Third time's the charm, right? With home and work being the two places we are at most often, there is something special about whatever your third space is. Whether it is your church, local bar, art studio, or the gym, these places are where people choose to go to enjoy themselves and those around them. Without institutionalized roles, these places typically have a healthy mix of people from all walks of life, historically leading to discourse and advocacy. Join our hosts as they introduce the th...
Feb 19, 2025•50 min•Season 11Ep. 1
Hey KSFam! We are finally releasing the audio from our yearly live recording event - Kinda Sorta Live! We had a great time discussing community, coalition, and collaboration with representatives from cultural affinity groups on campus. Tune in to hear about what it means to be a student of color on campus, and learn about how different groups can assist each other! This episode’s hosts: Shanice Handley and Logan Toe, with guests from the Indigenous Student Association, Panasia, Organization of B...
Dec 06, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 10Ep. 2
Welcome back KSFam! This is the first episode of our tenth season! To celebrate this milestone, we are diving into our namesake - what does it mean to be Kinda Sorta Brown? For some of us, it is term that gathers all people of color together. For others, it resembles a personal message of a multi-cultural background. No matter how we see it, we can agree "Kinda Sorta Brown" is a mantra that projects unity. That leads us to our broad theme for this season: community and coalition among people of ...
Oct 15, 2024•18 min•Season 10Ep. 1
Hey KSFam! It all starts with mom although we’ve come to the end of the road, we just can’t let you go without discussing the pivotal role black mothers play in their sons’ lives. The portrayal of Black men, in media, continues to have negative effects on the way Black boys perceive themselves and grow into adulthood. One way in which this poor representation is often combated is through the black mother’s presence. Join hosts, Aaron, Logan, and Ethan on our last episode of the season as they si...
Apr 02, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Season 9Ep. 4
Welcome back KSFam! Listen in as Zara and Hina consider Black womanhood through the lens of expressive action, manifesto and poetry, and hear from UChicago Underground Collective’s Lauren Dotson discuss their relationship to expression through poetry. Stay tuned until the end to hear a live performance of one of Dotson’s original works reflecting on learning love through her mother’s grief. ______________________________________ This episode's hosts: Zara Salman and Hina Singh Join the KSFam! We...
Mar 19, 2024•40 min•Season 9Ep. 3
Welcome back KSFam! This episode opens the door to the chilling world of black girlhood and horror from this unique perspective. Explore the eerie realities of everyday life through the lens of black girlhood and how the horrors of her world take on a hauntingly distinct form when portrayed in white media. We unveil the captivating journey of black horror in the film industry, offering a glimpse into the untapped potential for horror to become a harbinger of liberation. _________________________...
Feb 16, 2024•42 min•Season 9Ep. 2
Welcome back KSFam! We welcome you to a fresh season of Kinda Sorta Brown! We invite you to join us on the life journey centered in Blackness through the perspective of a black girl. As she grows into adulthood, as does everything around her- this brings us to talking points. What makes us distinctly ourselves? What role does Blackness play in influencing ourselves and our surroundings? We’ll discuss everything and more. Tap in KSFam! ______________________________________ This episode's hosts: ...
Oct 24, 2023•21 min•Season 9Ep. 1
Join Sam and Hope as they reimaging sex work with Dr. Zoya Sameen postdoctoral fellow teaching in the Department of History at the University of Chicago. They dive into the ins and outs of sex work past and present and lead into a conversation on the future of policy surrounding sex work. Organizations to plug into: Support Ho(s)e- venmo: @SxHxCollective SWOP-Chicago ______________________________________ This Episode’s Host: Hope Houston and Samantha Herrera Join the KSFam! We saved you a seat ...
Oct 03, 2023•48 min•Season 8Ep. 4
Looking back on Covid-19 what could have been done differently? In what ways can we change our perspectives to address the ongoing pandemic? In this episode, join Narvella and Aaron as they discuss the Covid-19 pandemic past, present, and future, with an emphasis on folks with disabilities and particularly Long Covid. They reimagine with Gabriel San Emeterio, National Organizer and Co-founder of Strategies for High Impact (S4HI) and Long Covid Justice. LongCOVIDJustice.org ______________________...
