The Bottom Line Podcast: Recent Episodes
Janah Richardson
As future global leaders and thinkers, the ability to comprehend and apply pragmatic solutions to real-world issues in our youth equips us with the tools for agency and activism. This podcast features guests from a multitude of backgrounds engaging in dialogue about politics and progress. Our aim is to bring uncomfortable yet necessary conversations to the forefront while promoting diversity of thought and global perspectives.
The Bottom Line: The best thing we can do for our community is what we can do for ourselves.
In this conversation about mental health in the Black community, Janah is joined by Nyla Bowers, a current freshman at Cornell University. Janah and Nyla approach the discussion through multiple lenses (including historical and contemporary) to explain the conditions that create Black exhaustion and the roots of the stigma surrounding mental health practices.
Mental health is especially important for the Black community. Generational trauma has been passed down since the enslavement of Black people. Trauma manifests itself onto our bodies, in our genes, and in our daily social interactions and relationships. Minimizing the necessity and urgency of Black people’s mental and emotional well-being poses a grave threat to our liberation. When leaders and individuals are burnt out and suffering from mental exhaustion, they are not equipped to function, excel, and advance social movements. Nyla and Janah dive into the necessity of self-care, spirituality, and choice in bringing levity and hope to Black people's lives.
The Bottom Line: Weaponize your white privilege to dismantle systemic racism.
In this episode, Janah is joined by Lily Gies, a senior at Walter Payton, in a conversation about allyship and activism. When discussing race, empathy and honesty are essential. However, the inability to interrogate one’s implicit bias and under systemic issues from outside perspectives prevents fruitful conversations from occurring.
In this discussion, Lily and Janah discuss the ways white privilege, white guilt, and internal bias not only make discussions about race more difficult but sustain and uphold cycles of violence against people of color and water down movements. The two unpack why it is difficult for white people to recognize their bias and acknowledge the ways they are complicit in perpetuating structural issues. Lily and Janah explain what effective activism looks like and how white people can use their position in society to work with people of color to advance liberation movements.
The Bottom Line: You will grow where you are planted.
Today, Janah is joined by Jon-Edward Stokes, a current sophomore at Howard University. In this conversation, JE and Janah talk about what it means to explore and define your Black identity in college and the symbolic power of Black students' presence and success at HBCUs and PWIs.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are entirely necessary for our country. They were created for Black people when Black students were barred from attending predominately white institutions (PWIs). However, through government mandates and more inclusive admissions, Black students have access to PWIs and an array of college options. Janah and JE explore what those options look like for Black students. JE also explains his process and decision in choosing to attend an elite HBCU instead of an elite PWI. Ultimately, the college admissions process is about best fit and choosing the community that will best suit you.
Hello, everyone! Welcome to Season 2 of The Bottom Line Podcast! This season, we will talk about race, faith, politics, and progress. After being on a hiatus, the show is back and better than ever. Be prepared for more enriching and insightful conversations, increased engagement and consistency, and more opportunities for your feedback. You can expect weekly uploads wherever you listen to the show and content throughout the week on Instagram @thebottomline.podcast.
The Bottom Line: When the debate space draws a circle that will shut you out, design your own circle that will draw you in.
Today, Janah is joined by Maggie, a sophomore at the University of Chicago, as they discuss competitive debate. Although debate teaches young people to be politically and socially aware as they research and argue complex domestic and foreign policy, the nature of the sport creates lines that have proven to be harmful to certain debaters.
Elite debate has historically been dominated by white, male, and wealthy students, widening disparities between students who do not have access to resources. Janah and Maggie discuss the racism, toxic masculinity, and classism that have defined argument preferences, judge paradigms, and debate styles. The two draw parallels between the overcompetitiveness and elitism that appeared in their team to the larger debate community.
The Bottom Line: Black and Asian liberation are not mutually exclusive.
In this episode, Janah is joined by Alyssa Shih, an Asian American social justice advocate. They discuss the importance of creating solidarity between the Asian and Black communities. Bridging the gap between the communities is crucial as both groups work towards progress.
Janah and Alyssa dissect the model minority myth and analyze how it has been used as a tool for white supremacy by driving a wedge between Black and Asian people. The myth was created as a tool to disempower the Black power movement and pin minority groups against each other creating a false idea that progress in one group leads to disadvantage in the other. Deconstructing the model minority myth is crucial to ensure the master's tools are not used to dismantle the master's house.
