Remarkable Receptions: Recent Episodes
Howard Rambsy II
A short take on a widely cited scholarly book on 1960s and 1970s African American artistic production, James Smethurst's The Black Arts Movement: Literary Nationalism in the 1960s and 1970s (2004).
Episode by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
Charting a Black woman character who has been played by multiple actresses
Written by Nicole Dixon
Read by Kassandra Timm
Charting the multiple adaptations of Richard Wright's well-known novel
Written by Nicole Dixon
Read by Kassandra Timm
A brief take on a compelling trailer by Barry Jenkins for the adaptation of a novel by Colson Whitehead
Written by Nicole Dixon
Read by Kassandra Timm
That time Samuel Jackson brought attention to a debate about Black-on-Black casting
Written by Nicole Dixon
Read by Kassandra Timm
Here's one important way that streaming affected adaptations of African American novels
Written by Nicole Dixon
Read by Kassandra Timm
Considering a movie-musical inspired by a Broadway musical, which was influenced by a film adapted from a novel.
Written by Nicole Dixon
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on a legendary dancer and choreographer
Written by Howard Rambsy II and Danielle Hall
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on the works of a autobiographer turned novelist turned filmmaker
Written by Nicole Dixon
Read by Kassandra Timm
Here's a consideration of a relatively small number of authors have been selected for inclusion in anthologies far more than others.
Written by Kenton Rambsy
Read by Kassandra Timm
Finally, a sustained scholarly exploration of a character who, for over eight decades, has haunted our literary and cultural imaginations.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
What if Mark Twain scholar Matt Seybold is right about the influence that Percival Everett's James will have on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?
Considerations of the coverage of Amiri Baraka in Negro Digest/Black World magazine.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take about an effort to build an electronic database that focuses on African American artistic, scholarly, and curatorial communities.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on African American literature and the Cold War period.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
Charting the rise of an important subfield in African American literary studies.
Script by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
Charting the rise of African American literary resources.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on an anthology that contributed to the study of African American writing and Black feminist thought.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A consideration of efforts to define the interconnectivity of African American literary compositions.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on the Norton Anthology of African American Literature.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on the advancement of a literary field during the late 1980s onward.
Script by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on opening lines for African American novels.
Script by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on the adaptations of novels into productions on the screen.
Script by Nicole Dixon
Read by Kassandra Timm
A brief take on the Modern Language Association's “Report on English Majors’ Career Preparation and Outcomes.”
Script by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on intra-racial bias in literature.
Script by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on Jerry W. Ward's idea of a sociology of African American literature.
Script by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on the inner musings of characters from Colson Whitehead's Harlem Shuffle (2021).
Script by Nicole Dixon, Rie’Onna Holmon, Jalen White, and Howard Rambsy.
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on the inner musings of characters from Colson Whitehead's Crook Manifesto (2023).
Script by Nicole Dixon, Rie’Onna Holmon, Jalen White, and Howard Rambsy.
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on why 1987 was so consequential in Black literary history.
Written by Howard Rambsy II. Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take marking our 100th episode
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on the career of Viola Davis.
Written by Nicole Dixon
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on Toni Morrison as the voice actor for her novels.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take about when one Black writer was continuously labeled the leading Black writer.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on the extraordinary voice acting of Dion Graham.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on a memorable scene from Batman and The Outsiders #1 written by Bryan Hill, drawn by Dexter Soy, and colored by Veronica Gandini.
A short take on the memorably character Riley from Nafissa Thompson-Spires's short story "Heads of the Colored People."
A short take about the iconic voice acting of James Earl Jones as Darth Vader.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on Black superheroes and their appearances in the 1990s.
Written by Stephyn Phillips
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on comic Riri Williams, better known as Ironheart, a Black girl superhero.
Written by Cindy Reed
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take about the announcement and pre-publication reception of Ta-Nehisi Coates as a writer for Marvel comics.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on how Nick Fury became a popular Black character in the Marvel universe.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on Angela Bassett's performance in the Black Panther sequel
Written by Terrance Wellmaker
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on Black superheroes and their appearances in the 1980s.
Written by Stephyn Phillips
Read by Kassandra Timm
A few black men fiction readers provide takes on Rion Amilcar Scott's story "The Electric Joy of Service" about robots, AI, slavery, and insurrection.