Sep 14, 2023•59 min•Season 8Ep. 3
Think of your favorite museum. How is the museum layed out? Who or what does the museum give space to? What is exhibited? Where are said items from and how were they obtained? War, violence, and theft underlie the history of museums in addition to the artifacts that lie within them — a colonial undercurrent that is only beginning to be addressed in the present day. In this episode, join Hope and Jon as they discuss cultural repatriation and how black and brown people can reclaim their own narrat...
Jan 24, 2023•47 min
In the two and half years since KSB’s inception, going on eight seasons, the number of transformational guests we’ve welcomed, and the countless KSFam we have been listening in, our time has been spent learning, questioning, and diving into issues that matter to our POC communities. The opportunity to discuss these topics is vital for our communities to share our stories and experiences. But, as we know, our communities can not be limited to a one time listen, episode, or story. We must reevalua...
Dec 30, 2022•41 min
Discussions on Palestine in the U.S. are always framed as a “conflict”, when the issue is not really a matter of two equally matched opponents, but rather the occupation and extraction of resources by Israel that has displaced Palestinians from their homes. Although Palestinians still in Palestine and those spread throughout the world continue to face challenges from the Israeli state, Palestinians continue to resist, persevere, and uplift each other, their traditions, culture, and homeland. We ...
Dec 27, 2022•45 min
When you think about the non-profit sector, what do you think: harmful or helpful? As the third largest workforce in the United States, the nonprofit sector creates 11.4 million jobs… What was once a web of grassroots and community-centered organizations has gained so much momentum that it has evolved into a multimillion dollar industry. In our episode, your hosts, Glen and Memphis, explore what has been lost along the way and who is still gaining from the non-profit world as it exists today. We...
May 27, 2022•45 min
It is no exaggeration to say that cash rules everything around us. The need for money dictates where we work, what we eat, and how we spend our free time. For those who are in an area of low income and low resources, it is even harder to function. It is easy to get stuck in a cycle that keeps one in the same place of poverty. In this episode, our hosts Lena and Aaron explore a big solution to this problem: education. They take a deep dive into the history of America and what events lead many peo...
May 20, 2022•55 min
KSFam, before listening, pause! Have you calculated the time cost of you tuning into this episode? In a world run inequitably and exploitatively by capital, much of our existence revolves around the labor we perform to generate personal and corporate profits. Season 7’s opening episode features a conversation between this season’s hosts, who reflect on their access to capital and relationship with money, on cultural, political, and societal levels. Join us as we share our thoughts for something ...
Apr 28, 2022•40 min
What exactly is our future? How do we envision it? After four intense season episodes where the KSB Team tried defining the future from four unique angles, we’re turning the questions inward once again. Here, we share our reflections of where we imagine ourselves once we have reached our imagined futures…and it just so happens that in said futures, we are find ourselves scattered throughout the vastness of the universe. Taking direct inspiration from episode 3 of this season, Black to the Future...
Apr 16, 2022•27 min
Green spaces are vital to our growth and survival as people. These spaces help provide sanctuary to care for ourselves and allow us to strengthen our connections to others and our community. The amazing benefits of engaging with green spaces, like gardens, however, may not be immediately apparent given the systemic forces that keep BIPoC from accessing places where we can be in nature. But as it so often happens, BIPoC have not allowed these obstacles to get in the way of sowing seeds of change ...
Mar 10, 2022•47 min
What does it mean to practice self care? And why is self care so important for Black people, especially Black women? With this on her mind, Narvella set out to explore the answers to these questions. And in seeking answers, she consulted with family and friends by asking them: how do you practice self care? For this episode, we encourage you to take a minute to take a deep breath, relax, close your eyes, and think about what self care means to you. What will you do today to care of you? (We hope...
Feb 24, 2022•31 min
Do Black people exist in the future? This question, a tough question, seems to sit unanswered amongst the Black community. Often the victims of police violence and discrimination, a people where a Black girl can literally disappear without a trace, it’s a real question. One way to think about futures is to literally dream about it, and there is so much rich literature that provides contexts, solutions, and more questions on this very topic. In this episode, we’re discussing the futures of not ju...
Feb 13, 2022•50 min
“There is no beginning and there is no end, and this drum is a big part of who we are as people…I use my drum when I sing to people and I refer to this drum as the Heartbeat of Mother Earth”. (If you’re curious about how this episode got its name and/or the full context of our conversation with Ronnie Preston, Cultural & Education Programs Director at the American Indian Center in Chicago, make sure to tune in to this episode’s Brown Breakdown!) At the core of “Heartbeat of Mother Earth”, KS...
