Podcast appearances and mentions of ava duvernay

Black on Black Cinema tackles Chameleon Street (1989), Wendell B. Harris Jr.'s astonishing writer-director-star debut based on the true story of Detroit con artist William Douglas Street Jr., who successfully impersonated reporters, lawyers, an Ivy League exchange student, and even a surgeon, performing over 30 real hysterectomies without any medical training. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 1990, beating out Reservoir Dogs, and then inexplicably went without distribution for over a year, effectively burying Harris's career before it started.The concept is genuinely brilliant, a razor-sharp satire about race, class, and identity performance in America, anchored by a magnetic, one-of-a-kind lead performance from Harris himself. But the execution is a different story. The film is tonally unpredictable, structurally chaotic, and at times narratively difficult to follow, swinging wildly between avant-garde experimentation and straightforward biopic beats without clear rhythm. We break down what makes Chameleon Street a genuine one-of-a-kind vision worth seeking out, where the filmmaking gets in its own way, and why this would be ripe for a modern remake with better structure and focus.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Black on Black Cinema breaks down the National Association of Black Journalists giving Stephen A. Smith its "Thumbs Down" award, reserved for commentary the organization considers especially insensitive, stereotypical, or at odds with NABJ's mission around fair representation of the Black community. NABJ's statement specifically cited Smith's recurring pattern of disparaging commentary toward prominent Black women across politics, sports, and media, saying it reinforces harmful narratives and undermines fair, respectful representation.We agree with NABJ here, and we break down exactly why. Smith has spent years building a media empire on saying whatever gets a reaction, and his commentary toward Black women specifically has followed a consistent, well documented pattern that deserves scrutiny; not just from critics online, but from an organization built to hold Black media figures accountable to Black communities. Smith's response was predictably combative, essentially promising retaliation on his platform. He even ran to Fox News' Sean Hannity to make his thoughts known. A curious platform if he is trying to reach Black people...hmmm. We discuss why that reaction proves NABJ's point more than it disproves it, what accountability from within the profession actually looks like, and why Smith's expanding political platform makes this moment even more significant.We also announce the next film to be reviewed which is the 1989 film "Chameleon Street" which follows a social chameleon who impersonates reporters, doctors and lawyers in order to make money. (Film is available to watch on Tubi for free).Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

This week on Black on Black Cinema, the entire crew returns to discuss the 2026 film that was written and directed by Chris Stokes, "Stepfather." The film stars Taye Diggs as a desperate man who hunts for the perfect family, but when his new wife and daughters fear he may be deranged, escaping him will have deadly consequences.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor joins Kevin Fallon on The Obsessed Podcast to talk about her new series Lucky, becoming an action star, working alongside Anya Taylor-Joy and Annette Bening, and the intense reality of filming car chases, shootouts, and stunts. The Oscar-nominated actress also opens up about her experience during the King Richard awards campaign, what it was really like to be nominated for an Academy Award, the night of the Will Smith and Chris Rock Oscars slap, her work with Ava DuVernay on Origin, Hollywood's lack of diverse stories, and why she believes the entertainment industry needs to do more. Plus, Ellis-Taylor tells the hilarious story of how trying to channel Denzel Washington while rehearsing in the shower ended with her accidentally knocking herself out.  #ad Don't miss Furious, streaming on Hulu with New Episodes Mondays #ad Go to https://zbiotics.com/OTP and use OTP at checkout for 15% off any first time orders of ZBiotics probiotics. Follow Kevin Fallon on Instagram ⁠⁠@kpfallon⁠⁠ Follow Matt Wilstein on Instagram ⁠⁠@mattjwilstein⁠⁠ Follow Obsessed on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@beastobsessed⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's the missing key to your biggest artistic breakthrough? You might feel trapped in a demanding day job or paralyzed by fear of rejection, yet your tightest constraints can become your ultimate creative advantage.   Screenwriter Octavia Clahar, reveals how she directed her debut TV pilot inside a video game when traditional funding fell through.    Tune in to discover how you can stop waiting for outside permission, transform your daily routine into creative leverage, and build the resilient support system your dreams demand.    Chapters 00:00 - Introduction and Directing TV Pilots in The Sims 4 01:03 - Brooklyn Roots and Caribbean Storytelling Traditions 04:06 - Pitching Yourself: Treating Your Identity as the Brand 05:43 - Overcoming Rejection and Refining Your Artistic Voice 08:34 - Reframing Loss: From Corporate Grind to Creative Commitment 11:29 - Mentorship and Ava DuVernay's Core Collaboration Rule 15:46 - Building Story Co-op Across Brooklyn and Paris 21:10 - Navigating Production Constraints and Budget Realities 27:35 - Lessons from Studio Pitch Meetings and Script Revisions 33:50 - Strategies for Sustaining Creativity Through Burnout 39:15 - Creating Sustainable Support Networks for Independent Artists 44:00 - Final Reflections and Closing Remarks   Listen to the show on your favorite streaming platform! Apple Podcast: http://bit.ly/4fcopgQSpotify: http://bit.ly/4fdkiBsYouTube:  Connect with Octavia Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/octavia.nicole.clahar/ Website: https://bio.site/oclahar   Support the Show Website: http://www.martineseverin.comFollow on Instagram: @martine.severin | @thisishowwecreate_ Subscribe to the Newsletter: http://www.martineseverin.substack.com   This is How We Create is produced by Martine Severin. This episode was edited by Daniel Espinosa. Podcast show art is designed by Violetta Encarnación. Music by Timothy Infinite.   Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts Leave a review Follow us on social media Share with fellow creatives  

