Stay with me here. You really haven’t heard it all when it comes to talking about race.

CA Davis, host of A Latto Thought. Photo by Joe Martinez Photography.

I imagine that you’ve been signposted to a few podcasts on this subject this year, and the usuals do the rounds – for good reason, we need them. But perhaps you’re tired of ‘learning.’ I get it. I think that we have reached a stalemate when it comes to race-based podcasts, which happens when any subject is thrust into the forefront of our everyday lives in a short space of time.

Following the BLM protests this summer we were overwhelmed with reading lists, more lists on how to be antiracist and podcast recommendations (my own show included). And I did wonder what everyone did with all this information. It was a lot to process. Maybe too much. And now it’s all died down, maybe it’s time to reflect on what content is not only available, but also dynamic and accessible. Podcasting needs to improve the dialogue on race and make the content more diverse, not only in terms of who is hosting, but also in terms of the content they cover. We don’t have too many podcasts on race – but they seem to be at each end of a spectrum with nothing bridging the gap.

We have shows that share personal accounts of racism – the anecdotal stories. We have the heavyweight conversations telling historical accounts of how we’ve got to where we are and what we need to do about it – the serious and instructive shows.

What’s missing is the engaging content that accompanies you through the events that have created the complex structures and misconceptions surrounding race, alongside real stories of people who were affected by these events… without leaving you feeling exhausted by the end of it. If you’ve yet to find a show like this, I’ve found one for you.

CA Davis, Host of A Latto Thought. Image by Joe Martinez Photography.

A LATTO thought is hosted by filmmaker, digital storyteller and producer, CA Davis. CA works at Northwestern University in a small department that supports humanities research and pedagogy. His role is to take professors’ research and locate the stories within their work to create films that both academic and non-academic audiences can enjoy.

CA takes you on a huge ride through some of the most important events in the history of racial stereotyping, including – importantly – contemporary mixed-race misconceptions. In the episode ‘takin’ it back’ you will hear why we have achieved a “false sense of progress” regarding mixed-race people (especially those in positions of power). Our bodies are used as momentary vapours to veil over the truth about how much we have progressed, in part due to the ‘cultural firsts’ such as electing a Black president and a Black female Vice President, or having a Black Royal Family member. Yet, these individuals are mixed-raced. And it’s mixed-race bodies that are wrongly used as markers of a racially progressive society.

In the latest episode ‘kinfolk, not skinfolk’, CA draws you right into the falsehoods of DNA testing until you are rewinding to hear every word. Just as you’ve grasped a new and complex idea, he pulls you right out of feeling comfortable with a thud of a great bassline, witty quip and lighter chat. The balance of sound, narration and the super-high, cinematic production quality, makes it an engaging listen.

A LATTO Thought is stimulating and educational. You’ll finish the show feeling contemplative but energised. That’s a rare thing in this genre of podcasts.

Listen to A LATTO Thought on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and on the A LATTO Thought website.

—

Lou Mensah founded Shade Podcast to create a safe space for rigorous & inclusive conversations on Representation within the Arts.

Before launching Shade Lou worked on various commissions as a photographer, including stills for Directors Anthony Minghella & Sundance winner Marc Silver plus Mike Figgis; gaining awards for her work from Nick Knight and the late Alexander McQueen.

Launched just over a year ago, Shade Podcast has been received well by both the audience and press. Miranda Sawyer (The Guardian) said of Shade “Every episode gave me something new to think about. Inspiring!” – whilst Esquire has listed Shade as one of the ‘Best 2020 Podcasts you can listen too.”

Season 4 is due to be launched in Jan 2021. Listen on Acast, Spotify or Apple Podcasts. 

Read more reviews by the Pod Bible team.

The post REVIEW // A LATTO Thought appeared first on POD BIBLE.

POD BIBLE: At a time in America’s history when discussions of racism are at the core of so many topics – politics, health care, gender and sexuality, employment – how did education come to the forefront as the area you wanted to explore?

Chana Joffe-Walt: I’ve always been personally moved by the ideal of public education, and as a reporter the reality of public schools is very rich! Schools are a great reflection of the larger society. All of the big dramas and tensions of the country can be found playing out in real time in schools. The stakes are enormous because each child gets only one education.

PB: With a country as geographically massive as the U.S., how do you tell what is really a national story without making it hundreds of hours long and including every city in America? How can narrowing your scope assist you in tell a wider story?

CJW: I don’t really set out to find a story that will represent The Story of American Schooling. I just try to find a situation with people and tensions that I find compelling. I want the story to feel specific, but hopefully speak to some larger themes. In this case, I was interested in school segregation, which is a national phenomenon but can feel abstract when talked about on a national scale. New York City, where I live, is an excellent setting because it has some of the most segregated schools in the country. I think what actually makes this story feel like it speaks to larger themes is that it is not just a portrait of present day but the entire history of one school. As reporters we draw conclusions from an examination of a particular moment in time in American schools. I’d never seen all those different moments in a school’s history told as one story. I think it’s a different and useful way to understand a bigger picture of public education.

PB: How did you develop the name of the podcast? Do names get workshopped based on how people respond to them, what the language calls to mind, etc?

CJW: We tried a lot of different titles. For a while we were leaning towards a title that emphasized the repetition of history you can see when you lay out the history of a school. “The Story of the Story of IS 293” was one we liked for a little while. But we kept coming back to something that explicitly focused attention on white parents. The more the series was edited and focused, it was clear that what was notable here was the disproportionate power white parents have in public schools. It’s something that is rarely discussed, but is shaping our public education system all the time. It felt valuable to hang a lantern on that and say this is worth looking at.

