POPULARITY
2 episodes with medgar
3 episodes with medgar
2 episodes with medgar
7 episodes with medgar
2 episodes with medgar
2 episodes with medgar
2 episodes with medgar
2 episodes with medgar
2 episodes with medgar
This month, on Laura Flanders & Friends, we turn to the state of journalism—at a moment of deep disruption, consolidation, and consequence. But journalists aren't simply standing by—they're pushing back, reimagining their work, and, in many cases, taking matters into their own hands. This show is made possible by you! To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate Description: Journalism is at an inflection point. Under a hail of lawsuits, firings, new hires, and mercenary mergers, the business of media is in shambles even as the need for reliable, truthful information to reach voters is greater than ever. Where does that leave journalists? In this episode, Laura and her guests discuss the money media's dangerous denials and obfuscations, the problem with bothsidesism in a time of fascism, and the coverage of Renee Good's killing in Minneapolis. Dean Obeidallah is a lawyer, writer, award-winning comedian and host of SiriusXM radio's national daily program “The Dean Obeidallah Show”. Joy Reid, formerly host of the award-winning ReidOut on MSNBC, is a best-selling author, and host of the Joy Reid Show on YouTube. The decline of legacy media isn't all bad news — especially for those, like Palestinians and others, who were always shut out of it — and the rise of independent platforms, savvy media consumers and new mechanisms for collaboration just might usher in a new age of great journalism, just when we need it. Join Dean, Joy and Laura for this rich conversation on resistance, reporting, and survival. [This conversation was recorded on January 14, 2026] “What I would like corporate media to understand, their job is not to make money for shareholders and executives to get bonuses, but serve the people, make them smarter, even if it means losing access. I know that's a lot to ask, but that's what I would like because an educated, informed electorate is the key to saving this republic.” - Dean Obeidallah “It is a crime against journalism for the editorial director of a news network to say our job is not to deliver the news, but to go viral. That's crazy.”- Joy Reid Guests: • Dean Obeidallah: Host of SiriusXM radio's The Dean Obeidallah Show • Joy Reid: Host of The Joy Reid Show Watch the episode released on YouTube; PBS World Channel 11:30am ET Sundays and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast. Full Episode Notes are located HERE. Full Conversation Release: While our weekly shows are edited to time for broadcast on Public TV and community radio, we offer to our members and podcast subscribers the full uncut conversation. Music Credits: “Life During Wartime” by Brooklyn Funk Essentials released on Dorado Records; 'Steppin' by Podington Bear, and original sound design by Jeannie Hopper' Support Laura Flanders and Friends by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/c/lauraflandersandfriends RESOURCES: *Recommended book: “Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America” by Joy-Ann Reid: *Get the Book (*Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. The LF Show is an affiliate of bookshop.org and will receive a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.) Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes: • Doxed, Stalked & Swatted: When the Far Right Goes After Journalists: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut • Maysoon Zayid: Comedy of Resistance, Disability, Difference & Palestine: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut • Patrick & Claud Cockburn: A Legacy of Guerilla Journalism Against Media Complacency: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut • Masha Gessen & Jason Stanley: Is it Doomsday for U.S. Democracy?: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut Related Articles and Resources: • ‘There was no warning': Joy Reid is speaking out about how she was fired from MSNBC, by Madeleine Marr, June 26, 2025, Miami Herald • Dean Obeidallah - Substack • ‘We Need to Be the News': Inside Bari Weiss's Bumpy Revamp at CBS, by Michael M. Grynbaum and Benjamin Mullin, January 13, 2026, New York Times • What would Edward R. Murrow think of CBS parent company caving in to Donald Trump? By Kevin Cullen, July 3, 2025, The Boston Globe • Nattering nabobs of news criticism: 50 years ago today, Spiro Agnew laid out a blueprint for attacking the press, by Thomas Alan Schwartz, November 13, 2019, NiemanLab • 1964 Pulitzer Prize Winners - Journalism - Editorial Writing: Hazel Brannon Smith of Lexington, The Pulitzer Prices • MeidasTouch News - a pro-democracy news network. • Six Prosecutors Quit Over Push to Investigate ICE Shooting Victim's Widow, by Ernesto Londono, January 13, 2026, New York Times Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O'Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel
This month, on Laura Flanders & Friends, we turn to the state of journalism—at a moment of deep disruption, consolidation, and consequence. But journalists aren't simply standing by—they're pushing back, reimagining their work, and, in many cases, taking matters into their own hands. This show is made possible by you! To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate Description: Journalism is at an inflection point. Under a hail of lawsuits, firings, new hires, and mercenary mergers, the business of media is in shambles even as the need for reliable, truthful information to reach voters is greater than ever. Where does that leave journalists? In this episode, Laura and her guests discuss the money media's dangerous denials and obfuscations, the problem with bothsidesism in a time of fascism, and the coverage of Renee Good's killing in Minneapolis. Dean Obeidallah is a lawyer, writer, award-winning comedian and host of SiriusXM radio's national daily program “The Dean Obeidallah Show”. Joy Reid, formerly host of the award-winning ReidOut on MSNBC, is a best-selling author, and host of the Joy Reid Show on YouTube. The decline of legacy media isn't all bad news — especially for those, like Palestinians and others, who were always shut out of it — and the rise of independent platforms, savvy media consumers and new mechanisms for collaboration just might usher in a new age of great journalism, just when we need it. Join Dean, Joy and Laura for this rich conversation on resistance, reporting, and survival. [This conversation was recorded on January 14, 2026] “What I would like corporate media to understand, their job is not to make money for shareholders and executives to get bonuses, but serve the people, make them smarter, even if it means losing access. I know that's a lot to ask, but that's what I would like because an educated, informed electorate is the key to saving this republic.” - Dean Obeidallah “It is a crime against journalism for the editorial director of a news network to say our job is not to deliver the news, but to go viral. That's crazy.”- Joy Reid Guests: • Dean Obeidallah: Host of SiriusXM radio's The Dean Obeidallah Show • Joy Reid: Host of The Joy Reid Show Watch the episode released on YouTube; PBS World Channel 11:30am ET Sundays and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast. Full Episode Notes are located HERE. Full Conversation Release: While our weekly shows are edited to time for broadcast on Public TV and community radio, we offer to our members and podcast subscribers the full uncut conversation. Music Credits: “Life During Wartime” by Brooklyn Funk Essentials released on Dorado Records; 'Steppin' by Podington Bear, and original sound design by Jeannie Hopper' Support Laura Flanders and Friends by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/c/lauraflandersandfriends RESOURCES: *Recommended book: “Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America” by Joy-Ann Reid: *Get the Book (*Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. The LF Show is an affiliate of bookshop.org and will receive a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.) Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes: • Doxed, Stalked & Swatted: When the Far Right Goes After Journalists: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut • Maysoon Zayid: Comedy of Resistance, Disability, Difference & Palestine: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut • Patrick & Claud Cockburn: A Legacy of Guerilla Journalism Against Media Complacency: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut • Masha Gessen & Jason Stanley: Is it Doomsday for U.S. Democracy?: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut Related Articles and Resources: • ‘There was no warning': Joy Reid is speaking out about how she was fired from MSNBC, by Madeleine Marr, June 26, 2025, Miami Herald • Dean Obeidallah - Substack • ‘We Need to Be the News': Inside Bari Weiss's Bumpy Revamp at CBS, by Michael M. Grynbaum and Benjamin Mullin, January 13, 2026, New York Times • What would Edward R. Murrow think of CBS parent company caving in to Donald Trump? By Kevin Cullen, July 3, 2025, The Boston Globe • Nattering nabobs of news criticism: 50 years ago today, Spiro Agnew laid out a blueprint for attacking the press, by Thomas Alan Schwartz, November 13, 2019, NiemanLab • 1964 Pulitzer Prize Winners - Journalism - Editorial Writing: Hazel Brannon Smith of Lexington, The Pulitzer Prices • MeidasTouch News - a pro-democracy news network. • Six Prosecutors Quit Over Push to Investigate ICE Shooting Victim's Widow, by Ernesto Londono, January 13, 2026, New York Times Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O'Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel
Lynn Lempel, aka the Queen of Monday Crosswords, is back at it, with a fine puzzle (her 105th!) and her trademark Very Clever Theme™️. It is just a perfect crossword for new solvers, but it's got enough going on to keep veterans entertained as well. Deets inside!Show note imagery: The Jackson home of renowned civil rights activist MEDGAR Evers, now known as the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument.We love feedback! Send us a text...Contact Info:We love listener mail! Drop us a line, crosswordpodcast@icloud.com.Also, we're on FaceBook, so feel free to drop by there and strike up a conversation!
