Luminary Spotlight: Recent Episodes
Luminary
Luminary Spotlight is a handpicked selection of episodes from the award-winning subscription podcast network Luminary. For more original shows from diverse voices and some of today’s top creators sign up at apple.co/luminary or www.luminarypodcasts.com
“How do you keep a despondent person alive?”—Dave Chappelle
Hosted by: Talib Kweli, yasiin bey, and Dave Chappelle
Featuring, in order of appearance: Radio Rahim, Mo Amer, Chris Rock, Donnell Rawlings, Jarobi White, and Questlove
Contains audio clips featuring Robin Williams and Richard Pryor, and music from Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, Robert Glasper, The Roots, and Stevie Wonder.
Recorded in Ohio, Summer 2020
More episodes coming soon to Luminary, and the Luminary channel on Apple Podcasts.
Executive Produced by Talib Kweli, yasiin bey, Dave Chappelle, Noah Gersh, Jamie Schefman, Nick Panama, Kenzi Wilbur, and Miles Hodges
Produced by Noah Gersh and Jamie Schefman for SALT Production Manager: Liz LeMay Recording Engineer: Federico Lopez Recording Engineer: Adrián Bruque for NPND Assistant Editors: Danny Carissimi and Noah Kowalski Senior Sound Designer: Russell Topal Script Supervisor: Sam Beasley Mixer: Jordan Galvan
Podcast Artwork: Rachel Eck Still Photography: Mathieu Bitton
The Midnight Miracle is a Luminary Original Podcast in partnership with Pilot Boy Productions and SALT.
Special thanks to Paul Adongo, Cipriano Beredo, Elaine Chappelle, Ivy Davy, Rikki Hughes, Kyle Ranson-Walsh, Sina Sadighi, Mark Silverstein, and Carla Sims.
Photography made available courtesy of Pilot Boy Productions, Inc. Copyright © 2021 by Pilot Boy Productions, Inc., all rights reserved.
Omari Hardwick sits down with Grammy award winning triple threat Wyclef Jean for an in depth conversation about his rise from third world conditions to hip hop superstardom--from The Fugees to Shakira. Listen to more of Poetics at www.luminary.link/blackvoices
Dovey Johnson Roundtree became a lawyer at a time when no one wanted Black women to amount to anything. She’d grown up with the KKK terrorizing her neighborhood. A lucky break landed her at Spelman College. Her intellect got her into Howard Law. But it was her courage that made her take on the daunting case of Ray Crump Jr. — the Black man accused of killing Mary Pinchot Meyer. Listen to more Murder on the Towpath at www.luminary.link/blackvoices
Spike Lee joins Franklin and Kate to talk about narrative filmmaking, his longtime collaborators, and the movement for Black lives. From Do the Right Thing, to Malcolm X, to Bamboozled, to his latest film for Netflix, Da 5 Bloods, the trio talks about how culture talks to movies, and how movies talk back to the culture. This episode originally aired on July 1st, 2020. Listen to more episodes of The Black List Podcast at www.luminary.link/blackvoices
This week, Franklin and Kate are joined by activist, NYT bestselling author, and actor Gabrielle Union. The trio talk about 90s teen films (hello, Bring It On!), Gabrielle's love for Grease 2, depicting the evolving American family in her new children’s book, Welcome to the Party, and so much more. This episode originally aired on May 6, 2020. Listen to more episodes of The Black List Podcast at www.luminary.link/blackvoices
This week is a special conversation with Franklin, Kate, and the one and only Janelle Monáe, star of season two of Amazon's Homecoming. The trio talk about how her music has informed her film career, her childhood memories of Steel Magnolias, seeing herself onscreen in Sister Act 2, and so much more. This episode originally aired on May 27, 2020. Listen to more episodes of The Black List Podcast at www.luminary.link/blackvoices
Many of us grew up with our eyes glued to the TV to listen to a black man with a high top fade, a gold earring and infectious smile tell us about the joys of reading. LeVar Burton hosted the show Reading Rainbow for 23 years, and he continues to encourage us to read. His career spans from playing Kunta Kente in Roots, to his role as Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Today he talks about the pushback he got from his own people, along with the moments of pride and joy that came with being a voice for all of us proud blerds. This episode originally aired in May, 2020. Listen to more Stoop Talks at www.luminary.link/blackvoices
“I wanted to write about these strong, beautiful, intelligent people like the ones I met at Morehouse and Spelman, like the ones I could never find in popular fiction.” The nation’s eyes are on Stacey Abrams next steps. When she ran for governor of Georgia, her leadership, poise and relatability were the talk of the country. Today she shares stories about adjusting to going to an HBCU, how to restore faith in black folks when it comes to politics, and why she wrote so many romance novels about black love. This episode originally aired in May, 2020. Listen to more Stoop Talks at www.luminary.link/blackvoices
When singer/songwriter and former frontwoman of the Alabama Shakes, Brittany Howard, comes up against a hostile spirit in her home, she has to decide: who’s going to get to stay? Brittany... or the ghost?