Narration by Kassandra Timm.
Written by Howard Rambsy II with contributions from Terrance Wellmaker, Albert Smith, and Jalen White
A short take on "one of the most important economic circuits in the history of the world.”
Episode by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on Keneth Kinnamon's extensive bibliographies on Richard Wright.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on Southern Black Writers.
Episode by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take about a far-reaching honor bestowed on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Written by Jewell Humphrey
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take about the dedications offered by Black novelists in their books.
Episode by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on a memorable scene from Toni Morrison's Sula.
Written by Cindy Reed.
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on the prolific and creative work of Colson Whitehead
Episode by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on speculative fiction writer, Octavia Butler.
Written by Ebony Lumumba.
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take about the ways movie producers light-wash black characters.
Episode written and read by Nicole Dixon.
A short take on Thuso Mbedu from South Africa who was cast as a 15-year-old enslaved black girl named Cora in the film adaptation of Colson Whitehead's The Underground Railroad.
Episode written and read by Nicole Dixon
A short take on some varied possibilities of black casting in films adapted from African American novels.
Written by Nicole Dixon
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on novelist Frank Yerby.
Written by Valerie Matthews.
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on superheroes Miles Morales.
Written by Terrance Wellmaker
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on Ben McFall, who managed the fiction section at the Strand for over four decades.
Written by Howard Rambsy
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on an alternative way of understanding a popular Toni Morrison quotation.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on the graphic novel Last on His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Centurywritten by Adrian Matejka and drawn by Youssef Daoudi.
Episode written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror.
Written by Terrance Wellmaker.
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on Wayetu Moore's debut novel about a redheaded Black woman with supernatural powers.
Written by Ebony Lumumba.
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on Black superheroes and their appearances in the 1970s.
Written by Stephyn Phillips.
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on African American novels adapted to film by Barry Jenkins.
Written by Nicole Dixon
Read by Kassandra Timm
An episode about African American Literary Data Work, covering subjects such as frequently featured authors in scholarly journals, film adaptations and Wikipedia pageviews, novel ratings on Goodreads, and Toni Morrison's reception.
The episode was written by Kenton Rambsy and Howard Rambsy II.
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on African American literary data work.
Written by Kenton Rambsy and Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassndra Timm.
A short take on the remarkable reception of Toni Morrison.
Written by Kenton Rambsy and Howard Rambsy II.
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on the key factor that pushes African American novels above 100,000 Wikipedia pageviews.
Written by Kenton Rambsy and Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on African American novel ratings on Goodreads
Written by Kenton Rambsy and Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on six frequently featured authors in the College Language Association (CLA) Journal.
Written by Kenton Rambsy and Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on six frequently featured authors in African American Review.
Written by Kenton Rambsy and Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on the large number of African American literature courses offered at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on August Wilson and film adaptations of his work.
Written by Nicole Dixon.
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on the rise of Marvel's vampire hunter.
Written by Stephyn Phillips.
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on novelist-turned-television writer and producer, Nichelle Tramble Spellman.
Nicole Dixon and Howard Rambsy II.
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on Marc Olden -- a prolific, less well-known novelist.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on Storm, an African woman who has the power to control weather.
Written by Stephyn Phillips
Read by Gigi Monroe
A short take about our podcast -- a project that offers commentary about popular and critical responses to African American novels, novelists, and more.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on the adaption of the novel Waiting to Exhale into a film.
Written by Nicole Dixon
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on how Ta-Nehisi Coates envisions a team of women special forces in the comic book Black Panther.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on the History of Black Writing's expansive collection of novels.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on surveys of African American literature.
Written by Elizabeth Cali and Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on the Toni Morrison Society's Bench by the Road project.
Written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm.
A short take on a character that many readers view as one of the smartest characters in African American fiction.
Episode by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on Oprah Winfrey's contributions to film and African American literature.
Written by Nicole Dixon
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on John Stewart, an African American character who became the premier Green Lantern for a generation of fans.
Episode by Stephyn Phillips
Read by Gigi Monroe
A short take on responses to a novel-turned-musical.
Episode by Carmin Wong
Read by Kassandra Timm
Among the most taught, most discussed, most notable novels by Black women, we can trace Harriet Jacobs’s legacy.
Episode by Elizabeth Cali
Read by Gigi Monroe
A short take on responses to a novel-turned-film.