This week we're putting The Tonearm's needle on drummer, composer, and educator Terri Lyne Carrington.Carrington has just released Trip the Night Fantastic, the second album from her group, Social Science. It's built for the dance floor but unflinching on the topics of deportation, prison abolition, and climate collapse.We talk about trusting collaborators before they've earned it, playing to a rare, fully attentive crowd at Newport, and calling herself a "frustrated drummer" on a record built from words as much as rhythm.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Trip the Night Fantastic, the new album from Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science.)—Dig DeeperArtist and Album:Visit Terri Lyne Carrington at terrilynecarrington.com and follow on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and BandcampPurchase Trip the Night Fantastic from Candid Records, Bandcamp, or Qobuz, and listen on your streaming platform of choice.Candid RecordsSocial Science:Aaron Parks — piano; wrote "Climate Song"Matthew Stevens — guitar; proposed the album's title phrase and wrote the "Solidarity Song" riffMorgan Guerin — multi-instrumentalist and the album's co-producer"Riddim Song" Collaborators:Fatoumata DiawaraDebo RayBrenda Navarrete"Blues Song" and June Jordan:June Jordan — the poet's official site"These Poems" — the poem set to music on the albumaja monet — the surrealist blues poet who performs itRelated Recordings:We Insist 2025! with Christie Dashiell, the Max Roach reimagining that interrupted this album — BandcampWaiting Game, the 2019 Social Science debut given to its label without an advance — BandcampMax Roach's We Insist! Freedom Now Suite (1960) — JazzTimes on the reissueInstitutions and Festivals:Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice — founded and directed by CarringtonNewport Jazz Festival — where Social Science played on August 1, 2026Also Mentioned:13th — Ava DuVernay's documentaryBest Alternative Jazz Album — the Grammy category Carrington helped create, first awarded in 2024—Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com—• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate The Tonearm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. • Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of The Tonearm in your podcast app of choice. • Looking for more? Visit podcast.thetonearm.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Talk Of The Tonearm email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn. • Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're putting The Tonearm's needle on drummer, composer, and educator Terri Lyne Carrington.Carrington has just released Trip the Night Fantastic, the second album from her group, Social Science. It's built for the dance floor but unflinching on the topics of deportation, prison abolition, and climate collapse.We talk about trusting collaborators before they've earned it, playing to a rare, fully attentive crowd at Newport, and calling herself a "frustrated drummer" on a record built from words as much as rhythm.(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Trip the Night Fantastic, the new album from Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science.)—Dig DeeperArtist and Album:Visit Terri Lyne Carrington at terrilynecarrington.com and follow on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and BandcampPurchase Trip the Night Fantastic from Candid Records, Bandcamp, or Qobuz, and listen on your streaming platform of choice.Candid RecordsSocial Science:Aaron Parks — piano; wrote "Climate Song"Matthew Stevens — guitar; proposed the album's title phrase and wrote the "Solidarity Song" riffMorgan Guerin — multi-instrumentalist and the album's co-producer"Riddim Song" Collaborators:Fatoumata DiawaraDebo RayBrenda Navarrete"Blues Song" and June Jordan:June Jordan — the poet's official site"These Poems" — the poem set to music on the albumaja monet — the surrealist blues poet who performs itRelated Recordings:We Insist 2025! with Christie Dashiell, the Max Roach reimagining that interrupted this album — BandcampWaiting Game, the 2019 Social Science debut given to its label without an advance — BandcampMax Roach's We Insist! Freedom Now Suite (1960) — JazzTimes on the reissueInstitutions and Festivals:Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice — founded and directed by CarringtonNewport Jazz Festival — where Social Science played on August 1, 2026Also Mentioned:13th — Ava DuVernay's documentaryBest Alternative Jazz Album — the Grammy category Carrington helped create, first awarded in 2024—Dig into this episode's complete show notes at podcast.thetonearm.com—• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate The Tonearm ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. • Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of The Tonearm in your podcast app of choice. • Looking for more? Visit podcast.thetonearm.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Talk Of The Tonearm email newsletter. You can also follow us on Bluesky, Mastodon, YouTube, and LinkedIn. • Be sure to bookmark our online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christine Wells-Wonsley turned her son's drowning into a murder mystery. Estate filing. Livestreams. Escalating villains. No suspect. No document. Jason Whitlock maps the true crime slope from Sarah Koenig's "Serial" to Ava DuVernay's Central Park Five rewrite — and where Candace Owens earns a hearing on Charlie Kirk. Scripture prices truth in blood. Wells-Wonsley priced it in a pitch deck. Ocean Springs already knows. ➢ Show Outline 00:00 Introduction to True Crime Documentaries and Sarah Koenig 01:05 The Tension in True Crime: Doubt vs. Narrative 01:41 Examples of Documentarians and Their Methods 03:02 The Slippery Slope of Monetizing Truth 03:29 Documentaries That Bent the Truth 04:28 Candace Owens and Asking Difficult Questions 05:22 The True Cost of Truth: Biblical Examples 06:57 The Modern Swap: Truth for Compensation 07:59 Christine Wells and the "Dover Model" 08:55 Wells vs. Established Documentarians 10:03 The "Pitch Deck" Approach and Lack of Evidence 11:35 Inconsistencies in Wells' Narrative and Closing Thoughts ➢ Subscribe to Jason's other channel https://www.youtube.com/JasonWhitlock?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.youtube.com/@JasonWhitlockHarmony?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.youtube.com/@JasonWhitlockBYOG?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.youtube.com/@JasonWhitlockClips?sub_confirmation=1 ➢ Connect with Jason on Social Media:  https://x.com/JasonWhitlock  https://www.instagram.com/realjasonwhitlock/ https://www.facebook.com/jasonwhitlock ➢ Send Jason an Email FearlessBlazeShow@gmail.com ➢ Support The Blaze Visit https://TheBlaze.com. Explore the all-new ad-free experience and see for yourself how we're standing up against suppression and prioritizing independent journalism. Support Conservative Voices! Subscribe to BlazeTV at https://www.fearlessmission.com and get $20 off your yearly subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"A lot of production companies who decide to do stories about people of color are not used to having the people of color they hire coming in with an opinion. Coming in contradicting them on certain things." — Neema BarnetteREWIND EPISODE: Happy Summer! We made it to August. This is our last rerun episode of the summer. In a few weeks we'll be bringing you brand new episodes! We loved rewatching A Different World and learning about the show from our incredible guests. We think this interview with legendary producer and director Neema Barnette is so powerful and timely. We hope you enjoy it, too!Sharon and Susan welcome legendary producer-director Neema Barnette to talk about her incredible journey from Harlem to Hollywood. Ms. Barnette made television history in 1986 when she became the first African American woman to direct a prime-time sitcom (What's Happening Now?). She followed this historic milestone with episodes of Frank's Place, It's A Living, and The Cosby Show before directing seven iconic episodes of A Different World. With over 50 film and TV directing credits to her name, she was also the first African American woman to sign a three-picture deal with Sony Pictures.Neema also served as producer-director for Season 1 of Ava DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey's Queen Sugar. In this episode, she shares stories of making the transition from New York theater to Hollywood sets, fighting for creative integrity, inspiring new generations with the truth, and applying actual "strategies for revolution" to transform the entertainment industry.

On this bonus episode of Black and Snerdy, Ode (@thatsod.e / @thatsod_e) and Mo AKA Kid Licorish (@licorishislegit) welcome award-winning stand-up comedian, writer, and activist Sampson McCormick for a conversation that moves from his upbringing in Southeast D.C. to his role as one of the first openly Black queer male comedians, working alongside Andre Kelly. He traces how growing up in Washington, D.C. during its "Chocolate City" era shaped his commitment to community, and explains why building an authentic stand-up career meant creating his own path in film and content creation rather than waiting on late-night television bookings. They revisit an old side project called The Comics You'll Love, a short-lived comedy group that once, complete with a half-remembered museum photo shoot. Sampson also breaks down his film work, including A Different Direction alongside Miss Laura from Queens of Comedy and Daryl Stevens from Noah's Ark, and Love the One You're With on Amazon Prime.The conversation turns to Sampson's YouTube series profiling Black gay love, created to fill the absence of a blueprint for Black queer men navigating relationships, family, and identity, and to address representation gaps left by media that centers mostly white or interracial gay couples. He names Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and Issa Rae as creators he would want to collaborate with going forward. The episode closes with a mental health check-in where Mo discusses managing bipolar II with therapy tools, a Big Mad segment covering everything from crowded midday grocery stores to unsanitary buffet habits, and a Big Happy segment where Sampson credits Black resilience and Mo credits reconnecting with an old friend as sources of joy.Connect with the Snerdy Crew:Watch, Listen, or Sponsor the show: ⁠https://beacons.ai/blackandsnerdy⁠⁠

Felicia Leatherwood—known worldwide as “The Hair Whisperer”—is the leading authority on natural and textured hair. A celebrity stylist, educator, and founder with 30+ years of experience, she pairs creative excellence with practical education to close the knowledge gap in textured hair care. Felicia's clients include Issa Rae, Viola Davis, Jill Scott, Lenny Kravitz, and Ava DuVernay. As lead stylist on HBO's Insecure, she created culture-defining looks that broadened how audiences see natural hair. https://www.felicialeatherwood.com/ https://www.instagram.com/felicialeatherwood/ https://www.instagram.com/diprimaradio/

Felicia Leatherwood—known worldwide as “The Hair Whisperer”—is the leading authority on natural and textured hair. A celebrity stylist, educator, and founder with 30+ years of experience, she pairs creative excellence with practical education to close the knowledge gap in textured hair care. Felicia's clients include Issa Rae, Viola Davis, Jill Scott, Lenny Kravitz, and Ava DuVernay. As lead stylist on HBO's Insecure, she created culture-defining looks that broadened how audiences see natural hair.https://www.felicialeatherwood.com/ https://www.instagram.com/felicialeatherwood/ https://www.instagram.com/diprimaradio/

This week on Black on Black Cinema we break down the collapse of Graham Platner's Maine Senate campaign and why none of us were surprised. For months, white leftists rallied behind Platner despite a tattoo associated with WW2 fascism, resurfaced posts disparaging veterans and sexual assault survivors on Reddit, and troubling accounts from past relationships. None of it mattered until an ex-girlfriend came forward with a serious sexual assault allegation, and only then did the Democratic Party's left wing scramble to distance themselves and Platner suspended his campaign.We ask the real question: why did it take THIS allegation to move people who already had every reason to walk away months ago? We break down how "winning at all costs" politics let a deeply flawed candidate skate through a primary while the warning signs sat in plain sight, and what this says about who gets the benefit of the doubt and for how long.Then we announce our next film: Stepfather (2026), Chris Stokes' Tubi thriller starring Taye Diggs as a man obsessed with building the "perfect family." We preview what to expect from Diggs' performance and Stokes' latest entry into his growing catalog of Tubi originals.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

