StrangeFruitPod: Recent Episodes
StrangeFruitPod
Strange Fruit is a weekly podcast produced by 89.3 WFPL and Louisville Public Media. Our hosts, community activist Jaison Gardner and University of Louisville Professor Dr. Kaila Story, examine politics and pop culture from a black gay perspective.
Join Jai and Doc as they examine black gay life through the voices and stories of those of us who live it....and live it well! A new episode is posted every Saturday.
No matter how you spell it, say it, or intend for it to be received, the N-word remains a hot button issue. The rules seem pretty clear for white people - don’t say it, ever. But it gets more complicated for non-black people of color.
Writer and podcaster Olga Marina Segura joins us this week to discuss the complicated relationship between Latinx folks and the N-word. Even though she identifies as Afro-Latina (her father is a black man), Segura says she’ll never feel comfortable using the word as a term of endearment and challenges other Latinx folks to think more critically about using the word.
A teenager named Cameron Terrell was arrested in October on suspicion of murder in an alleged gang killing in South Los Angeles. Before you try to guess where this story is going, you should know: Cameron Terrell is a white, and from a wealthy L.A. suburb.
Terrell was able to make bail: $5 million.
At trial, he was acquitted of the charges, leaving some to wonder how differently Terrell's story might have ended had he been black, poor, and actually from the neighborhood where the shooting happened. Did the jury give him the benefit of the doubt because he was white?
Nicole Santa Cruz covered the story for the L.A. Times. She joins us this week to tell us more about the case.
And in Halloween-related hot topics, a woman and a ghost get on an airplane...stop us if you’ve heard this one.
(Photo by Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
This week actors Crystian Wiltshire and Neill Robertson join us to discuss their roles in the current production of “Dracula” at Actors Theater of Louisville. Actors Theater has been producing this vampire tale, based on Bram Stoker’s gothic vampire fable, each Halloween season for more than 20 years.
In Juicy Fruit, NBC News host Megyn Kelly offended just about everybody when she defended blackface and other racist costumes. Commentator Don Lemon weighed in and, of course, so do we!
Author and historian David Williams joins us this week to talk about his new book "Secrets of Old Louisville" which is filled with the forgotten lore, hidden treasures and shocking secrets that are a part of the enchanted Louisville neighborhood’s history.
In 1982, Williams also founded one of the largest LGBTQ+ archives and libraries in the country, the Williams-Nichols Collection, which is now housed at the University of Louisville and contains more than 1,700 books, buttons, bar flyers and other LGBTQ+ memorabilia related to Louisville and the country.
Later in Juicy Fruit, Jai and Doc discuss rapper Remy Ma’s controversial stance on the use of the N-word by white rapper Lil Xan and other non-black people of color, including Robert Ortiz, the gay and Puerto Rican New Yorker who got caught on video using the word to insult his black Lyft driver.
And finally, Jai teases that Doc and her wife Missy have something very interesting planned for their Halloween costumes.
This week on Strange Fruit, Doc finally gets to interview one of her faves: Zoie Fenty, better known online as GotDamnZo.
Zoie has over 4 million followers on Instagram, where he's carved out a niche. He edits viral videos (especially videos of kids being funny) to make it look like he's having a conversation with the subject on Facetime.
He also watches outrageous hair and nail tutorial videos and posts his reactions.
Zoie joins us to talk about his work, how he got his start, and his favorite things about internet fame.
Coming up on this week's episode... Intern Brandon takes over with a show about sports news. Will he shoot a home run or strike out in the fourth quarter?
Tony Award-winning actor, signer, and songwriter Idina Menzel originated the role of Maureen Johnson in the Broadway and film versions of "Rent," kicking off a celebrated career and solidifying her place as an LGBTQ icon. She spoke to Jaison Gardner and Kaila Story, hosts of WFPL's Strange Fruit podcast, in anticipation of her appearance in Louisville next month.
Menzel will perform at the Louisville Palace on August 6th. Check out the Strange Fruit Facebook page for a chance to win tickets to the show and a meet & greet with the artistl.
When you invite your mamas onto the radio, anything could happen. We learned a lot about each other, and we asked some of our friends to share stories about their mamas, too. Catch the full episode this weekend at strangefruitpod.org.
Coming up on Saturday's show, we talk with Dr. Yaba Blay about her new video series, "Professional Black Girl." Learn more here & listen this Saturday at strangefruitpod.org: http://yabablay.com/professional-black-girl/
Dr. Brittney Cooper joins us this week to talk about Adele's Grammy Awards mention of her "black friends," and why we should look deeper than our initial irritation at her comments. Here's Dr. Cooper's article on it for Cosmopolitan: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/music/a8775477/adele-black-friends-at-the-grammys/
We want you to listen to the whole show. But if you don't have time, this is a pretty accurate summary.
She was the first openly-gay comic ever to appear on American television, and now she plays Big Boo on the Netflix hit, Orange Is the New Black. Triple threat Lea DeLaria joins us this week to talk about her multi-faceted career (did you know she's released six jazz albums?), how OITNB proved that viewers were hungry for diverse and complex female characters, and what it's like being an out & proud butch lesbian in the entertainment industry.
Saturday night at 10 on 89.3 WFPL, or WFPL.org.
(Photo credit: Sophy Holland)
Coming up on this week's episode of Strange Fruit:
More disrespect from UofL President James Ramsey, who agreed to meet with students of color but didn't let them speak, then accused them of being poorly-educated by the school, and badly-raised by their mothers.
WFPL Capitol Bureau Chief Ryland Barton helps us digest the results of this week's election and understand what might happen next.
And Dr. Carol Anderson was in Louisville this week to deliver the 9th Annual Anne Braden Memorial Lecture, and she stopped by our studio to drop some truths about racism in America, from slavery to Ferguson - including one of the best takedowns of voter ID laws we've ever heard.
Get hip to Dr. Pauli Murray! Friend to the show Dr. Brittney Cooper calls her "the most important legal scholar you've never heard of." Check out Dr. Cooper's work here: http://www.salon.com/2015/02/18/black_queer_feminist_erased_from_history_meet_the_most_important_legal_scholar_youve_likely_never_heard_of/
Coming up this weekend on Strange Fruit, Frederick Smith, author of "Play It Forward," talks about the importance of three-dimensional black and brown characters in literature, and his own path to becoming a writer.
And charges are dropped against Shelton McElroy, a Louisville activist who was arrested after being asked to leave 4th Street Live. He says racism is at play in the entertainment complex's dress code enforcement.
Plus, all the tea from the Grammys, from Bey & Ledisi, to Kanye & Beck. We have a lot to catch up on... See you Saturday night at 10!
Coming up on Saturday's show: Comedy legend Wanda Sykes! Plus, hip-hop scholar Mickey Hess, who co-authored a new biography of Ol' Dirty Bastard with Dirty's best friend, Buddha Monk.
This week on Strange Fruit, Fairness Campaign Director Chris Hartman joins us to talk about this week's Supreme Court decision (or lack thereof) about same sex marriage. We also give a shout out to the folks who have been working for three years to pass a fairness law in Berea; the measure was defeated this week. And in Juicy Fruit... that's so Raven. Need we say more?