The Bottom Line: Let's argue less and understand more.
In this episode, Janah talks with Max, a recent University of Michigan graduate and founder of the political news outlet Civil. Civil’s weekly newsletters provide liberal and conservative perspectives on current political events so readers can be informed on both sides of an issue. Civil discourse has become especially difficult to engage in as the country seems to grow more misinformed and polarized.
Max and Janah discuss why civility matters in our conversations and why it’s so difficult for people on opposing sides to choose civility. They talk about how tribalism, identity politics, and the filibuster have potentially played a role in the hostility that seems to facilitate our discussions. Disagreements founded on misunderstanding and compromised facts prevent the nation from moving towards greater empathy and progress.
The Bottom Line: There’s power in transforming a reluctant vote into persistent demands.
In this episode, Janah speaks with Raquel, a Howard freshman, about Biden’s plan for Black America. The Black vote was crucial for Joe Biden’s election as president, and his administration must be challenged to meet his campaign promises for the Black community.
Raquel and Janah share their thoughts about Trump’s impeachment trial and how the failure to acquit him may reflect Congress and our country’s values. They transition to a conversation about the specifics of Biden’s Lift Every Voice Agenda for Black America and how the COVID relief, economic, and criminal justice reform plans have the potential to mitigate the issues that have plagued the Black community. They end the conversation with a discussion of Raquel’s first year at Howard and HBCU pride.
The Bottom Line: Death and life are in the power of the tongue.
In this episode, Janah talks with Daysha, a powerful spoken word poet and orator, about language and the power of words as tools for expression and repression. The two discuss the language that governs our lives - AAVE, code-switching, “the King’s English” - and how having access to language can be used to mobilize entire groups.
They discuss why a world governed by white English is dangerous and what criminalized speech looks like within the criminal justice system, the workforce, and within our own families. Janah and Daysha even talk about the use and potential removal of certain terms from (Black) speech, like the n-word and “slaves.”
The Bottom Line: Blackness cannot be confined to one singular definition.
In this episode, Janah talks with Albert about what it means to be Black in America. In America, Blackness is often defined as being African American, which crowds out the multiplicity and diversity of the Black community. Albert shares how he shaped his Black identity within the African American community as a Ghanian American.
Janah and Albert discuss the divide between African Americans and Africans and explore the role false narratives and miseducation play in the deepening of that divide. They cover topics surrounding culture, ancestry, and internalized racism, and explain how an embrace of differences can be used to counter systemic racism and tear down systems of oppression.
The Bottom Line: We can't afford to let the past define our future.
In this episode, I talk with Francisco, a passionate community-based activist, about the power of hope. We unpack our initial thoughts and emotions after the pro-Trump protestors stormed Capitol Hill in an effort to challenge Joe Biden’s election. These events can make it hard to measure progress and find the value in our work when it’s always met with opposition.
We discuss the difficulty in balancing school life and activism and how and why they choose hope. Francisco and I define the many ways progress can be measured, but ultimately understand that hope is progressive. Choosing hope over despair is crucial in moving beyond the fear of rejection and invalidation so you can use your voice and platform to shift narratives.
The Bottom Line: To truly understand ourselves and each other we must place ourselves in the context of our environments.
Sonya and Janah grew up in Lincoln Park, a wealthy neighborhood in Chicago, and attended a predominantly white elementary school. Janah, a 17-year-old Black girl, and Sonya, who is half Korean and white, both learned ways to navigate spaces where they were one of few people that looked like them. In this conversation, Sonya and Janah explore a host of issues regarding personal privilege, socioeconomic status, and beauty standards, concepts the two only began to grapple with as sixth graders, while also juggling fickle middle school drama and developing crushes.
Hi! Welcome, I’m excited you’re here. This podcast makes me really excited because there’s so much to unpack and talk through and so many unfinished conversations to continue. Although we may not walk away from each conversation with a final conclusion, we can find commonality and gain an added perspective by sharing lived experiences. These conversations are just the beginning of the collective healing, progression, and inclusion that we all need to take part in. I hope this podcast will evoke hope and a sense of agency, and provide the tools to transform emotions of frustration, uncertainty, hopelessness into transformative work.