This week on Black on Black Cinema we take a deep dive into Above the Rim (1994), the final entry in Barry Michael Cooper's Harlem Trilogy following New Jack City and Sugar Hill. Directed by Jeff Pollack in his feature debut, the film stars Duane Martin as Kyle Watson, a high school basketball star torn between two men; Shep (Leon), a security guard with a complicated past seeking redemption, and Birdie (Tupac Shakur), a dangerous local drug dealer who wants to use Kyle's talent for his own ends. Marlon Wayans, Bernie Mac, Wood Harris, and Tonya Pinkins round out the cast.We break down what works, what doesn't, the Harlem Trilogy peaks and valleys, Tupac's performance legacy, and why Above the Rim remains a film of moments rather than a complete film.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Black on Black Cinema announces our next full review: Above the Rim (1994), the final entry in Barry Michael Cooper's Harlem Trilogy. Directed by Jeff Pollack and starring Duane Martin, Tupac Shakur, Leon, Marlon Wayans, Bernie Mac, and Wood Harris. Above the Rim follows high school basketball star Kyle Watson torn between Shep, a fallen athlete trying to redeem himself, and Birdie, a dangerous drug dealer who happens to be Shep's brother. Tupac Shakur's final theatrical film before his 1996 death is reason enough to revisit it.Then we get into the real conversation: Donald Trump has become everything racists feared a Black president would be. Barack Obama had to be practically perfect to even be considered; Harvard Law, Constitutional law professor, decorated Senator, devoted husband and father, scandal-free, measured, dignified. Every box checked. Meanwhile Trump arrived with business failures, fraud convictions, hush money payments, multiple affairs, and a career built on corruption. Ta-Nehisi Coates called Trump "the first white president;" not merely because he's white, but because his entire political existence hinges on the fact of a Black president. His campaign started with birtherism. Coates wrote: "It is as if the white tribe united to say — if a Black man can be president, then any white man, no matter how fallen, can be president." We unpack what that means in 2026.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Filmmaker Billy Luther talks with Sandy about his coming-of-age film, ‘Frybread Face and Me,' which was executive-produced by Taika Waititi and distributed by Ava DuVernay's company, Array, on Netflix.Written and directed by Billy, ‘Frybread Face and Me' was selected for SXSW 2023's Narrative Spotlight and TIFF 2023's Discovery and New Wave Selects. Billy's feature documentary, Miss Navajo, premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and aired nationally on PBS' Independent Lens that same year.Billy has also served as a writer and director on the hit AMC series Dark Winds, adapting Tony Hillerman's novels featuring Navajo tribal police investigations.You can watch ‘Frybread Face and Me,” ‘Miss Navajo,' and all of Billy's films for free on his website here: https://billyluther.comIf you have Netflix, go watch ‘Frybread Face and Me' right now!  Pick up the remote, click the link.  Do.  The PAGE International Screenwriting Awards sponsors the WRITERS' HANGOUT.Executive Producer Kristin OvernCreator/Executive Producer Sandy AdomaitisProducer Terry SampsonMusic by Ethan Stoller

This week Black on Black Cinema finally gives Sugar Hill (1994) the deep analysis it deserves. Directed by Leon Ichaso and written by Barry Michael Cooper — the architect behind New Jack City and Above the Rim — Sugar Hill is the second and most emotionally dramatic entry in Cooper's Harlem Trilogy. Wesley Snipes as Roemello Skuggs, a high-level Harlem drug dealer who wants out. He's got money, power, a woman he loves in Melissa (Theresa Randle), and a future waiting for him if his volatile brother Raynathan (Michael Wright) and the game itself will let him leave.We break down what makes Sugar Hill flawed but still underrated. Cooper's layered screenplay that tries to give Roemello genuine intellectual depth (Georgetown scholarship-eligible, chess player, art collector), Michael Wright's explosive performance as the brother who can't escape the past, and Leon Ichaso's atmospheric direction that turns Harlem into a character of its own. Terence Blanchard's jazz-inflected gives the film a serious connection to Spike Lee's own work. Clarence Williams III steals scenes effortlessly, and Ernie Hudson has a good time as a villain this time around.We discuss why it got overshadowed by New Jack City, how it works to keep the idea of Wesley Snipes being one of the coolest dudes in this era. Sugar Hill has its flaws from scenes that in hindsight are oddly placed (potentially post edit bay issues), some characters who aren't as explored as actual human beings, but there is still something here worth talking about and the effort of making a gentlemen gangster film with the same actor who was notorious for playing one of the most brutal gangsters in the 90s era is something to admire here.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Black on Black Cinema announces our next film review: Sugar Hill (1994), directed by Leon Ichaso and written by Barry Michael Cooper; the second film in his legendary Harlem Trilogy alongside New Jack City and Above the Rim. Wesley Snipes stars as Roemello Skuggs, a high-level Harlem drug dealer who decides to walk away from the life to start fresh with his girlfriend Melissa (Theresa Randle), only to discover that leaving isn't something the game allows. Co-starring Michael Wright, Clarence Williams III, Ernie Hudson, and Abe Vigoda.Then we get into it: Reparations for Black Americans. We agree it should happen, the historical, economic, and moral case is ironclad. But what does repayment actually look like in practice? Direct cash payments? Targeted investment? Tax free benefits? Educational and business funds? And who qualifies for it? Is it just direct descendants of enslaved people only, or a broader class of Black Americans impacted by systemic racism? We break down the competing frameworks, the political obstacles, and what an honest reparations conversation looks like beyond the talking point.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Black on Black Cinema dives deep into Is God Is (2026), Aleshea Harris' feature directorial debut adapted from her Obie Award-winning stage play. Starring Kara Young as "The Rough One" and Mallori Johnson as "The Quiet One," the film follows twin sisters bearing the disfiguring burn scars of a childhood tragedy, ordered by their bedridden mother to kill the abusive father who destroyed their family. With Janelle Monáe, Sterling K. Brown, Vivica A. Fox, Erika Alexander, and Mykelti Williamson rounding out the cast, and Tessa Thompson and Janicza Bravo producing.We analyze Harris' genre-blending, part western grind house, part noir, part dark comedy; and how she translates her stage play to cinema. We break down how the film confronts generational trauma, absent and intimate partner violence, and the totality of Black womanhood with brutal honesty. Sterling K. Brown cast against type as a villain is inspired. Black women's rage played straight, not for laughs or shame, is the film's greatest achievement.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

