A Very Special Roll Credits
Yves and Katie give credit where credit is due…one last time. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 07, 2024•16 min
On Theme
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.
Episodes
The Black Muse
Black folks were in European paintings in the 19th and 20th centuries. A lot of the time, they were servants ... or shadows. Props in the background. But sometimes, they were the subject of portraits. Today, Katie and Yves go on a journey through a couple of these models' lives. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sep 06, 2024•25 min
Dearly Departed
Ever wonder what’s the last story that will be written about you? For many people, it’s in their obituary. In today’s episode, Katie and Yves look through strangers’ obituaries and share their stories…one more time. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Aug 29, 2024•33 min
Switching Sides
There's a fine line between radical and conservative. Well, that was the case for writer George Schuyler and activist Eldridge Cleaver, who went rogue and turned right-wing in the 1900s. Katie and Yves get into their political pump fakes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 22, 2024•27 min
Little Literature Lessons
Who will teach the babies? We will, and we’ll do it through books. Today, Katie and Yves talk with Dolisha Mitchell, a children’s literature expert, about how we use books to pass down traditions and lessons to our beautiful Black babies. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Aug 15, 2024•28 min
Same Year, New Stories?
Katie and Yves share their progress on what they’ve been writing and give spirited reviews of their latest reads. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Aug 08, 2024•39 min
Copaganda
What does the Bad Boys movie have to do with Atlanta’s Cop City? A lot, it turns out. In this episode, Katie and Yves uncover how copaganda shapes public perceptions and justifies systemic injustices. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Aug 01, 2024•30 min
Minding Their Business
Sometimes being nosy pays off. In today's episode, Katie and Yves discuss eavesdropping, punkah fans, and small acts of resistance. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 25, 2024•28 min
Black Donald Trump
Donald Trump is everywhere — cable news, social media, those silly red hats, Black sitcoms and rap lyrics. Wait, what? That’s right. In this episode Katie and Yves are looking at Donald Trump’s cameos in Black sitcoms and rap music to track how Black folks’ attitudes toward The Donald have changed over time. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jul 18, 2024•31 min
Wash Day Woes
Black haircare YouTubers built a brand-new storytelling genre from the ground up. So today on the podcast, Yves and Katie give them their much-deserved credit. Then they speak with LaToya Ebony, a content creator and actress who's been giving us haircare game on YouTube for over a decade. LaToya Ebony Hair LaToya Ebony Someday Sunday Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jul 11, 2024•46 min
Black, White, and Read All Over
Ever wonder why news can feel so different depending on where you read it? In today’s episode, Katie and Yves compare how Black and white newspapers cover the same topics. From big events to everyday stories, we'll explore why the news isn't always so black and white. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jul 04, 2024•38 min
Branding While Black ft. Bridget Todd
People have been branding themselves for a long time, but personal branding is a whole new beast in the digital age -- especially for Black folks. Katie and Yves speak with Bridget Todd of There Are No Girls on the Internet about what it means to share carefully crafted personas on social media. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 28, 2024•43 min
Do We Need More Slavery Movies?
We're done with the trauma for trauma's sake. But can we trust folks to make informed, nuanced stories about enslaved people? Cheyney McKnight of Not Your Momma's History is skeptical. Katie and Yves speak with her about the horror of slavery films in Hollywood, her favorite movie about an enslaved person, and the kinds of slavery movies she wants to see in the future. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 20, 2024•55 min
Join us in ATL on Juneteenth!
Join us on Juneteenth for a special edition of Write Club Atlanta! Write Club is a literary event where writers go head-to-head on opposing topics. Expect amazing writers, stories that will take you on an emotional roller coaster, and an appropriate amount of joyous yelling. All Black writers. Blackity Black themes. Come see 'bout it. This event will take place at 7 Stages Theatre in Atlanta. Doors at 7:30 p.m., show at 8. Tickets $10 at the door. Head to ontheme.show/juneteenth-write-club-atlan...
Jun 18, 2024•1 min
Survival of the Crunkest
Crunk music. Snap music. They go together like Atlanta and hip-hop. For the brief and delightful time that crunk and snap were in the limelight, hip-hop felt so carefree (and chaotic). Katie and Yves take a trip back to the aughts to pay homage to the two genres that brought people together — in real life and on the internet. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 13, 2024•32 min
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. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 06, 2024•36 min
A VERY Important Announcement
Katie and Yves share a very important announcement about the show. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
May 02, 2024•2 min
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...