Episode by Nicole Dixon
Read by Kassandra Timm
Are the people who ban books ever right, if only by accident?
Episode by Kathryn Warren
Kathryn Hamilton Warren is a Distinguished Senior Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Texas at Arlington. She specializes in American literature.
Read by Kassandra Timm
A short take on how Static and Static Shock reflect the expanded dimension of novelistic storytelling by Black creative thinkers.
Episode by Stephyn Phillips
Read by GiGi Monroe
A short take on an interconnected thread of intellectualism in novels by black men.
Episode by Howard Rambsy
Episode read by Kassandra Timm.
Terry McMillan's novel was among a chorus of late twentieth-century books that signaled a reawakening in the African American cultural imagination and revealed a strong interest in the representation of Black love, romance, and marriage.
Episode by Aneeka Ayanna Henderson.
Episode read by Kassandra Timm.
Aneeka Ayanna Henderson is a professor of sexuality, women's, and gender studies at Amherst College. She is the author of Veil and Vow: Marriage Matters in Contemporary African American Culture.
A short take on how students at a college in Georgia respond to Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal."
Episode by Jennifer Colatosti.
Read by Kassandra Timm.
Jennifer Colatosti is Associate Professor and Interim Associate Chair of English at Georgia State University’s Perimeter College. She writes fiction and creative nonfiction, and since 2018 has co-organized the literary festival Revival: Lost Southern Voices.
Despite revieing positive reviews, why did Sutton Griggs have some unfavorable feelings about the circumstances surrounding his first book?
Episode by John Gruesser.
Read by GiGi Monroe.
Senior Research Scholar at Sam Houston State University, John Gruesser is the author of A Literary Life of Sutton E. Griggs: The Man on the Firing Line (Oxford University Press 2022), the editor of Animals in the American Classics: How Natural History Inspired Great Fiction (Texas A&M University Press 2022), and the co-editor of a scholarly edition of Griggs’s 1905-06 novel The Hindered Hand (West Virginia University Press 2017), a Broadview Edition of Pauline E. Hopkins's 1901-02 serial novel Hagar's Daughter (2021), and African American Writers Respond to Poe, a special issue of the journal Poe Studies: History, Theory, Interpretation (2023).
Here's a short take on where all those Black Women Writers courses come from.
Episode by Howard Rambsy II.
Read by Kassandra Timm.
Angie Thomas's The Hate U Give found a raw edge that audiences were keen to address.
Episode written by Ebony Lumumba, Ph.D. -- an associate professor and chair of English at Jackson State University. She writes, teaches, and thinks most about Black women's resistance and Global South literature.
The episode was read by Kassandra Timm.
College students are often excited to discuss the subtle radicalism of Iola Leroy by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.
Episode by Emily VanDette -- Professor of English at SUNY Fredonia.
The 1990s gave way to a vibrant literary outpouring of African American novels that offered myriad representational possibilities freeing readers and writers alike.
Episode by Richard Schur -- Professor of English at Drury University. He is the author of Parodies of Ownership: Hip-Hop Aesthetics and Intellectual Property Law and co-editor (with Lovalerie King) of Justice Unveiled: African American Culture and the Law.
Episode read by Kassandra Timm
A graphic novel engages black history and Captain America.
Episode by Stephyn Phillips. Read by Kassandra Timm.
A brief take on a photo titled "The Sisterhood, 1977," which has been a source of inspiration for countless readers and viewers.
Episode by Courtney Thorsson. Read by Kassandra Timm.
Courtney Thorsson, an associate professor in the English Department at the University of Oregon. She is the author of Women’s Work: Nationalism and Contemporary African American Women's Novels and The Sisterhood: Black Women's Literary Organizing, an interpretive cultural history of The Sisterhood forthcoming from Columbia University Press. Courtney is grateful to poet and scholar Harryette Mullen for her work to correctly identify the women in the photo.
How an excerpt from an upcoming novel became a popular short story.
Episode by Kenton Rambsy.
Here's why Richard Wright’s autobiography Black Boy,Margaret Walker Alexander’s novel Jubileeand John Oliver Killens’s novel ‘Sippi are held in high regard by most black folks from Mississippi.
Episode by C. Liegh McInnis
Here's how a book can be initially misunderstood and ignored, then gain literary recognition and acclaim, become adopted by the education system and taught broadly, and then become banned.