This week on Black on Black Cinema, the crew returns to announce the next film, "Is God Is." The film follows two sisters who embark on an epic quest for revenge; confronting a charged family history that will push them to extraordinary lengths. The movie is written and directed by Aleshea Harris who is also the playwright for the original play the film is based on.This week's random topic tackles the viral leaked text messages exposing alleged coaching between white women on how to "lock down" Black athletes. The screenshots show detailed "rules" including positioning the athlete as "the prize," completely integrating into his life, dealing with competition from Black women, and even strategies to provoke Black women to reinforce stereotypes. We break down the racialized manipulation at play, and the history of predatory targeting of Black athletes.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Black on Black Cinema reviews Michael (2026), Antoine Fuqua's Michael Jackson biopic starring Jaafar Jackson as the King of Pop. While Jaafar delivers a great impression of his uncle Michael, the film itself is a shallow, sanitized music biopic that refuses to engage with Jackson's complexity and controversies. Director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, The Equalizer) crafts a visually stunning but emotionally hollow portrait that hits every musical biopic cliché—rise to fame, family dysfunction, creative genius, tragic decline, and rise again without taking risks or offering fresh insight into one of music's most complicated icons.We break down why the film fails despite strong performances, analyzing how it sidesteps difficult questions about Jackson's life, allegations, and legacy in favor of a safe, reverential approach. The Thriller recreation is impressive, the musical sequences are well-executed, and Jaafar's physical transformation is remarkable—but beneath the spectacle lies a film afraid to be honest about its subject. We discuss what a truly great Michael Jackson film would require, compare it to other music biopics, examine the Jackson estate's involvement and creative control, and explore why Hollywood keeps making shallow biopics instead of complex character studies. Essential viewing for understanding how NOT to make a music biopic.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Hour three delivers a powerful mix of celebrity talk, real emotion, and cultural debate as Gary reveals Beyoncé’s shocking confession about suffering a serious vocal injury at just 13 years old—and how discipline, faith, and hard work built the superstar we know today. The mood shifts as explosive commentary resurfaces around Cardi B, Stefon Diggs, and allegations from Diggs’ former chef that have reignited conversations about abuse, loyalty, and accountability. Things heat up even more when social media sparks a viral debate over whether calling women “auntie” is respectful or low‑key shady, with celebrities like Oprah, Mary J. Blige, and Ava DuVernay weighing in, and listeners calling from across the country with passionate, divided opinions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Black on Black Cinema, the crew returns to announce the next full film review on the 2026 music biopic "Michael." The film follows the life of famed musician Michael Jackson from early childhood to the middle of his career as one of the biggest names in music history. The random topic this week is all about the Supreme Court further damaging the Voting Rights Act, and how online Black spaces have had just about enough of celebrities and political influencers who helped put us in the current situation and now are asking for Black people to come together to fight back.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Black on Black Cinema breaks down Love, Brooklyn (2025), Rachael Abigail Holder's directorial debut that premiered at Sundance Film Festival. Starring André Holland, Nicole Beharie, DeWanda Wise, and Roy Wood Jr., this indie romantic drama follows writer Roger as he navigates complicated relationships with his ex Casey (an art gallery owner) and current lover Nicole (a newly-single mother) against Brooklyn's rapidly changing landscape.Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, Love, Brooklyn delivers intelligent Black characters working through love, loss, career, and friendship without falling into stereotypes—no one raps, dies, or gets incarcerated. Director Holder created a story with "no villains," just good people navigating modern relationships.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Tracy Fullerton, M.F.A. is an experimental game designer, professor and director emeritus of the USC Games program. Her research center, the Game Innovation Lab, has produced several influential independent games, including Cloud, flOw, Darfur is Dying, The Night Journey, with artist Bill Viola and Walden, a game, a simulation of Henry David Thoreau's experiment at Walden Pond which was named “Game of the Year” at Games for Change 2017 and “Developer Choice” at IndieCade 2017. Tracy is the author of “Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games,” a design textbook used at game programs worldwide, and holder of the Electronic Arts Endowed Chair in Interactive Entertainment. In addition to her teaching and design, she is a member of the Board of Directors for Square Enix Holdings, Co. and Games for Change.Prior to joining the USC faculty, she was president and founder of the interactive television game developer, Spiderdance, Inc. Spiderdance's games included NBC's Weakest Link, MTV's webRIOT, The WB's No Boundaries, History Channel's History IQ, Sony Game Show Network's Inquizition and TBS's Cyber Bond. Before starting Spiderdance, Tracy was a founding member of the New York design firm R/GA Interactive. As a producer and creative director she created games and interactive products for clients including Sony, Intel, Microsoft, AdAge, Ticketmaster, Compaq, and Warner Bros. among many others. Notable projects include Sony's Multiplayer Jeopardy! and Multiplayer Wheel of Fortune and MSN's NetWits, the first multiplayer casual game. Additionally, Tracy was Creative Director at the interactive film studio Interfilm, where she wrote and co-directed the “cinematic game” Ride for Your Life, starring Adam West and Matthew Lillard. She began her career as a designer at Bob Abel's company Synapse, where she worked on the interactive documentary Columbus: Encounter, Discovery and Beyond and other early interactive projects.Tracy's work has received numerous industry honors including an Emmy nomination for interactive television, best Family/Board Game from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, most “sublime experience,” the “Impact” and “Trailblazer” awards from the Indiecade Festival, ID Magazine's Interactive Design Review, Communication Arts Interactive Design Annual, several New Media Invision awards, iMix Best of Show, the Digital Coast Innovation Award, IBC's Nombre D'Or, Time Magazine's Best of the Web and the Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment Power 100.Matthew Farber, Ed.D. is Associate Professor of Educational Technology and Codirector of the Gaming SEL Lab at the University of Northern Colorado. He is a play theorist who studies how games can foster empathy, compassion, perspective-taking, and ethical decision-making. He was a contributing writer for Origin101, the official learning companion for Ava DuVernay's critically acclaimed film Origin. Author of several books and articles, Dr. Farber writes for Edutopia, has been invited to the White House and to keynote for UNESCO, and has been interviewed by NPR, The Washington Post, APA Monitor on Psychology, EdSurge, The Denver Post, Fast Company, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. He has codeveloped game-based lessons with Tracy Fullerton for her award-winning Walden, a game EDU. In The Well-Read Game: On Playing Thoughtfully, Fullerton and Farber explore how personal and subjective meanings are evoked through a new theory of player response.Links: https://matthewfarber.com/https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262552233/the-well-read-game/https://www.tracyfullerton.com/https://www.gamesforchange.org/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Black on Black Cinema, the crew returns to announce the next film to be reviewed, "Love, Brooklyn." The film follows three longtime Brooklynites navigate careers, love, loss, and friendship against the rapidly changing landscape of their beloved city. The movie stars Andre Holland, Nicole Beharie, DeWanda Wise, and Roy Wood Jr. The random topic this week is an overarching conversation of rape and violence culture in regards to the CNN investigative report on a secret network on men drugging their wives and sexually abusing them and the former Lt. Governor of Virginia who murdered his wife and committed suicide.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Black on Black Cinema examines Black Belt Jones (1974), the groundbreaking Blaxploitation martial arts film that solidified Jim Kelly as an action star following his breakout role in Enter the Dragon. Directed by Oscar Williams and produced by Warner Bros during the height of the Blaxploitation era, the film stars Kelly as a martial arts instructor who battles the mob to protect his community's karate school from a crooked land deal. Co-starring Gloria Hendry as Sydney, Scatman Crothers as Pop Byrd, and featuring incredible fight choreography that showcased Kelly's karate championship skills, Black Belt Jones became a cult classic that merged kung fu cinema with Black urban action. We break down the film's cultural significance as one of the first major films to center a Black martial arts hero, analyze its approach to representing Black power and community resistance, discuss the chemistry between Kelly and Hendry, examine the fight sequences, and explore how the film fits into both Blaxploitation and martial arts cinema history. Plus: the film's influence on Black action cinema, Jim Kelly's career trajectory, and why Black Belt Jones remains essential viewing for understanding 1970s Black representation in Hollywood genre filmmaking.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Movie of the Year: 1971Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss SongThe Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song PodcastThe Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song podcast brings Ryan, Mike, and Greg to one of 1971's most radical and uncompromising films. Melvin Van Peebles wrote, directed, produced, scored, edited, and starred in this landmark independent work — entirely outside the Hollywood system. The result is a film unlike any other in the bracket. Above all, it challenges every assumption about who gets to make movies, and why.This week, the Taste Buds dig into three major threads: the film as a revolutionary political act, its polarizing form and style, and its complex treatment of sex and gender. Furthermore, they induct a film into the PopFilter Hall of Fame and take on Recast the Podcast. It is a wide-ranging, debate-heavy episode from first minute to last. The Movie of the Year 1971 bracket has produced bold conversations — and this one may be the boldest yet.About the FilmSweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song follows Sweetback (Van Peebles), a Black sex-show performer raised in a brothel. When police use him as a convenient patsy, he fights back — killing two racist cops and becoming a fugitive. He runs south toward the Mexican border. Along the way, the Black community shelters him. Bikers, revolutionaries, and sex workers cross his path. Consequently, the film becomes less a conventional chase narrative and more an odyssey of Black survival and defiance.Van Peebles privately funded the film after walking away from a studio deal at Columbia Pictures. He served as one-man auteur across every department. The film opened in just two theaters in March 1971 — Detroit and Atlanta. Nevertheless, it broke box office records on opening night and went on to gross over $15 million. The MPAA assigned it an X rating. Van Peebles turned that into the defiant tagline: "Rated X by an all-white jury." The Black Panther Party declared it required viewing for all members.Learn more at the Wikipedia entry for Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song and the IMDb listing. The Criterion Collection has released a definitive edition of the film — explore it at Criterion.com. The American Film Institute has also recognized the film's landmark status — read the AFI Movie Club entry here.A Movie Revolution: Van Peebles and the Politics of IndependenceVan Peebles did not simply make a film — he staged a full act of defiance. Studio backing, the ratings system, and traditional distribution were all refused outright. Moreover, he financed part of the production by borrowing $50,000 from Bill Cosby, keeping total creative control throughout. The result was a film the industry could not co-opt, contain, or dismiss. For listeners of any Melvin Van Peebles podcast or documentary, the story of how this film got made is as remarkable as the film itself.The release strategy was equally radical. Van Peebles released the soundtrack before the film — an unusual move at the time — to build word-of-mouth in Black communities without spending money on traditional advertising. The score featured a very young Earth, Wind & Fire. By contrast, Hollywood in 1971 was still releasing social-problem films that sought respectability over truth. Sweetback rejected that approach entirely. Notably, its commercial success proved that Black-led, Black-financed films could find a massive audience without white institutional gatekeepers.Ryan, Mike, and Greg debate what Van Peebles' revolution actually accomplished. Was it the birth of a genuinely new Black cinema? Or did it also open the door for the blaxploitation genre — a category Hollywood quickly co-opted and stripped of its radical politics? Additionally, the Taste Buds ask whether the DIY model Van Peebles pioneered holds lessons for independent filmmakers working today. As a blaxploitation film podcast discussion, this episode goes deeper than genre classification — it asks what political filmmaking actually costs.Form, Style, and Watchability: A Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song Podcast Deep DiveThe film's style is not subtle. Van Peebles employs jagged jump cuts, kaleidoscopic superimpositions, and psychedelic sound design throughout. These choices feel closer to Jean-Luc Godard than to anything playing at an American theater in 1971. However, they also produce a film that polarizes audiences to this day. The Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song podcast tackles this polarization head-on.Some viewers find the style exhilarating — a sustained howl of rage rendered in pure cinematic form. Others find the loose structure and repetitive sequences frustrating. The Taste Buds confront this tension directly. Furthermore, they ask whether "watchability" is even the right standard for a film that never set out to be comfortable or conventional.The soundtrack adds another dimension entirely. Van Peebles composed and performed the score himself, with Earth, Wind & Fire providing the instrumental backing. The music pulses through the film like a second heartbeat. Consequently, sound and image work together to create a sensory experience unlike any other 1971 film in the bracket. Ryan, Mike, and Greg weigh in on whether Van Peebles' formal choices ultimately serve the film's political goals — or occasionally work against them.Sex, Gender, and ControversySweetback's sexuality is central to the film's identity. His sexual power is his primary weapon and his means of survival. Van Peebles frames this as a form of liberation — a radical Black body asserting itself against a system designed to destroy it. However, the film's treatment of women and of queer characters draws sharp criticism from contemporary audiences.Women in the film exist largely in relation to Sweetback's desires. The film includes graphic sexual content, some of it deeply uncomfortable by any modern standard. Moreover, the film's portrayal of lesbian characters is explicitly homophobic. The Taste Buds wrestle with how to hold these contradictions honestly. A film can be genuinely revolutionary and genuinely problematic at the same time. In fact, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song may be the most complex example of that tension in the entire 1971 bracket.Additionally, the film's opening sequence — depicting a child's sexual initiation — has unsettled audiences for over fifty years. Van Peebles cast his own son Mario in the role. That decision raises serious ethical questions that Ryan, Mike, and Greg do not avoid. Ultimately, the conversation around sex and gender in this film is not a comfortable one — and that discomfort is precisely what makes it essential. This is one of the most challenging discussions in the 1971 film podcast series to date.PopFilter Hall of FameEach season of Movie of the Year, the Taste Buds set aside the bracket to recognize films that define an era. The PopFilter Hall of Fame is not about winning a head-to-head matchup. It honors the films that changed cinema itself — the ones that opened doors, broke rules, and made everything that came after possible.The Hall of Fame carries special weight in this episode. Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song raises the question of what "greatness" means for films that operate outside mainstream critical frameworks. A film does not need to be comfortable, polished, or widely loved to be important. The Hall of Fame exists precisely to honor that distinction. This week, the hosts make their cases for a 1971 inductee. Tune in to hear which film earns the honor — and whether all three Taste Buds can agree on the pick.Recast the PodcastIn Recast the Podcast, Ryan, Mike, and Greg take on one of cinema's great thought experiments. They choose a film and rebuild the cast from scratch — drawing on actors from any era, any genre, any corner of film history. Each host makes their picks. Then the debate begins.Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song presents a unique challenge for Recast the Podcast. The film was defined by Van Peebles' decision to cast himself. Sweetback's blank-faced, nearly wordless presence was a deliberate choice — not a performance in the conventional sense, but a statement. Who could step into that role today? Who has the gravity, the physicality, and the political weight to carry the film's central conceit? The Taste Buds bring their full range of cinematic knowledge to the question. Listen in to hear their picks, the reasoning behind each choice, and where the three hosts inevitably disagree.Why Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song Still MattersSweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song was never meant to be easy. Van Peebles built it as a provocation — a film that demanded a response. More than fifty years later, it still gets one. The film's influence runs through Spike Lee, John Singleton, Ava DuVernay, and virtually every Black filmmaker who followed. However, its importance is not only historical. The questions it raises about representation, power, and who controls the means of production are still urgent today.Furthermore, the film's DIY model anticipated the independent film movement by decades. Van Peebles proved that a filmmaker could retain complete creative control, bypass the studio system entirely, and still reach an enormous audience. That lesson has...