Apr 25, 2024•36 min
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 t...
Apr 18, 2024•29 min
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...
Apr 11, 2024•26 min
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. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Apr 04, 2024•39 min
On Risk and Liberation With Raquel Willis
Folks in all kinds of media are great at crafting stories that use misinformation and disinformation to sway opinions about transgender people. When you’re the target of this kind of damaging propaganda, it can be super important to create spaces where you can take control of your own narratives. Enter "The Risk It Takes to Bloom," a new memoir by award-winning author, activist, and media strategist Raquel Willis. As we approach the end of another Women’s History Month, we speak with Raquel abou...
Mar 28, 2024•46 min
Diary Dialogues
A lot of us would never want our diaries to see the light of day. But that hasn't stopped people from archiving and publishing their own and others' diary entries. It's not just about exposing people's secrets, though. Through these diaries, we get to learn more about historical eras and about the day-to-day experiences of our ancestors. We get a sneak peek into the private, interior worlds of everyday people, unmarred by the specter of surveillance. To be honest, it does feel a little voyeurist...
Mar 21, 2024•43 min
Literary Detectives
What happens when a writer’s words are read for the last time? If they’re lucky, curious readers make sure that never happens. And if they’re blessed and highly favored, their readers spread the gospel far and wide. Today, Katie and Yves discuss Alice Walker’s search for Zora Neale Hurston and speak with Michael A. Gonzales, a writer who rediscovered Diane Oliver’s writing in a little-known anthology. And the rest, as they say, is literary history. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Ins...
Mar 14, 2024•37 min
Which One Of Y’all Want Beef?
Storytelling ain’t always love, peace, and kumbaya. Sometimes our favorite storytellers beef with each other in public. And we, the audience, eat it up. In this episode, Katie and Yves take a walk down a beef-laden memory lane, reexamining feuds between Zora Neale Hurston and other Harlem Renaissance writers. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at [email protected] See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Mar 07, 2024•34 min
The Last Image
In the U.S., funerals are typically sad occasions, and mourning must be private and appropriate. But as much as Americans like to be uptight about death, post-mortem photography is an art that's been around for a long time, and it's still alive today. Katie and Yves delve into the funerary photography of James Van Der Zee, the controversy of posting images of the dead on social media, and the spectacle of "extreme embalming." Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Ema...
Feb 29, 2024•32 min
The Real-Life Rosa Parks
Most of us have known of Rosa Parks since we were knee-high to a grasshopper, but how much do you actually know about Rosa Parks the person? Katie and Yves discuss fictional depictions of the civil rights activist and speak with her niece, Sheila McCauley Keys to gain a new perspective on Ms. Rosa Parks. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Feb 23, 2024•38 min
Rhyme and Punishment
A new documentary — As We Speak — explores the weaponization of rap lyrics in the legal system, shedding light on using artistic expression as evidence in criminal trials. Directed by J.M. Harper and featuring hip-hop artist Kemba as a guide and character, the film delves into how rap lyrics have been used in court, examining the impact of this practice on the music industry and its artists. Yves and Katie caught up with J.M. and Kemba to talk to them about As We Speak and the implications of cr...
Feb 15, 2024•28 min
Bona Fide Blackface
Blackface was born of white folks’ racism and tired imaginations. It was about how white people co-opted Black stories and impersonated Black folks. But it was also about how Black people subverted those narratives and constructed their own. In this episode, Katie and Yves talk about how the practice of blackface has been a pervasive ill in the history of U.S. culture and entertainment — and an opportunity for Black performers to hone their craft. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Inst...
Feb 08, 2024•30 min
What Would King Do?
It seems like everyone invokes the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., from leftist organizers to conservative pundits. “If Martin Luther King was alive, today he’d….” or “Dr. King didn’t die for you to be…” or “What would King do?” And while Dr. King is no longer alive to weigh in, he did let Ebony Magazine readers know what he’d do in certain situations through his advice column, Advice For Living. In this episode, Katie and Yves take in Dr. King’s advice, flaws and all. Get show notes at onthe...
Feb 01, 2024•34 min
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android
Open in Metacast