has grabbed so much of our attention. Mentions: ●     Single Drunk Female https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13790652/?ref_%3Dfn_al_tt_1 ●     Ally’s essay on Hollywood sexism that Roxane edited https://www.vulture.com/2018/05/ally-sheedy-on-hollywood-sexism-and-harvey-weinstein.html   Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Our researcher is Yessenia Moreno. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams and Meg Pillow. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Roxane on the pleasures and perils of collecting art, and a conversation with one of the artists whose work she collects. Barbara Kruger came up through the magazine industry, where she applied her editorial design skills in the making of provocative, conceptual images, films and sculptures. She talks about her belated success, and how there’s not just one art world anymore.  Mentions: ●     Barbara Krugers LACHMA exhibit https://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/barbara-kruger   Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Our researcher is Yessenia Moreno. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams and Meg Pillow. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How Janicza Bravo turned a hilarious Twitter thread into a hilarious movie. Aziah King’s epic Twitter thread about a road trip gone bad took the internet by storm in 2015. Several years and a pandemic later, Janicza Bravo translated it into “Zola.” Here, she explains some of the creative decisions she made—like not showing the nudity.Mentions:●     Aziah King’s original Twitter thread. https://www.dontdiewondering.com/check-out-the-full-zola-twitter-thread-ahead-of-jaw-dropping-new-movie/●     “Zola” the movie on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5439812/Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Our researcher is Yessenia Moreno. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams and Meg Pillow. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sanaz Toosi channeled her anger about the Muslim travel ban into comedy. Her play “English,” set in Iran, explores the lives of an English teacher and her students. She talks to Roxane about the experience of so many immigrants–imperfectly speaking a second language, never fully fitting in. Plus, Roxane reflects on her own parents’ accents.Mentions:●     “English” at the Atlantic Theater Company. https://atlantictheater.org/production/english/●     Eleven Madison Park https://www.elevenmadisonpark.com/Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Our researcher is Yessenia Moreno. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams and Meg Pillow. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cerise Castle broke the first extensive investigation about alleged gangs in the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department in a 15-part series for KNOCK LA. Now, Cerise Castle reports with a bodyguard by her side. Roxane and Cerise discuss the shocking details of Cerise’s investigative series and political, and personal, consequences of her work. Plus, Roxane reflects on the frustrated ambitions of the movement to change the police. Mentions:●     KNOCK LA: A Tradition of Violence: The History of Deputy Gangs in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department https://knock-la.com/tradition-of-violence-lasd-gang-history/●     Database of LASD employees affiliated with deputy gang activity: https://lasdgangs.knock-la.comCredits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Our researcher is Yessenia Moreno. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams and Meg Pillow. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dorothy Brown says she got into tax law precisely because it had nothing to do with race. After twenty years of research, Dorothy discovered—and this is going to shock you—the tax system is racist as hell. Roxane and Dorothy explore how the tax code caters to white Americans in almost every way, from home ownership to marriage. Plus, Roxane reflects on the collective responsibility of paying Uncle Sam.Mentions:●     Dorothy A. Brown: The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans—and How We Can Fix It https://dorothyabrown.com/whiteness-of-wealth/Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Yessenia Moreno is the intern. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams and Meg Pillow. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Randa Jarrar says her skin is neither thick or thin when it comes to attacks on her writing. Roxane and Randa explore how to stay creative under difficult circumstances. Plus, Roxane reflects on the toll her haters have taken on her and her writing.Mentions:Randa Jarrar’s books: https://randajarrar.com/home/books/ Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Yessenia Moreno is the intern. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams and Meg Pillow. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Comedian and actress Nicole Byer on the ups and downs and ups of her young career, and why things are looking up for fat, Black performers. Plus, Roxane waxes poetic about her cake catastrophes.Mentions:●     Killing Eve https://www.bbcamerica.com/shows/killing-eve/seasons/season-1--1010619●     Nailed It! https://www.netflix.com/title/80179138●     Grand Crew https://www.nbc.com/grand-crew●     Zola (MOVIE) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5439812/●     Big Beautiful Weirdo https://www.netflix.com/title/81489095Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Yessenia Moreno is the intern. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 Crime novelist S.A. Cosby on tragic masculinity, growing up poor, and what he wants people to understand about the South. Plus, Roxane talks about the important escapist pleasures of genre fiction.Mentions:●     Razorblade Tears, by S.A. Cosby https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250252708●     Abbott Elementary: https://abc.com/shows/abbott-elementary●     The Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean M. Auel. https://bookshop.org/books/the-clan-of-the-cave-bear-9780609610978/9780609610978●     Angel Eyes, by Eric van Lustbader https://www.ericvanlustbader.com/thrillers/angel-eyes/●     The Town (movie): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0840361/●     Requiem for a Glass Heart, by David LindseyCredits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Yessenia Moreno is the intern. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do pottery and pot do for Seth Rogen? The writer and actor talks to Roxane about the pleasures of making something that doesn’t matter, the secrets of his longstanding collaborations, and about what he brings to the weed business. Plus, Roxane tells how she got eaten by an edible.Mentions:●     Euphoria: https://www.hbo.com/euphoria●     Houseplant: https://www.houseplant.com●     Yearbook, by Seth Rogen: https://www.yearbookthebook.com●     Empire Records movie: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112950/?ref_=vp_backCredits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Yessenia Moreno is the intern. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Novelist Terry McMillan set the table for so many Black creative women working today. She tells Roxane about how she became a writer without knowing she was one, and how she continues to write narratives that so many Black women identify with.Mentions:●     Roxane’s Story “North Country” is in her book Difficult Women: https://roxanegay.com/books/difficult-women/●     Terry McMillan’s Website: https://www.terrymcmillan.com/●     New York Times article, The Joys (and Challenges) of Sex after 70: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/12/magazine/sex-old-age.htmlCredits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Yessenia Moreno is the intern. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Roxane introduces the new podcast with her former co-host, Tressie McMillan Cottom. They talk about the new year, new endeavors (including a new dog), Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s vacuity, and the real meaning of Morgan Wallen’s mullet.MentionsTressie's New York Times newsletter: https://www.nytimes.com/column/tressie-mcmillan-cottom Credits: Curtis Fox is the producer. Yessenia Moreno is the intern. Production help from Kaitlyn Adams. Theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

 New year, new show. The Agenda kicks off January 25. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Isabel Wilkerson reframes race and racism in her book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. Here she talks about what inspired the book and about the craft behind her complex, big narratives. Spoiler: it doesn’t involve outlines. Plus, Tressie and Roxane on why you need to read more than one book about racism.Mentions:Caste: The Origins Of Our DiscontentsHear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Activist and storyteller Amber J. Phillips on the importance of being who you are, politically and publicly. Also, journalist Brittany Gibson on the breathtaking scope of new Republican voter suppression efforts.Notes:  Articles on voter suppression by Brittany Gibson Amber J. Phillip’s Instagram Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Senator Elizabeth Warren on the moral and political imperative of forgiving student loan debt. Plus Roxane and Tressie respond to listener voicemails about what they would do if their student loan debt was forgiven.Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tressie is hungry, and Roxane is into cookbooks. Cookbook author Julia Turshen talks about making healthy comfort food, and her own struggles with body image. Mentions:  Simply Julia: 110 Easy Recipes for Healthy Comfort Food Carmen Cool, therapist and body justice advocate Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

YA (aka the Young Adult genre) author Jason Reynolds on his love for teens and why he writes specifically for them. Plus Roxane and Tressie x-ray Meghan and the Royal Family, and we hear from publisher Chris Jackson on why 2020 was such a big year for Black writers. [Editor's note: this episode originally aired March, 2021, but we think it's worth a relisten. Enjoy.]Hear all episodes of Hear to Slay: Subscribe to the Luminary channel on Apple Podcasts:. Go to: apple.co/slayOr visit LuminaryPodcasts.com.Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An episode so good it deserves to be heard again. Sabrina Strings joins Roxane and Tressie to discuss the racist historical roots of fat phobia and what it means for health care today . Plus, Sonya Renee Taylor coaches Roxane and Tressie on how to accept their bodies, and why self-love is a contagious political act.Hear all episodes of Hear to Slay: Subscribe to the Luminary channel on Apple Podcasts:. Go to: apple.co/slayOr visit LuminaryPodcasts.com.Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Therapist Esther Perel on what happened to us during COVID, and how to reconnect with friends and lovers after a year of isolation and grief. Plus, Roxane and Tressie look back on some highlights of Season 2. Mentions:  Esther Perel’s website: https://www.estherperel.com/ Credits: Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Catherine Fenollosa is the producer. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the associate producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Climate change is coming for us all, especially black and brown people. What can we do about it? Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, marine biologist and co-host of the podcast “How to Save a Planet,” talks about her solutions-oriented approach. Plus listeners explain how the climate is changing their lives. MentionsThe Green New Deal text:https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/332/textAll We Can Savehttps://www.allwecansave.earth/anthologyHow to Save a Planet podcasthttps://gimletmedia.com/shows/howtosaveaplanet/episodesCredits: Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Catherine Fenollosa is the producer. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the associate producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How to reconnect with friends and lovers, with Kiaundra Jackson, a marriage and family therapist. Also, Tressie and Roxane tell how they met, and we hear from listeners about what changed in their relationships in COVID times. Mentions:  Boomers Got the Vax SNL gag Kiaundra Jackson’s website Credits: Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Catherine Fenollosa is the producer. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the associate producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Home improvement help is on the way. Carmeon Hamilton, HGTV’s newest design star, explains what it means to have a style in our homes that reflects who we are. Plus Roxane and Tressie hear from listeners about their pandemic home improvement projects. People have been BUSY. Mentions:  Carmeon Hamilton’s website Hear to Slay Art of Living Center Retreat Credits: Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Catherine Fenollosa is the producer. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the associate producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Quiara Alegría Hudes is having quite a year. Roxane talks to her about writing the book for the musical “In the Heights” and then writing the screenplay for the upcoming movie version, and about her new memoir “My Broken Language.” Plus Tressie waxes poetic about white lady camp, and we hear from listeners about the meals they’re planning for when they get their people back together around the table.  Mentions:  My Broken Language, by Quiara Alegría Hudes In the Heights movie Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Catherine Fenollosa is the producer. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the associate producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Barbecue as we know it was largely invented by Black people, but have been written out of BBQ history. Adrian Miller explains to Tressie and Roxane how that happened, and how to reclaim credit. Plus Michael Twitty talks to Roxane about how Black foodways are intimately bound up with the traumas of Black history.Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Catherine Fenollosa is the producer. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the associate producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Homages to Beverly Cleary, with Sarah Wendell, and to Cicely Tyson, with Soraya McDonald. Both Cleary and Tyson died this year, and Tressie and Roxane mark their passing with conversations about their extraordinary legacies. Plus, Tressie and Roxane weigh in on Senator Tim Scott and the burning question: is America a racist country? Spoiler alert: yes it is. Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tressie is hungry, and Roxane is into cookbooks. Cookbook author Julia Turshen talks about making healthy comfort food, and her own struggles with body image. Mentions:  Simply Julia: 110 Easy Recipes for Healthy Comfort Food Carmen Cool, therapist and body justice advocate Keep Calm and Cook On podcast Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Books are getting us through a tough year. Novelist Kaitlyn Greenidge talks about what she’s been reading. Tressie and Roxane respond in kind. Plus, their reaction to the Derek Chauvin verdict, and book recommendations from listeners.Mentions: Libertie by Kaitlyn Greennidge  The Cutting Season by Attica Locke  The Age of Innocence by Eidith Wharton  Afterparties by Anthony So Let the record show: A Political History of ACT UP New York by Sarah Schulman Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning  by Cathy Park Hong The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans--and How We Can Fix It        by Dorothy A. Brown World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil Lucky Fish by  Aimee Nezhukumatathil Oceanic by Aimee Nezhukumatathil My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson Control Negro- Jocelyn Nicole Johnson The Prophets by Roberts Jones Jr.  Of Women and Salt- Gabriela Garcia  Dyke (geology) by Sabrina Imbler Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