CBS News journalist David Begnaud has spent decades telling other people's stories. Now he's building something of his own. Begnaud joins the Parting Shot Podcast to talk about launching Do Good Crew, his new media company anchored by the podcast The Person Who Believed in Me, which has already featured Oprah Winfrey, Barry Diller and Ava DuVernay. He breaks down how he landed Oprah as his debut guest, what it took to get Barry Diller to say yes at a cocktail party and why he believes emotion is not the enemy of good journalism. It's an honest, wide-open conversation about storytelling, identity and what it means to finally do the work on your own terms. Subscribe to my newsletter: https://for-the-culture.beehiiv.com Follow me: https://linktr.ee/halanscott See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This week on Black on Black Cinema, the crew returns to announce the next film, "Black Belt Jones." The 1974 blaxploitation classic starring Jim Kelly, which follows the Mafia buy out of Papa Byrd's karate school downtown that ends in his death. Byrd's daughter, Sydney, refuses to sell, and wants revenge. Byrd's students call the Black Belt Jones for help. Jones reluctantly teams with Sydney in many battles. The random topic this week is about the discovery that the wife of the Mayor of New York City, Rama Duwaji, said the N-word in a tweet back when she was 15. We have a conversation on the severity of this discovery and the weirdness of certain rules and lines on the use of the word by people outside of the community.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Devil in a Blue Dress (1995): Denzel Washington's most underrated performance. Directed by Carl Franklin, based on Walter Mosley's novel. Easy Rawlins, a Black WWII veteran in 1948 Los Angeles, takes a job finding a missing white woman. Simple task becomes a labyrinth of violence, corruption, and impossible choices. This week on Black on Black Cinema, we look back on one of Denzel's lesser known classics.This should have launched a franchise. Walter Mosley wrote 14 Easy Rawlins books. Denzel was perfect in the role. Don Cheadle's Mouse was a scene stealer. Carl Franklin's direction was a excellent visual take on the times and brought the book to life.Why it matters: Denzel plays Easy as morally complex—not hero, not villain, just a Black man trying to survive. Don Cheadle's breakout as Mouse (chaotic, violent, loyal). Carl Franklin directs through the Black gaze. 1948 LA shown as a minefield for Black veterans. Themes: survival in immoral systems, respectability politics, racial passing.This is a forgotten masterpiece. We break down why Devil in a Blue Dress deserves reconsideration.New episodes every other week.Subscribe: Spreaker, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube#DevilInABlueDress #DenzelWashingtonBlack on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

We had some fun rewriting Oscar history and deciding who would have been nominated and who would have won the Best Director Academy Award from 2011-present if only women were eligible. Nominees/winners Kathryn Bigelow, Greta Gerwig, Chloe Zhao, Emerald Fennell, Sophia Coppola, and Jane Campion aren't the only ladies getting the spotlight here. We look at the movies of Emma Seligman, Scarlet Johan, Scarlett Johansson, Lulu Wang, Ava DuVernay, and many more.Hosted by Brad Garoon & Jake Ziegler0:00 Introduction, 3:00 2011, 6:33 2012, 9:35 2013, 12:03 2014, 14:56 2015, 17:27 2016, 19:23 2017, 22:30 2018, 25:37 2019, 29:34 2020, 34:12 2021, 37:50 2022, 40:13 2023, 43:22 2024, 47:09 2025#barbie #zerodarkthirty #powerofthedog

The latest episode from the JBP kicks off with a recap of the 2026 Oscars including Michael B. Jordan taking home best actor (20:13). The crew also discusses Ava Duvernay publicly unveiling her relationship on the red carpet (51:53), Joe shares his thoughts on the recent exchange between N.O.R.E. and Peter Rosenberg (1:02:04), plus the internet jokes on Jack Harlow (1:12:28). LaRussell receives backlash for his latest song (1:26:53), The Roots Picnic (1:43:34), and Marc Lamont Hill pays respects to Kiki Shepard (2:16:00). Also, **SPOILER ALERT** the room discusses DTF St. Louis on HBO (2:25:43), Ice asks the room a question about personal happiness (2:38:45), Marc and Ish discuss the New York tax proposal from Mamdani (2:57:42), and more.  Become a Patron of The Joe Budden Podcast for additional bonus episodes and visual content for all things JBP! Join our Patreon here: http://www.patreon.com/joebudden 

