Fredara Hadley, ethnomusicologist at The Juilliard School, reflects on the legacies of HBCUs and how cultural understanding is inextricable with music appreciation.

Acclaimed crime fiction author Walter Mosley discusses the types of characters and stories he wants to celebrate in his novels, and reflects on the complicated relationship he had with his father.

Anna Martin, host of the New York Times’ popular Modern Love podcast, reflects on her desire to help people tell stories about themselves and the innumerable ways to talk about love.

Letty Cottin Pogrebin, author and tireless advocate for social equality, talks about the pivotal moments that defined her political thinking, her feminism, and her understanding of Jewish tradition.

Journalist Jenna Flanagan discusses the impact of local news, the legacy of Black women in media, and how to get a great story out of just about anyone.

Noliwe Rooks, author, education advocate, and Chair of Africana Studies at Brown University, shares her family’s experiences with education inequality and how community can foster success at school.

British singer-songwriter and producer Sampha talks about fatherhood, the images that inspired his album “Lahai,”and how he follows his intuition in art and life.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks talks storytelling, family, and creating a one-act play for each day of the year.

Enongo Lumumba-Kasongo is a music professor who also performs as the rapper and producer Sammus. Here, she talks about navigating childhood anxiety and showing up as a socially conscious artist.

Tremaine Emory, streetwear fashion designer, discusses self-validation in consumer culture, and what it means to try to reshape the world.

Whitney White, Obie Award-winning theater director, talks about how powerful moments on stage originate in the body, and how she preserves her inner self amid the demands of large-scale productions.

Singer-songwriter Brittany Howard discusses her early experiences with grief and its impact on her creative awakening, her stages of self-discovery, and her understanding of passion and authenticity.

Helga Davis’s fearless conversations with artists and thinkers of all kinds returns for another season. Listen to new episodes every Tuesday!

Black people know this: There’s a difference between what you say and what you mean. It’s been a matter of survival for us. For over 30 years, American visual artist and cinematographer Arthur Jafa has captured the histories and experiences of Black Americans with projects that exemplify both the universal and particular facets of Black life. In the second part of this masterclass in Black thought, Jafa continues his free-from improvisation through his breadth of knowledge and understanding of visual culture — embedded with all the references, rhetorics, and personal reflections of someone who has spent a lifetime dedicated to centralizing the varied experiences of Black Being. 

For over 30 years, American visual artist and cinematographer Arthur Jafa has captured the histories and experiences of Black Americans with projects that exemplify both the universal and particular facets of Black life.

This [term] 'femme' becomes more possible to me as a figure for not just embodiment, but for thought, action, engagement, connection. Macarena Goméz-Barris is Professor and Chair of Modern Culture and Media at Brown University, founder of the Global South Center at Pratt Institute, an organization which supports artists, activists, and scholars in their efforts to decolonialize local and global communities. In this episode, Goméz-Barris talks about how one can and must find beauty in the most ambiguous of places, how she uses the word “femme” to escape the embattled histories of the word “female," and how she has—and hasn’t—moved on from a traumatic early swimming lesson with her father.   References: Constantine Petrou Cavafy Waiting for the Barbarians Audre Lorde Uses of the Erotic, The Erotic is Power Saidiya Hartman Octavia E. Butler Parable of the Talents

There are whole histories of African American artists wrestling with stereotypical depictions and minstrelsy - and it seemed worthy anyway to me as an artist to consider them as some kind of artwork. American painter and silhouettist Kara Walker rose to international acclaim at the age of 28 as one of the youngest-ever recipients of a MacArthur Genius grant. Appearing in exhibitions, museums, and public collections worldwide, Walker’s work wrestles with the ongoing psychological injury caused by the legacy of slavery.  In this episode, Walker shares how she navigates her own inner conflicts, how a curiosity for history led her to the silhouette, and what happens when making use of symbols of Black servitude brings one acclaim.  References: Buster Browns RISD - Rhode Island School of Design My Complement, My Enemy, My Oppressor, My Love University of the Pacific Robert Wilson Einstein on the Beach Stanley Whitney Glen Ligon Kehinde Wiley

I like to say we're living in a precedent time, not an unprecedented one. How do we understand that? Being at the museum or writing histories both in poetry and in non-fiction are ways of trying to understand that.  “Gatekeepers” hold an essential role in our culture as those in positions of power who determine what we see and hear — and therefore how we understand our world. The poet Kevin Young holds dual gatekeeping roles as both director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture as well as the poetry editor for The New Yorker magazine.  In this episode, Young talks about how he holds these responsibilities and likens reading a poem to entering into a museum. He also shares his belief in the power of unexpected transformations, which songs have brought him comfort, and how it’s always easiest to write about the place you’ve just left.  References: Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture Public Enemy Chuck D Parliament Funkadelic African American Vernacular English Sister Sonya Sanchez Langston Hughes Gwendolyn Brooks Harriet Tubman's shawl David Hammonds’ African American Flag Willie Nelson Earth, Wind and Fire John Coltrane's Love Supreme I Want You - Marvin Gay Mary Lou Williams Jean-Michel Basquiat Make Good the Promises Ida B. Wells Book of Hours - Kevin Young Stones - Kevin Young

It’s hard when you try to talk across racial groups about race ... I do believe that there's a better chance of them getting further if we can create spaces of both accountability and connection.  Tricia Rose is a pioneering scholar in the field of hip-hop, Chancellor's Professor of Africana Studies at Brown University, co-host with Cornel West of “The Tight Rope” podcast, and Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America.  In this episode, Rose discusses how she balances her love of the early days of hip-hop with the global profit powerhouse it has become, the beauty of chaos, and how essential it is to build safe, stable communities at a time when everything is being done to isolate and separate.   References: Fannie Lou Hamer Clarence Thomas Tightrope with Cornell West Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America

Within seriousness, there's little room for play, but within play there's tremendous room for seriousness. It's through the act of serious play that wonderful ideas are born.  Carrie Mae Weems is one of today’s most influential and generous contemporary American artists, as devoted to her own craft as she is to introducing other artists into the world. Her photography and diverse visual media has won her numerous awards including the Rome Prize, a MacArthur genius grant, and four honorary doctorates, and she was even named one of the 100 most influential women of all time by Ebony magazine.    In this episode, Weems explores the struggles artists must maintain to find balance and reach an audience, how the field cannot advance without the deep and profound inclusion of Black artists, and what the concept of “grace” means to her and her mother.   References: Dawoud Bey The Black Photographers Annual Joe Crawford Roy DeCarava Anthony Barboza Ming Smith Langston Hughes's ‘Black Nativity’ Cassandra Myth