Listen to more Spooked at www.luminary.link/blackvoices.
Big thanks and big love to Brittany for sharing her story with Spooked!
Produced by Chris Hambrick, original score by Leon Morimoto
“Hold onto a bigger vision for yourself” is a tenet that has guided Soledad O’Brien through countless life experiences. The award-winning journalist (and host of the Luminary Original “Murder on the Towpath”) sits down with Karamo to share stories from her career, lessons from family and friends, and beliefs that inform her work and her identity. Plus, Karamo explores this question with a listener: Can you change someone’s opinion of you when they only see you for your past mistakes?
Listen to more Karamo at www.luminary.link/blackvoices
Should you deny your identity to please friends or family? A conversation with actress Logan Browning (Dear White People). Plus, Karamo talks to a listener about how to manage when feeling stuck between two identities.
Listen to more Karamo at www.luminary.link/blackvoices
Radically reimagining asks us to consider the vital role of creatives and intellectual property. The Nod's Brittany Luse (@bmluse) and Eric Eddings (@eeddings) join Roxane and Tressie to talk about how the podcast industry is reckoning with Black creative ownership at this time. And later in the show, strategist and lawyer Shontavia Johnson (@shontaviajesq) shares tips for how under-resourced entrepreneurs can start protecting their intellectual genius. [Episode originally published August 25, 2020.]
Mentions:
The Nod on Quibi: quibi.com/shows/the-nod-with-brittany--eric-495/
Nieman Lab: Podcast creators of color grapple with a system that doesn’t let them own their work, niemanlab.org/2020/07/podcasting-can-still-realize-its-promise-if-it-meets-the-challenge-for-creators-of-color/
Shontavia Johnson: shontavia.com
Resources for Black women creatives and entrepreneurs: listentoblackwomen.com
As always, keep the conversation going by following us on Twitter and Instagram at @HearToSlay and with the hashtag #HearToSlay. Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura.
Listen to more Hear to Slay at www.luminary.link/blackvoices
Tanya McKinnon struck out on her own as one of the few Black agents in publishing. Lisa Lucas has always worked on the inside and is now one of the most powerful people in publishing. Tressie and Roxane ask them both about their strategies of gaining power and influence in a field long dominated by white men. Plus, they weigh in on the Republican’s soft coup attempt. [Episode originally published November 17, 2020.] Mentions:
Glory: Magical Visions of Black Beauty, by Kahran and Regis Bethencourt
Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America, by Michael Eric Dyson
Black Bodies Swinging: A Historical Autopsy, by Robin D.G. Kelley
The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart, by Alicia Garza
As always, keep the conversation going by following us on Twitter and Instagram at @HearToSlay and with the hashtag #HearToSlay. Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams.
Listen to more Hear to Slay at www.luminary.link/blackvoices
Tressie and Roxane react to the January 6 coup attempt.
For more Hear to Slay visit luminary.link/slay
As always, keep the conversation going by following us on Twitter and Instagram at @HearToSlay and with the hashtag #HearToSlay. Hear To Slay theme music by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Sugiura. Curtis Fox is the senior producer. Sarah Wyman and Catherine Fenollosa are the producers. Production help from Lauren Garcia and Kaityln Adams.
Trevor and David discuss how life is changing to accommodate the COVID-19 pandemic. For more visit luminary.link/trevornoah
Trevor and David discuss their ideas for improving prison, then talk about alternatives to incarceration with Danielle Sered, founder of Common Justice. For more visit luminary.link/trevornoah
Trevor Noah and David Kibuuka discuss the difference between cops in South Africa and America then talk about the state of policing with NYPD officer Edwin Raymond. For more visit luminary.link/trevornoah
Trevor and David reminisce about being kids, then talk with Dr. Harold Koplewicz of the Child Mind Institute about kids' mental health during the COVID-19 quarantine. For more visit luminary.link/trevornoah
Trevor and Dave discuss recent protests against police brutality and examine how protest forces change by creating discomfort. For more visit luminary.link/trevornoah
Trevor and David discuss the lessons they are learning from the COVID-19 quarantine. For more visit luminary.link/trevornoah
Trevor and David discuss police violence during the recent protests across the country and ask writer Mychal Denzel Smith what it actually means to "abolish the police." For more visit luminary.link/trevornoah
Trevor and David compare recent pandemics, then talk to John Barry, author of The Great Influenza, about the great flu of 1918. For more visit luminary.link/trevornoah