Michael B Jordan wins an Oscar; Lori Harvey is where she wants to be; Ava DuVernay debuts her “honey”; The Male Loneliness Movement co-opts MBJ; Teyana Taylor is criticized for being too… happy?; Matthew Knowles is a bitter old man; "Blue Therapy" on Netflix is hot trash (that  I could not stop watching); Jamal Bryant is not who he thinks he is. Thanks to our sponsors: Feel like your best self again, Visit forhers.com/RATCHET to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com/RATCHET.. Shop SKIMS Fits Everybody collection at http://www.skims.com/ratchet  #skimspartner ABOUT ME:  http://www.demetrialucas.com/about/ STAY CONNECTED:  IG: demetriallucas Twitter: demetriallucas FB: demetriallucas YouTube: demetriallucas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Next week on Black on Black Cinema, we're reviewing Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), starring Denzel Washington in one of his most underrated performances. This Carl Franklin neo-noir follows Easy Rawlins navigating 1940s Los Angeles—a Black veteran trying to survive in a world designed to destroy him.But first, we need to talk about something: watching the Iran war unfold from inside the United States feels surreal. We're living through what might be the moral collapse of American foreign policy in real time, and the cognitive dissonance is overwhelming. How do you review films about justice and survival when your country is manufacturing catastrophe overseas?

In episode 86, Revolution to Rights: America at 250 moves from the Civil War to Civil Rights spotlighting the 2014 film SELMA directed by Ava DuVernay and a conversation with Unitarian Universalist minister Rev. Dr. Gordon D. Gibson who answered the call along with fellow clergy to join the movement for voting rights and justice in 1965.Selma, Alabama became the battleground for voting rights. The SELMA film retells the story of the impetus for the non-violent marches from the brutal "Bloody Sunday" when state troopers attacked non-violent marchers, to the 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery led by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (David Oyelowo) that spurred the signing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act by President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson).------TIMESTAMPS7:45 - 2014 Film SELMA and Its Significance13:13: - Rev. Dr. Gordon D. Gibson Call to Selma and Civil Rights Movement18:30 - Challenges, Importance, and Power of Voting Rights24:39 - Strategies and Goals of the Civil Rights Movement30;12 - Community Support and Personal Risks35:18 - Adaptability and Continuity in Justice Movements (or from Selma to Minneapolis)41:47 - Challenges of Modern Voting Rights and Compassion47:20 - Living Legacy Project and Civil Rights Pilgrimages53:40 - Untold Stories and Future Inspiration55:22 - Myrlie Evers, Betty Shabazz, Coretta Scott King-------"⁠Revolution to Rights: America at 250⁠ " 10-part series. The historical dramas featured in "Revolution to Rights" tell stories of battles fought in the quest for freedom, and the people whose collective actions and courage inspire us to move beyond remembrance, and to take actions today to ensure freedom and justice for all.------SUBSCRIBE to HISTORICAL DRAMA WITH THE BOSTON SISTERS® on your favorite podcast platformENJOY past podcasts and bonus episodesSIGN UP for our mailing listSUPPORT this podcast  SHOP THE PODCAST on our affiliate bookstoreBuy us a Coffee! You can support by buying a coffee ☕ here — buymeacoffee.com/historicaldramasistersThank you for listening!

Happy 2026, Vintage Sand fans! Thank you for taking time away from looking for real estate opportunities in Greenland to join us for Episodes 65 and 66, our first of 2026. Herein, Team Vintage Sand returns one last time to the source of some of our most popular episodes: Danny Peary's hard-to-find 1993 classic "Alternate Oscars". In the past, we have used Peary's model to approach the Best Picture Academy Awards from every decade going back to the 1930's. Collect them all! For this episode, we wrap up this series with the most recent complete decade, the 2010's. First, a caveat: we began this podcast eight years ago, in the spring of 2018, which means that we have already discussed many of today's films in a number of different contexts already. We did our Best of the Teens in early 2020, and recently did our Top 10 of the Century so far, wherein many of the films we're talking about today are contained. Add in that we did episodes on the best of 2018 and 2019, respectively, in those years, and you get the sense that we have already covered this ground several times. But like all good film fans, we're completists, so we conclude this series of episodes with these two, which will focus on 2010 to 2014 and 2015 to 2019 respectively. Mercifully, perhaps, these episodes are shorter than most others we've done, simply because, as mentioned, this is terrain we have covered several times already. The teens were clearly a transitional time for film, especially in Hollywood. The foreign market came to dominate, as did the teen market, which led to a kind of lowest common denominator for American film in these years. Throw in the uncertainties created by the rise of streaming and the changes in where and how people watch film, and you have…well, it's still a little too early to tell what the 2010's will look like to film historians, if there are indeed any film historians left. That being said, it's clear that the decade featured some of the greatest films ever made, ones that will stand the test of time and will continue to be watched long into the future. In many ways, the Mexican New Wavers dominated the decade, winning half of the Best Director Oscars for the whole decade: Del Toro for "Shape of Water", Cuarón for "Gravity" and "Roma", and Iñárritu for "Birdman" and "The Revenant". And of course, the stunning triumph of "Parasite" ended a decade in film that many were ready to write off (and got rid of the bad taste left behind by "Green Book" the previous year). It was also a decade that saw the arrival of some wildly innovative and talented filmmakers, among them Chloe Zhao, Ryan Coogler, Ava Duvernay, Jordan Peele, Greta Gerwig, Steve McQueen, and Damien Chazelle, plus amazing directors who transcended often marginalized genres like Ari Aster, Alex Garland, Robert Eggers and Denis Villeneuve. We also saw some great works from directors who came of age in the 90's and early 00's like David Fincher, the Coens, Spike Lee, Christopher Nolan, Todd Haynes and the Andersons, both Wes and PTA divisions. And for the icing on the cake, we got some brilliant work from the old guard Hollywood New Wavers like Martin Scorsese (who just seemed to pick up steam as the decade went on), Steven Spielberg, (at least with "Lincoln"), Terrence Malick and, most surprisingly, Paul Schrader. So make yourselves comfortable, have yourselves one of those lovely pastries from Mendl's, and join us for our final foray into the world of Best Picture Alternate Oscars!

This week on Black on Black Cinema, the crew returns to review Soul Men (2008) which was released just two months after Bernie Mac's death, making it a bittersweet farewell to one of comedy's greatest talents. Directed by Malcolm D. Lee and starring Samuel L. Jackson alongside Mac, this road trip musical comedy follows two estranged backup singers reuniting for a tribute concert after their lead singer dies.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

This episode features Yashica Dutt, journalist and author of Coming Out as Dalit. We began with a discussion of her choice to write a memoir, the significance of the memoir as a genre of Dalit writing, the politics around passing as upper caste, and what her mother's role in the life taught her about Dalit feminism as a counter to Brahminical patriarchy. We then moved on to what her work as a journalist in India and the U.S. has revealed about the differences in the operations of caste in the two contexts. Finally, we ended with her coverage of the Zohran Mamdani campaign, both its promises and its failure to address the caste question head-on. Guest: Yashica Dutt is a journalist and author whose writings can be found on her Substack, Featuring Dalits and in New Lines magazine. Mentioned in the episode: Yashica Dutt, Coming Out as Dalit Rohith Vemula: an Indian PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad whose suicide drew attention to widespread institutional casteism. Kumari Mayawati: first Dalit woman chief minister in India who served in the state of Uttar Pradesh as the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party. BSP: Bahujan Samaj Party founded in 1984 and focused on representing the interests of Dalits, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and religious minorities. Origin: 2023 film written and directed by Ava DuVernay based on the life and work of Isabel Wilkerson. ST/SC Act: Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is a landmark Indian law designed to protect marginalized communities from atrocities, hate crimes, and discrimination. Cargenie Institute study: 2024 Indian American Attitudes Survey conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. DRUM Beats: organization that mobilizes working-class South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities. Yashica Dutt, “I reported on the Zohran Mamdani Campaign for six months and documented South Asians' rise to power in New York City” Yashica Dutt, “What Zohran Mamdani's Campaign Says About the Quiet Erasure of Caste in US Politics” Yashica Dutt, “If South Asians are prominent in the New York Mayoral Election, then where is caste?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