Jan 28, 2022•44 min
Happy new year KSFam and welcome back to a brand-new season of KSB! We’ve missed you all so much (as much as you’ve missed us we hope) and sitting here knowing the kinds of episodes we’ll be dropping in ✨the future✨, all we can say is, get hyped!! The new year is always dedicated to new beginnings and looking to what’s ahead, so we’re sitting down for our sixth season, “This is Our Future”, to discuss what exactly that looks like. Your caring, loving, and overall wholesome hosts for this season ...
Jan 20, 2022•42 min
In the finale for our sixth season “Art, Life, Resistance”, artists from all across the UChicago campus have partnered with the KSB Team to bring you an intimate look into what it means to create and share art for one’s self and in one’s community. This episode features breakdancers, sculptors, poets, and many more diverse artists who you won’t want to miss! For the KSB Team, it is an honor to feature all of these talented voices on the episode and we hope that this art exhibition delivered thro...
Dec 17, 2021•50 min
Artists of color are constantly being told how they can and should engage with their art and consumers are always placing their own artistic expressions onto pieces that aren’t their own. But the real beauty of art is that art can be anything. And within its “anything-ness” art carries meaning, identity, and experience. But who gets to determine what one's art is? And how do BIPOC artists feel about others dictating what their art should be known as? What does it mean to police artistry? _______...
Nov 23, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Countless artists of color have been erased from history books. In recent years, historians have been widening which artists receive their due recognition (like with Beethoven!), with many who work explicitly to fight whitewashed history. From composers of the classical era to iconic dancers of the 1900s, we’ll be taking a look at how artists have been forced to conceal their melanin - or how they have embraced and celebrated it in their art. In this episode, Narvella and Hope come to uncover th...
Nov 04, 2021•43 min
Comedy is a vessel for the truth. Ever wondered why every great joke, every surprised laugh, feels like a realization? The art of laughing at oneself and the surrounding world, even when one might be more inclined to cry, is the art form by which movies like “Get Out” can elicit tears of laughter and sorrow, simultaneously. This is why the varied and many experiences of Black people in predominantly white societies, from driving while Black to exercising while Black, can be so tactfully spun int...
Oct 07, 2021•12 min
Art does not simply “imitate” life. Art IS life, in its most unadulterated, unabridged forms. Our brightest moments of humanity and darkest hours of adversity are recorded, without fail, in a world full of color, language, movement, sound, taste, space, and time. From racial and social injustice to a world-altering pandemic, art became the life raft of many. Or, rather, it was exposed for what it always has been: a universal healing agent, a fearless tool of self-definition, an extension of our ...
Sep 23, 2021•37 min
Hopelessly romantic people are people who like to dream. Often, this means living out romantic fantasies through the film industry. But if you happen to be a Latinx person of color like this week's host, Fernanda, you might have noticed it's often hard to see yourself and the people of your community represented in romantic films. Latinx stories and characters in Hollywood have repeatedly been pushed to the margins. In today's episode, we're exploring exactly why that is and what it means to see...
Aug 12, 2021•47 min
Where Is the (Self) Love?: Beyond Beauty Standards takes a dive into Self-Love and Beauty Standards for minority communities and looks at how geography can be intertwined in them. With numerous personal anecdotes from around the country and world this episode aims to get the scoop on the self-love journey of People of Color. Get some tips on how to continue or begin your journey, as well as confined in those with a similar journey to yours. This episode we heard Marina, Sahana, Rose,Evelyn, Aide...
Jul 29, 2021•36 min
On revolutionary love is an exploration of the stereotypes that often plague communities of color and how we as a collective have flipped those tropes on their heads in the past and in the present. Starting with the once deemed radical demonstration of self love with the Black Panthers to more common sayings of today, the demystification of: “black don’t crack”, “brown don’t frown”, “asian don’t raisin”. How truthful are these sayings? And how do we make these generalizations valid with generati...
Jul 15, 2021•40 min
KSB has spent the season talking about some of the recent headlines that captivated us and significantly impacted Black and Brown communities. But why stop there? In this finale of Season 3 of Kinda Sorta Brown, we have one question: what headlines are living in our guests’ minds rent-free? Take a trip with host Lena Diasti through an imagined day of very real news stories (about everything from Critical Race Theory to UK regulations on chronic pain) as encountered and described by past guest sp...
Jun 24, 2021•29 min