PB: Once you decided to create Nice White Parents, did you find anything surprising in your research regarding the audio?

CJW: I really appreciated the conversation with one of the parents who wrote letters in 1963, Elaine. She was self-reflective, honest and generously willing to interrogate her own choices. There is a lot of defensiveness around these issues. I learned so much from speaking with someone who was genuinely willing to question herself and be honest about how difficult that is to look at yourself, what you believe in and the choices you actually make.

PB: Can you tell us a bit about the process of creating the audio experience of Nice White Parents? How do you find the right balance of soundscape, scripted narration, archival sound, and interviews?

CJW: I worked with an incredible editor, Julie Snyder, who was constantly trying to make sure there was a narrative and conceptual thru-line to carry you through all five episodes. The hardest challenge we had in terms of sound was figuring out a way to make a historical story feel emotional. We invested a lot of time into finding archival footage to help those episodes feel human and intimate. I discovered I really like archival research!

PB: If so, What are the working relationships with producers and engineers like for this programme, and how important are those collaborations to Nice White Parents as a finished product for podcast listeners to enjoy?

CJW: Yes. Every person I work with is incredibly talented. I am not saying that because I have to. It is weirdly true. The editors, production, fact checking and managerial team are all exceptionally competent at what they do and also good at at least four other things that are not their job.

PB: Can you tell us about the archivists and researchers you worked with in creating this podcast? Many of our readers, both fans and creators themselves, don’t realize that the archives of audio and information they are able to use to create content has to be curated by someone.

CJW: Sure! Early on, an education historian named Rachel Lissy took me on a “field trip” to the Board of Education archives in New York. She showed me how to navigate all the boxes and her enthusiasm for the hunt was contagious. I went there many times. We worked with another education researcher named Francine Almash. And we also hired an archival producer named Rebecca Kent who helped us go through news footage to find stuff that was personal and not too generic. I relied a lot on the guidance of scholars who do this kind of work all the time to find things that were specific to the school and its story. It’s really hard to know where to look. There are so many small collections that have great stuff.  It’s time consuming but every so often you find something really exciting so it’s hard to stop.

Nice White Parents is a limited series from Serial Productions. You can find the series on Spotify, and everywhere you enjoy well-researched audio goodness.

The post To the Archives with Chana Joffe-Walt from “Nice White Parents” appeared first on POD BIBLE.

The friend who mentioned Caroline’s show also mentioned Episode 28 specifically, in which the host interviews Danni Mullen, the proprietress of Semicolon Bookstore in Chicago. Over the past month, Semicolon has gained attention not only as a bookstore run by a Black woman, topping lists of Black-owned businesses to support as part of the Black Lives Matter movement, but also because of the store’s charitable work with #ClearTheShelves. This initiative allows school children to come into the store and select books for free, while also providing them the dignity of experiencing a transaction with a receipt upon making their selection.

The conversation between Danni and Caroline covers everything from the attention the store has gotten over the past month to the support the GoFundMe that financially backs the initiative has received. Overall, however, the one word best used to describe the conversation is “uncomfortable”. This is not to say the show isn’t brilliant, the episode isn’t powerful and funny, it’s all of those things and more. But what is important for everyone who listens to take away is how they feel, alone in their homes or their cars, as Danni explains the interactions she and her staff have had as more white patrons come into her store, looking for books by Black authors, about racism, and the things they feel empowered (and also entitled) to say. The shame and second hand embarrassment felt by the listener as she details the ignorant and offensive things these shoppers say is inescapable. Don’t give in to the desire to shut off the podcast; this is important.

It takes a lot of courage on the part of both women to create something like this. As podcast fans, we know that a well-crafted interview is much harder than it looks. What may be even more difficult, however, is to recognise that the measures of a so-called “good interview” are irrelevant when you are confronted with a situation in which something honest is allowed to play out. 

There is nothing cruel or unusual about the interaction between host and guest. It is simply a true conversation between two individuals during a highly electric, emotional and important time. Danni presents her truth, her lived experience and what happens between the stacks at her bookstore, knowing how uncomfortable her host and many of the listeners will become. But this does not stop her because it is not the responsibility of people who experience racism to make people who have benefited from a racist society feel better. Acknowledging this discomfort, existing in it, and then moving forward in a thoughtful and actionable way are all parts of how human beings learn. To Caroline’s credit, she acknowledges how awkward she feels, but she doesn’t cut all of those parts out of the interview. As podcasters, we often value beautiful soundscapes and precise timing over the honesty of painful pauses and the stutter-step of embarrassment. Instead, Caroline envelopes us in it, like an immersion therapy in audio form.

This is not to say the podcast is 50 minutes of being hammered over the head. Danni Mullen has an incredible laugh, and both she and Caroline offer plenty of humour (in particular, her item at the end of the episode had me in tears.) What makes this conversation so real and recognizable is that it contains both bold honesty and fits of giggling. This is how we speak to one another in our everyday lives, because life exists in those moments in between the deeply serious and the levity. Learn your lessons. Hear from people who are different from you. Really listen to what they are sharing with you. Connect over a mutual point of humour. Descend into uncontrolled laughter. Regroup. Support their endeavours. Amplify their voices. And repeat.

Gee Thanks Just Bought It drops new episodes on Fridays on Spotify and everywhere you get your podcasts. Check out their website, their Instagram, or you can follow Caroline on Twitter.

Semicolon Bookstore is located in Chicago, IL. Visit their GoFundMe page to support the #ClearTheShelves initiative.

The post REVIEW // Gee Thanks, I’m Sweating appeared first on POD BIBLE.