This episode features Yashica Dutt, journalist and author of Coming Out as Dalit. We began with a discussion of her choice to write a memoir, the significance of the memoir as a genre of Dalit writing, the politics around passing as upper caste, and what her mother's role in the life taught her about Dalit feminism as a counter to Brahminical patriarchy. We then moved on to what her work as a journalist in India and the U.S. has revealed about the differences in the operations of caste in the two contexts. Finally, we ended with her coverage of the Zohran Mamdani campaign, both its promises and its failure to address the caste question head-on. Guest: Yashica Dutt is a journalist and author whose writings can be found on her Substack, Featuring Dalits and in New Lines magazine. Mentioned in the episode: Yashica Dutt, Coming Out as Dalit Rohith Vemula: an Indian PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad whose suicide drew attention to widespread institutional casteism. Kumari Mayawati: first Dalit woman chief minister in India who served in the state of Uttar Pradesh as the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party. BSP: Bahujan Samaj Party founded in 1984 and focused on representing the interests of Dalits, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and religious minorities. Origin: 2023 film written and directed by Ava DuVernay based on the life and work of Isabel Wilkerson. ST/SC Act: Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is a landmark Indian law designed to protect marginalized communities from atrocities, hate crimes, and discrimination. Cargenie Institute study: 2024 Indian American Attitudes Survey conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. DRUM Beats: organization that mobilizes working-class South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities. Yashica Dutt, “I reported on the Zohran Mamdani Campaign for six months and documented South Asians' rise to power in New York City” Yashica Dutt, “What Zohran Mamdani's Campaign Says About the Quiet Erasure of Caste in US Politics” Yashica Dutt, “If South Asians are prominent in the New York Mayoral Election, then where is caste?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies

This episode features Yashica Dutt, journalist and author of Coming Out as Dalit. We began with a discussion of her choice to write a memoir, the significance of the memoir as a genre of Dalit writing, the politics around passing as upper caste, and what her mother's role in the life taught her about Dalit feminism as a counter to Brahminical patriarchy. We then moved on to what her work as a journalist in India and the U.S. has revealed about the differences in the operations of caste in the two contexts. Finally, we ended with her coverage of the Zohran Mamdani campaign, both its promises and its failure to address the caste question head-on. Guest: Yashica Dutt is a journalist and author whose writings can be found on her Substack, Featuring Dalits and in New Lines magazine. Mentioned in the episode: Yashica Dutt, Coming Out as Dalit Rohith Vemula: an Indian PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad whose suicide drew attention to widespread institutional casteism. Kumari Mayawati: first Dalit woman chief minister in India who served in the state of Uttar Pradesh as the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party. BSP: Bahujan Samaj Party founded in 1984 and focused on representing the interests of Dalits, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and religious minorities. Origin: 2023 film written and directed by Ava DuVernay based on the life and work of Isabel Wilkerson. ST/SC Act: Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is a landmark Indian law designed to protect marginalized communities from atrocities, hate crimes, and discrimination. Cargenie Institute study: 2024 Indian American Attitudes Survey conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. DRUM Beats: organization that mobilizes working-class South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities. Yashica Dutt, “I reported on the Zohran Mamdani Campaign for six months and documented South Asians' rise to power in New York City” Yashica Dutt, “What Zohran Mamdani's Campaign Says About the Quiet Erasure of Caste in US Politics” Yashica Dutt, “If South Asians are prominent in the New York Mayoral Election, then where is caste?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

This episode features Yashica Dutt, journalist and author of Coming Out as Dalit. We began with a discussion of her choice to write a memoir, the significance of the memoir as a genre of Dalit writing, the politics around passing as upper caste, and what her mother's role in the life taught her about Dalit feminism as a counter to Brahminical patriarchy. We then moved on to what her work as a journalist in India and the U.S. has revealed about the differences in the operations of caste in the two contexts. Finally, we ended with her coverage of the Zohran Mamdani campaign, both its promises and its failure to address the caste question head-on. Guest: Yashica Dutt is a journalist and author whose writings can be found on her Substack, Featuring Dalits and in New Lines magazine. Mentioned in the episode: Yashica Dutt, Coming Out as Dalit Rohith Vemula: an Indian PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad whose suicide drew attention to widespread institutional casteism. Kumari Mayawati: first Dalit woman chief minister in India who served in the state of Uttar Pradesh as the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party. BSP: Bahujan Samaj Party founded in 1984 and focused on representing the interests of Dalits, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and religious minorities. Origin: 2023 film written and directed by Ava DuVernay based on the life and work of Isabel Wilkerson. ST/SC Act: Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is a landmark Indian law designed to protect marginalized communities from atrocities, hate crimes, and discrimination. Cargenie Institute study: 2024 Indian American Attitudes Survey conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. DRUM Beats: organization that mobilizes working-class South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities. Yashica Dutt, “I reported on the Zohran Mamdani Campaign for six months and documented South Asians' rise to power in New York City” Yashica Dutt, “What Zohran Mamdani's Campaign Says About the Quiet Erasure of Caste in US Politics” Yashica Dutt, “If South Asians are prominent in the New York Mayoral Election, then where is caste?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

This episode features Yashica Dutt, journalist and author of Coming Out as Dalit. We began with a discussion of her choice to write a memoir, the significance of the memoir as a genre of Dalit writing, the politics around passing as upper caste, and what her mother's role in the life taught her about Dalit feminism as a counter to Brahminical patriarchy. We then moved on to what her work as a journalist in India and the U.S. has revealed about the differences in the operations of caste in the two contexts. Finally, we ended with her coverage of the Zohran Mamdani campaign, both its promises and its failure to address the caste question head-on. Guest: Yashica Dutt is a journalist and author whose writings can be found on her Substack, Featuring Dalits and in New Lines magazine. Mentioned in the episode: Yashica Dutt, Coming Out as Dalit Rohith Vemula: an Indian PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad whose suicide drew attention to widespread institutional casteism. Kumari Mayawati: first Dalit woman chief minister in India who served in the state of Uttar Pradesh as the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party. BSP: Bahujan Samaj Party founded in 1984 and focused on representing the interests of Dalits, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and religious minorities. Origin: 2023 film written and directed by Ava DuVernay based on the life and work of Isabel Wilkerson. ST/SC Act: Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is a landmark Indian law designed to protect marginalized communities from atrocities, hate crimes, and discrimination. Cargenie Institute study: 2024 Indian American Attitudes Survey conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. DRUM Beats: organization that mobilizes working-class South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities. Yashica Dutt, “I reported on the Zohran Mamdani Campaign for six months and documented South Asians' rise to power in New York City” Yashica Dutt, “What Zohran Mamdani's Campaign Says About the Quiet Erasure of Caste in US Politics” Yashica Dutt, “If South Asians are prominent in the New York Mayoral Election, then where is caste?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

This episode features Yashica Dutt, journalist and author of Coming Out as Dalit. We began with a discussion of her choice to write a memoir, the significance of the memoir as a genre of Dalit writing, the politics around passing as upper caste, and what her mother's role in the life taught her about Dalit feminism as a counter to Brahminical patriarchy. We then moved on to what her work as a journalist in India and the U.S. has revealed about the differences in the operations of caste in the two contexts. Finally, we ended with her coverage of the Zohran Mamdani campaign, both its promises and its failure to address the caste question head-on. Guest: Yashica Dutt is a journalist and author whose writings can be found on her Substack, Featuring Dalits and in New Lines magazine. Mentioned in the episode: Yashica Dutt, Coming Out as Dalit Rohith Vemula: an Indian PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad whose suicide drew attention to widespread institutional casteism. Kumari Mayawati: first Dalit woman chief minister in India who served in the state of Uttar Pradesh as the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party. BSP: Bahujan Samaj Party founded in 1984 and focused on representing the interests of Dalits, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and religious minorities. Origin: 2023 film written and directed by Ava DuVernay based on the life and work of Isabel Wilkerson. ST/SC Act: Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is a landmark Indian law designed to protect marginalized communities from atrocities, hate crimes, and discrimination. Cargenie Institute study: 2024 Indian American Attitudes Survey conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. DRUM Beats: organization that mobilizes working-class South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities. Yashica Dutt, “I reported on the Zohran Mamdani Campaign for six months and documented South Asians' rise to power in New York City” Yashica Dutt, “What Zohran Mamdani's Campaign Says About the Quiet Erasure of Caste in US Politics” Yashica Dutt, “If South Asians are prominent in the New York Mayoral Election, then where is caste?” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies

This week on Black on Black Cinema, the crew returns to introduce the next film to the reviewed, "Soul Men." The 2008 film follows two estranged soul-singing legends who agree to participate in a reunion performance at the Apollo Theater to honor their recently deceased band leader. The movie stars Samuel L. Jackson and the late great Bernie Mac. Available to stream for free on Tubi.The random topic this week we tackle the complex and difficult incident that unfolded at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards when John Davidson, a Tourette's syndrome activist and subject of the nominated film "I Swear," involuntarily shouted racial slurs—including the N-word—while Black actors Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo presented an award.This isn't a simple story. It's a collision of disability rights, anti-Black racism, media responsibility, and institutional failure.What happened: Davidson, who has spent decades advocating for Tourette's awareness, experienced involuntary vocal tics throughout the ceremony. His condition causes coprolalia—the uncontrollable utterance of socially inappropriate words. When Jordan and Lindo took the stage, Davidson's tic produced the N-word, audible throughout the venue.The BBC's failure: Despite broadcasting on a two-hour delay (giving them time to edit), the BBC left the slur in the broadcast AND on iPlayer for 15+ hours. Yet they DID edit out other content, including a "Free Palestine" statement and political jokes. The selective editing reveals a catastrophic failure/purposeful behavior in judgment and priorities.The complications: This incident sits at the painful intersection of two marginalized communities. Davidson has no control over his tics—they represent the opposite of his actual beliefs. Yet Black attendees, including production designer Hannah Beachler, experienced real racial trauma. Lindo told Vanity Fair he wished BAFTA had spoken to them afterward. Host Alan Cumming's apology said "sorry if you were offended" was woefully inadequate.Why this matters for cinema: The film "I Swear" was nominated for multiple BAFTAs and won three awards, including Best Actor for Robert Aramayo's portrayal of Davidson. The movie exists to educate about Tourette's. Yet BAFTA and the BBC failed both the disability community AND the Black community in how they handled this moment.We discuss:- The impossible position both communities were put in due to the BBC's actions or lack thereof- Why institutional preparation and response failed catastrophically- The difference between individual accountability and systemic responsibility- How ableism and anti-Black racism played out in the aftermath (including the idea of "he meant that shit" comments)- What should have happened vs. what did happen- The broader conversation about representation, disability, and whose comfort gets prioritizedThis is a conversation about nuance, compassion, and holding institutions accountable when they fail vulnerable communities.Full Black on Black Cinema episodes coming soon. Subscribe so you don't miss our deep dives into Black cinema, representation, and the stories Hollywood tells—and doesn't tellBlack on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

This week on Black on Black Cinema, the crew returns to discuss the 2025 psychological thriller, "The Dutchman." Based on Amiri Baraka's groundbreaking 1964 Obie Award-winning one-act play, the film follows Clay (André Holland), a successful but troubled Black businessman navigating a crumbling marriage with his wife Kaya (Zazie Beetz). After a therapy session with the enigmatic Dr. Amiri (Stephen McKinley Henderson), Clay encounters Lula (Kate Mara), a seductive and sinister white woman on a New York subway, who draws him into a dangerous psychological game of cat and mouse that forces him to confront his identity, his marriage, and the concept of double consciousness. Directed by Andre Gaines and co-written with Qasim Basir, the film also stars Aldis Hodge and Lauren E. Banks. The crew digs into the film's exploration of race, assimilation, Black male identity, and whether this modern adaptation does justice to Baraka's original text — or if the meta-theatrical approach gets in its own way.Black on Black Cinema is a long-running podcast featuring in-depth Black movie reviews and frank conversations that matter to the Black community. We review Black films across every genre — from Black horror and Black sci-fi to indie dramas, comedies, and blockbuster action. Covering filmmakers like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Ava DuVernay, and more. Hosted by Jay, Micah, Terrence, and T'ara. Featured on RogerEbert.com. A TNP Studios production. New episodes weekly on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and all major platforms. For more TNP Studios content, check out The Nerdpocalypse (movie & TV news), Look Forward (progressive politics), and Dense Pixels (video game news).

Happy 2026, Vintage Sand fans! Thank you for taking time away from looking for real estate opportunities in Greenland to join us for Episodes 65 and 66, our first of 2026. Herein, Team Vintage Sand returns one last time to the source of some of our most popular episodes: Danny Peary's hard-to-find 1993 classic "Alternate Oscars". In the past, we have used Peary's model to approach the Best Picture Academy Awards from every decade going back to the 1930's. Collect them all! For this episode, we wrap up this series with the most recent complete decade, the 2010's. First, a caveat: we began this podcast eight years ago, in the spring of 2018, which means that we have already discussed many of today's films in a number of different contexts already. We did our Best of the Teens in early 2020, and recently did our Top 10 of the Century so far, wherein many of the films we're talking about today are contained. Add in that we did episodes on the best of 2018 and 2019, respectively, in those years, and you get the sense that we have already covered this ground several times. But like all good film fans, we're completists, so we conclude this series of episodes with these two, which will focus on 2010 to 2014 and 2015 to 2019 respectively. Mercifully, perhaps, these episodes are shorter than most others we've done, simply because, as mentioned, this is terrain we have already covered several times. The teens were clearly a transitional time for film, especially in Hollywood. The foreign market came to dominate, as did the teen market, which led to a kind of lowest common denominator for American film in these years. Throw in the uncertainties created by the rise of streaming and the changes in where and how people watch film, and you have…well, it's still a little too early to tell what the 2010's will look like to film historians, if there are indeed any film historians left. That being said, it's clear that the decade featured some of the greatest films ever made, ones that will stand the test of time and will continue to be watched long into the future. In many ways, the Mexican New Wavers dominated the decade, winning half of the Best Director Oscars for the whole decade: Del Toro for "Shape of Water", Cuarón for "Gravity" and "Roma", and Iñárritu for "Birdman" and "The Revenant". And of course, the stunning triumph of "Parasite" ended a decade in film that many were ready to write off (and got rid of the bad taste left behind by "Green Book" the previous year). It was also a decade that saw the arrival of some wildly innovative and talented filmmakers, among them Chloe Zhao, Ryan Coogler, Ava Duvernay, Jordan Peele, Greta Gerwig, Steve McQueen, and Damien Chazelle, plus amazing directors who transcended often marginalized genres like Ari Aster, Alex Garland, Robert Eggers and Denis Villeneuve. We also saw some great works from directors who came of age in the 90's and early 00's like David Fincher, the Coens, Spike Lee, Christopher Nolan, Todd Haynes and the Andersons, both Wes and PTA divisions. And for the icing on the cake, we got some brilliant work from the old guard Hollywood New Wavers like Martin Scorsese (who just seemed to pick up steam as the decade went on), Steven Spielberg, (at least with" Lincoln"), Terrence Malick and, most surprisingly, Paul Schrader. So make yourselves comfortable, have yourselves one of those lovely pastries from Mendl's, and join us for our final foray into the world of Best Picture Alternate Oscars!

In this episode, Julie Jancius welcomes back Pedro Silva for a powerful continuation of their conversation on angelic timing, surrender, and how life places us in the exact right moment for the right encounter. Pedro shares the full story of meeting Oprah Winfrey in Japan, plus the surprising chain of synchronicities that included LaShana Lynch and Ava DuVernay. Together, Julie and Pedro break down the pattern of tension, surrender, and revelation, and how this becomes a practical way to understand manifesting beyond ego and control. They also discuss grief signs, divine orchestration, and how service and ministry can become the path back to peace. Work with Julie & Your Angels If you've been feeling the nudge  I want to hear my angels clearly, I want to work with them every day here's how to go deeper:

Oprah sits down with Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling, her co-stars from the film "A Wrinkle in Time," for a lively conversation about ambition, guardian angels, learning to say no, and the pressures women face in today's culture. Reese and Mindy discuss the hardest decisions they had to make in order to fulfill their destinies. Oprah says, "I'm so excited to have a conversation with such beautiful, innovative, powerful women." Directed by pioneer filmmaker Ava DuVernay, "A Wrinkle in Time" is adapted from Madeleine L'Engle's classic 1962 novel of the same name. The movie is about a young girl, Meg Murry, played by newcomer Storm Reid, who hops through time to rescue her father from an evil, universe-threatening force. Ava describes the story as a tapestry of "spirituality and self-empowerment." Disney's "A Wrinkle in Time" has its premiere in movie theaters on March 9, 2018. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ava DuVernay is an award-winning director, writer, producer, film distributor, and advocate for diversity in the arts. She is passionate about telling the truth and inspiring everyone through story-telling.