Episode by Richard Schur. Read by Kassandra Timm.
The story of Richard Wright’s Native Son, the first black American best-seller, a novel that is both a shocking page-turner, and a philosophical provocation stirring controversy to this day.
Episode by Joseph G. Ramsey, a professor of English and American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Read by Kassandra Timm
Here's how high school students at a school in Maryland responded to Toni Morrison's the Seven Days from Song of Solomon.
Episode by Abbey Morgran.
Here's the story of how Ralph Ellison’s novel Invisible Man became a defining midcentury Black novel.
Episode by Laura Vrana
The script was read by Kassandra Timm.
A brief discussion of the prolific scholarship on African American novels by scholar Trudier Harris.
Episode by Howard Rambsy II
The script was read by Kassandra Timm.
College students at one university have expressed a range of feelings about the many new words that they encounter when reading Colson Whitehead’s novel The Intuitionist.
Episode by Howard Rambsy II
The script was read by Kassandra Timm.
Paul Beatty’s novel The Sellout became the first novel by an American to win the prestigious Man Booker Prize in 2016.
Episode by Cameron Leader-Picone
The multifaceted responses to a novel about a Black woman becoming
Episode written by Shanna G. Benjamin
The script was read by Kassandra Timm.
What can we learn about the differences among the 11 novels Toni Morrison published when we consider her word usage?
Episode by Howard Rambsy II
The stories behind the reception to Larsen’s novel.
Episode written by Donavan Ramon
The script was read by Kassandra Timm.
Key responses to a murder mystery published in the early 20th century
Episode written by Alisha Knight
The script was read by Kassandra Timm.
A fresh conceptual framework emerges that gives us tools to discover unique ways to engage with classic novels, like Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon.
Episode by Christel Temple
The script was read by Kassandra Timm.
The multifaceted responses to Walker’s novel
Episode written by Kathy Lou Schultz
The script was read by Kassandra Timm.
Men of various backgrounds and identities who are all incarcerated at Parchman met weekly to discuss Jesmyn Ward’s novel.
Episode by Ebony Lumumba
The script was read by Kassandra Timm.
Ebony Lumumba, Ph.D. is an associate professor and chair of English at Jackson State University. She writes, teaches, and thinks most about Black women's resistance and Global South literature.
Who would’ve thought that a joke-telling novelist would have one of the largest vocabularies in African American literature?
Episode by Howard Rambsy II
The script was read by Kassandra Timm.
Why did Octavia Butler become so popular on Wikipedia in 2018?
Episode written by Howard Rambsy II and Kenton Rambsy
A brief narrative about Ernest Gaines's novel The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman being adapted into a movie and becoming an instant classic.
Episode by Keith Clark
The script was read by Kassandra Timm.
Sometimes a novel proves controversial, and the writer finds herself in a courtroom.
Episode by Richard Schur
The script was read by Kassandra Timm.
Richard Schur is Professor of English Program at Drury University. He is the author of Parodies of Ownership: Hip-Hop Aesthetics and Intellectual Property Law and co-editor (with Lovalerie King) of Justice Unveiled: African American Culture and the Law.
Have you ever wondered about the African American novels with the largest vocabularies? A look at literary data offers some answers.
Episode by Howard Rambsy II
Pauline Hopkins published three novels in three years. How did she do it?
Episode by Elizabeth Cali
The script was read by Kassandra Timm.
The story of how Black writers and intellectuals made sure that Toni Morrison's novel would be acknowledged for decades.
Episode written by Courtney Thorsson
The script was read by Kassandra Timm.
In October 1937, an aspiring, 29-year-old author wrote a negative assessment of a recently published novel. Here's the story of what happened next.
Episode written by Howard Rambsy II
The script was read by Kassandra Timm.
Understanding the reception to Ward’s novel
Episode written by Ebony Lumumba.
Ebony Lumumba, Ph.D. is an associate professor and chair of English at Jackson State University. She writes, teaches, and thinks most about Black women's resistance and Global South literature.
Remarkable Receptions is a podcast where scholars provide intriguing, unusual, illuminating, surprising, controversial, popular, and little-known responses to African American novels.
The extraordinary reception to a novel about an escape from slavery.
Episode written by Howard Rambsy II and Elizabeth Cali