America’s gun problem is rooted in race. Historian Carol Anderson explains precisely how in a conversation that also touches on white rage, white guilt, and the consequence we all pay for it.Mentions: White Rage, by Carol Anderson One Person, No Vote, by Carol Anderson The Second, by Carol Anderson Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Isabel Wilkerson reframes race and racism in her book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. Here she talks about what inspired the book and about the craft behind her complex, big narratives. Spoiler: it doesn’t involve outlines. Plus, Tressie and Roxane on why you need to read more than one book about racism.Mentions:Caste: The Origins Of Our DiscontentsHear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Black Academics have to wear too many hats, and don’t get paid for the extra work. Patricia Matthew talks about why this happens and what to do about it, and what it means outside the academy. Plus Dr. Nina Banks on the invisible labor of Black women doing community activism. To hear it all go to Luminary (https://www.luminary.link/slay)Mentions: “Why Cornell West’s Tenure Fight Matters,” by Robin D.G. Kelly Written/Unwritten: Diversity and the Hidden Truths of Tenure, ed. By Patricia Matthew Chet’s video, on Roxane’s Twitter Dr. Nina Bank’s paper Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All, by Martha S. Jones Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jason Reynolds, award-winning YA author, on his love for "shorties," and why he writes specifically for kids. Also, in the extended version of this episode, Roxane and Tressie x-ray Meghan and the Royal Family, plus we hear from publisher Chris Jackson on why 2020 was such a big year for Black writers. To hear it all go to Luminary (https://www.luminary.link/slay)Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reflections on life as a Black creative, benevolent racism, making art during the pandemic, and more. In this except: painter Jordan Casteel. For the entire conversation, and an interview with playwright Jeremy O. Harris, go to www.luminary.link/slayNotes:  Jordan Casteel’s website Jeremy O. Harris’s website Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Activist and storyteller Amber J. Phillips on the importance of being who you are, politically and publicly. Also, journalist Brittany Gibson on the breathtaking scope of new Republican voter suppression efforts.Notes:  Articles on voter suppression by Brittany Gibson Amber J. Phillip’s Instagram Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Senator Elizabeth Warren on the moral and political imperative of forgiving student loan debt. Plus Roxane and Tressie respond to listener voicemails about what they would do if their student loan debt was forgiven.Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Featuring Dr. Ebony Hilton on the inequities revealed by the virus and the vaccine rollout. Show Notes: Three American Mothers, On the Brink Evicted, by Matthew Desmond Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns.NIBkl4cK7XMbBIzvUXYY Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sabrina Strings joins Roxane and Tressie to discuss the racist historical roots of fat phobia and what it means for health care today in this special excerpt.. In the full episode Sonya Renee Taylor coaches Roxane and Tressie on how to accept their bodies, and why self-love is a contagious political act. Hear more of this episode, and the entire season, on Luminary (@hearluminary, and www.luminary.link/slay).Show Notes: Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia The Body is Not an ApologyHear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson and Isoke Samuel are the interns. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How is our relationship to the news changing these days? Plus: singer/songwriter/podcaster Rissi Palmer on why Black contributions to country music have been ignored if not erased. Hear more of this episode and the entire season on Luminary (@hearluminary, and www.luminarypodcasts.com).SHOW NOTES Color Me Country podcast is hosted by Rissi Palmer on Apple Music. More details about Hear to Slay, a Luminary Original Podcast are here: https://luminarypodcasts.com/listen/roxane-gay-and-dr-tressie-mc-millan-cottom/hear-to-slay/b52dbaee-2243-4230-ac20-8dc36ca6a453 CREDITS: Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson is the intern. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tressie and Roxane process the inauguration of Biden and Harris. In the extended version of the episode (on Luminary) our hosts chat with writer, and podcaster Rebecca Nagle (This Land) on the view from Indian country in the time of Covid-19. Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Ali McPherson is the intern. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

White supremacy left its fingerprints all over the insurrection at the Capitol. Tressie and Roxane break it down. Mentions:           Article: Misogyny in the Capitol: Among the insurectionsis a lot of angry men who don’t like women           Book: Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, by Isabel WilkersonAs always, keep the conversation going by following us on Twitter and Instagram at @HearToSlay and with the hashtag #HearToSlay.Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tressie and Roxane react to the January 6 coup attempt.For more Hear to Slay visit luminary.link/slayAs always, keep the conversation going by following us on Twitter and Instagram at @HearToSlay and with the hashtag #HearToSlay.Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Highbrow. Lowbrow. And Everything In Between. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.