Jackson, Mississippi marks Juneteenth with seven free events across eight days — from a folk opera premiere at Jackson State University to a Ranger Talk at the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument to an inaugural gospel celebration at LeFleur's Bluff State Park. We've got the full guide, plus a conversation with Brad Franklin, the organizer behind the 10th Annual Juneteenth on Farish, on what it means to plant a decade-long tradition on one of the most historically significant streets in the South. TRANSCRIPT: https://www.visitjackson.com/blog/soul-sessions-juneteenth
Synopsis: A crime against journalism': Tune in as experts dissect corporate media's priorities - serving shareholders or informing voters?This show is made possible by you! To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donateDescription: Journalism is at an inflection point. Under a hail of lawsuits, firings, new hires, and mercenary mergers, the business of media is in shambles even as the need for reliable, truthful information to reach voters is greater than ever. Where does that leave journalists? In this episode, Laura and her guests discuss the money media's dangerous denials and obfuscations, the problem with bothsidesism in a time of fascism, and the coverage of Renee Good's killing in Minneapolis. Dean Obeidallah is a lawyer, writer, award-winning comedian and host of SiriusXM radio's national daily program “The Dean Obeidallah Show”. Joy Reid, formerly host of the award-winning ReidOut on MSNBC, is a best-selling author, and host of the Joy Reid Show on YouTube. The decline of legacy media isn't all bad news — especially for those, like Palestinians and others, who were always shut out of it — and the rise of independent platforms, savvy media consumers and new mechanisms for collaboration just might usher in a new age of great journalism, just when we need it. Join Dean, Joy and Laura for this rich conversation on resistance, reporting, and survival. [This conversation was recorded on January 14, 2026]“What I would like corporate media to understand, their job is not to make money for shareholders and executives to get bonuses, but serve the people, make them smarter, even if it means losing access. I know that's a lot to ask, but that's what I would like because an educated, informed electorate is the key to saving this republic.” - Dean Obeidallah“It is a crime against journalism for the editorial director of a news network to say our job is not to deliver the news, but to go viral. That's crazy.”- Joy ReidGuests:• Dean Obeidallah: Host of SiriusXM radio's The Dean Obeidallah Show• Joy Reid: Host of The Joy Reid ShowWatch the episode released on YouTube; PBS World Channel 11:30am ET Sundays and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast January 28th, 2026.Full Episode Notes are located HERE.Full Conversation Release: While our weekly shows are edited to time for broadcast on Public TV and community radio, we offer to our members and podcast subscribers the full uncut conversation. Music Credits: “Life During Wartime” by Brooklyn Funk Essentials released on Dorado Records; 'Steppin' by Podington Bear, and original sound design by Jeannie Hopper'Support Laura Flanders and Friends by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/c/lauraflandersandfriends RESOURCES:*Recommended book:“Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America” by Joy-Ann Reid: *Get the Book(*Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. The LF Show is an affiliate of bookshop.org and will receive a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.) Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:• Doxed, Stalked & Swatted: When the Far Right Goes After Journalists: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut• Maysoon Zayid: Comedy of Resistance, Disability, Difference & Palestine: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut• Patrick & Claud Cockburn: A Legacy of Guerilla Journalism Against Media Complacency: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut• Masha Gessen & Jason Stanley: Is it Doomsday for U.S. Democracy?: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode CutRelated Articles and Resources:• ‘There was no warning': Joy Reid is speaking out about how she was fired from MSNBC, by Madeleine Marr, June 26, 2025, Miami Herald• Dean Obeidallah - Substack• ‘We Need to Be the News': Inside Bari Weiss's Bumpy Revamp at CBS, by Michael M. Grynbaum and Benjamin Mullin, January 13, 2026, New York Times• What would Edward R. Murrow think of CBS parent company caving in to Donald Trump? By Kevin Cullen, July 3, 2025, The Boston Globe• Nattering nabobs of news criticism: 50 years ago today, Spiro Agnew laid out a blueprint for attacking the press, by Thomas Alan Schwartz, November 13, 2019, NiemanLab• 1964 Pulitzer Prize Winners - Journalism - Editorial Writing: Hazel Brannon Smith of Lexington, The Pulitzer Prices• MeidasTouch News - a pro-democracy news network.• Six Prosecutors Quit Over Push to Investigate ICE Shooting Victim's Widow, by Ernesto Londono, January 13, 2026, New York Times Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O'Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel
Synopsis: Join a thought-provoking conversation with Laura, Dean Obeidallah, and Joy Reid as they dissect the media landscape's seismic shifts and explore how journalists can reclaim their role in serving the people.This show is made possible by you! To become a sustaining member go to LauraFlanders.org/donateDescription: Journalism is at an inflection point. Under a hail of lawsuits, firings, new hires, and mercenary mergers, the business of media is in shambles even as the need for reliable, truthful information to reach voters is greater than ever. Where does that leave journalists? In this episode, Laura and her guests discuss the money media's dangerous denials and obfuscations, the problem with bothsidesism in a time of fascism, and the coverage of Renee Good's killing in Minneapolis. Dean Obeidallah is a lawyer, writer, award-winning comedian and host of SiriusXM radio's national daily program “The Dean Obeidallah Show”. Joy Reid, formerly host of the award-winning ReidOut on MSNBC, is a best-selling author, and host of the Joy Reid Show on YouTube. The decline of legacy media isn't all bad news — especially for those, like Palestinians and others, who were always shut out of it — and the rise of independent platforms, savvy media consumers and new mechanisms for collaboration just might usher in a new age of great journalism, just when we need it. Join Dean, Joy and Laura for this rich conversation on resistance, reporting, and survival.“What I would like corporate media to understand, their job is not to make money for shareholders and executives to get bonuses, but serve the people, make them smarter, even if it means losing access. I know that's a lot to ask, but that's what I would like because an educated, informed electorate is the key to saving this republic.” - Dean Obeidallah“It is a crime against journalism for the editorial director of a news network to say our job is not to deliver the news, but to go viral. That's crazy.”- Joy ReidGuests:• Dean Obeidallah: Host of SiriusXM radio's The Dean Obeidallah Show• Joy Reid: Host of The Joy Reid Show Watch the episode released on YouTube; PBS World Channel 11:30am ET Sundays and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast January 28th, 2026.Full Episode Notes are located HERE.Full Conversation Release: While our weekly shows are edited to time for broadcast on Public TV and community radio, we offer to our members and podcast subscribers the full uncut conversation. Music Credit: 'Thrum of Soil' by Bluedot Sessions, 'Steppin' by Podington Bear, and original sound design by Jeannie HopperSupport Laura Flanders and Friends by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/c/lauraflandersandfriends RESOURCES:*Recommended book:“Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America” by Joy-Ann Reid: *Get the Book(*Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. The LF Show is an affiliate of bookshop.org and will receive a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.) Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:• Doxed, Stalked & Swatted: When the Far Right Goes After Journalists: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut• Maysoon Zayid: Comedy of Resistance, Disability, Difference & Palestine: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut• Patrick & Claud Cockburn: A Legacy of Guerilla Journalism Against Media Complacency: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode Cut• Masha Gessen & Jason Stanley: Is it Doomsday for U.S. Democracy?: Watch / Listen: Full Uncut Conversation and Episode CutRelated Articles and Resources:• ‘There was no warning': Joy Reid is speaking out about how she was fired from MSNBC, by Madeleine Marr, June 26, 2025, Miami Herald• Dean Obeidallah - Substack• ‘We Need to Be the News': Inside Bari Weiss's Bumpy Revamp at CBS, by Michael M. Grynbaum and Benjamin Mullin, January 13, 2026, New York Times• What would Edward R. Murrow think of CBS parent company caving in to Donald Trump? By Kevin Cullen, July 3, 2025, The Boston Globe• Nattering nabobs of news criticism: 50 years ago today, Spiro Agnew laid out a blueprint for attacking the press, by Thomas Alan Schwartz, November 13, 2019, NiemanLab• 1964 Pulitzer Prize Winners - Journalism - Editorial Writing: Hazel Brannon Smith of Lexington, The Pulitzer Prices• MeidasTouch News - a pro-democracy news network.• Six Prosecutors Quit Over Push to Investigate ICE Shooting Victim's Widow, by Ernesto Londono, January 13, 2026, New York Times Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O'Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel
In a moment when major media companies are bending to power and silencing truth-tellers, Joy-Ann Reid is building something different. Fresh from her historic run as cable's first Black woman to host a primetime news program, Joy joins the class to talk about getting fired on her day off, launching The Joy Ann Reid Show the very next day, and what it really means to refuse fear in the face of autocracy.This conversation goes deep—from the behind-the-scenes call that ended The ReidOut, to standing firm when Trump targets you by name, to why your voice is the one thing they can never take. Joy breaks down the business of building independent Black media, the freedom that comes from owning your platform, and why resistance starts with refusing to be silent.If you've ever wondered what courage looks like in practice, or how to keep fighting when institutions fail us, this is your episode.Show Notes:Follow Joy Ann Reid: The Joy Ann Reid Show | Substack: joyannreid.comRead Joy's books including Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened AmericaSupport independent Black journalism and subscribe to Joy's platformsThis episode of Teach the Babies features candid conversation about serious topics. The discussion includes:Strong language (we believe in authentic conversation)Detailed accounts of sudden job loss and workplace traumaDiscussion of threats and intimidation from political figures, including threats of arrest and imprisonmentReferences to police violence against Black peopleDiscussion of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and violence against PalestiniansFrank talk about media censorship and institutional failuresWhy We're Not Sanitizing This Conversation:At Teach the Babies, we believe our community—especially our young people—deserves to hear truth-telling in its full complexity. Joy Ann Reid's story and voice represent the courage and clarity we need now. We trust you to engage with this content in ways that serve your own well-being while honoring the importance of what's being said.Take care of yourself: If you need to pause, step away, or return to this episode when you're ready, that's completely valid. Your well-being matters.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/teach-the-babies-w-dr-david-j-johns--6173854/support.
Rankin County School District is seeking to end a 1967 court ruling that mandated desegregation in the area. District attorneys say the school system has made efforts for that cause, but others say more needs to be done.Then, mental health experts are seeking solutions to cut down on suicide rates in Mississippi.Plus, a new documentary airing this week on MPB Television recounts the life of Medgar Wylie-Evers, and how he helped advance the Civil Rights movement in the state. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
My conversation with Joy starts at about 30 mins and you can watch the interview on YouTube Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 750 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Today's guest is the great Joy Reid. She Host of The Joy Reid Show, NYT bestselling author & co-host of @reidthisreidthat w/ @jacquereid thejoyreidshow.com & joyannreid.com Joy-Ann Reid is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Medgar and Myrlie, which won an NAACP Image Award. She hosted MSNBC's prime-time show The ReidOut for five years, and she previously hosted AM Joy on weekends. Her other books include the New York Times bestseller The Man Who Sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story. The former managing editor of The Grio, Reid has had columns appearing in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Miami Herald, New York, and The Daily Beast. She lives in Maryland and Brooklyn. Join us Monday's and Thursday's at 8EST for our Bi Weekly Happy Hour Hangout's ! Pete on Threads Pete on Tik Tok Pete on YouTube Pete on Twitter Pete On Instagram Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page All things Jon Carroll Follow and Support Pete Coe Buy Ava's Art
Today on the show, we're transforming the studio into a bonafide Juke Joint, with two star-studded stops today! First up is this year's North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic, June 27th & 28th, at the Betty Davis Ponderosa in Waterford with Frank Kossen, then we'll chat with Next Stop Mississippi's biggest fan, and checkout what's happening around your neck of the woods, before a final stop at Blue Front Café, for the 2025 Bentonia Blues Festival, June 29th through the 21st and in studio with us is none other than blues legends, Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, Bobby Rush & Mizz Lowe! Stay tuned, buckle up and hold on tight for your Next Stop, Mississippi!"What's Happening Around Your Neck of the Woods" Event Listing:Meredith Michele @ Godfrey'sJuneteenth at the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National MonumentJuneteenth Art SoireeCanton Juneteenth CelebrationWatch this episode on MPB's YouTube Channel: Next Stop, Mississippi | North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic & Bentonia Blues FestivalNext Stop, Mississippi is your #1 on-air source for information about upcoming events and attractions across the state. Get to know the real Mississippi! Each week the show's hosts, Germaine Flood and entertainment attorney Kamel King, highlight well-known and unknown places in Mississippi with the best food, parks, music and arts. Check out our Sipp Events calendar to help plan your next trip! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dear Humans, This week I was joined by Joy Reid! Joy-Ann Reid is an award-winning journalist, bestselling author, and one of the most trusted progressive voices in media. Known for her fearless commentary and deep insight into race, politics, and culture, she previously hosted The ReidOut and AM Joy on MSNBC. She's also the author of multiple books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Man Who Sold America and Medgar and Myrlie. Now, she's back with The Joy Reid Show, launching June 9 on YouTube and all major podcast platforms. Airing Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 7pm ET, the show will feature bold takes and in-depth conversations with newsmakers like Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, comedian Amber Ruffin, and former South African ambassador Ebrahim Rasool. On this episode of the God Pod: Joy shares her thoughts on Harvard, her love of Star Trek (and God, of course, takes the opportunity to gush about Andor), the absurd Elon vs. Donald feud, what it'll really take to fight back, and why we all need to understand that we are in a war for the soul of mankind. Don't forget: God and Jesus stream daily. Catch God Pod LIVE every weekday at 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT. Coming up this week: Wednesday, June 11: Andra Watkins, author and Project 2025 expert Thursday, June 12: James Fell, author and everyone's favorite Sweary Historian Friday, June 13: Chef Andrew Zimmern Tune in. Tell a friend! Remember to add the God Pod wherever you listen to podcasts, like Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
The three episodes of this podcast involve me and my friend/ classmate reflecting back on our first years and college and how far we have came. What the experience was like attending a CUNY college in NYC.
The three episodes of this podcast involve me and my friend/ classmate reflecting back on our first years and college and how far we have came. What the experience was like attending a CUNY college in NYC.
MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid tells the story of Medgar Evers and his wife Myrlie. Medgar was the NAACP field secretary in Mississippi, a state that lynched more Black people than any other. The risks of the job created a lot of tension in their marriage — and after Medgar's 1963 assassination, Myrlie's fury drove her to be an activist herself.And film critic Justin Chang reviews Sinners, the new supernatural thriller by director Ryan Coogler, starring Michael B. Jordan.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid tells the story of Medgar Evers and his wife Myrlie. Medgar was the NAACP field secretary in Mississippi, a state that lynched more Black people than any other. The risks of the job created a lot of tension in their marriage — and after Medgar's 1963 assassination, Myrlie's fury drove her to be an activist herself.And film critic Justin Chang reviews Sinners, the new supernatural thriller by director Ryan Coogler, starring Michael B. Jordan.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
This week, Sara covers an essential Broad from the Civil Rights Era - Myrlie Evers! You might have seen her delivering the invocation at President Obama's second inauguration, but do you know her story? Her and her husband Medgar opened and ran the first NAACP office in Mississippi, organized protests, and ran campaigns for everything from voting rights and desegregation, to fair trials for the perpetrators of hate crimes, but when tragedy strikes, suddenly Myrlie is flung into the national spotlight. Hers is a story you won't want to miss and an essential part of civil rights history. A Broad is a woman who lives by her own rules. Broads You Should Know is the podcast about the Broads who helped shape our world! 3 Ways you can help support the podcast: Write a review on iTunes Share your favorite episode on social media / tell a friend about the show! Send us an email with a broad suggestion, question, or comment at BroadsYouShouldKnow@gmail.com — Broads You Should Know is hosted by Sara Gorsky. IG: @SaraGorsky Web master / site design: www.BroadsYouShouldKnow.com — Broads You Should Know is produced by Sara Gorsky & edited by Chloe Skye
On February 21, 2024, Joy Reid was honored by the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference for her bestselling book, and for her role in the Ceasefire music video.Here is the conversation between Joy, Reena Evers, the daughter of Medgar and Myrlie Evers, and Rev. Mark.Medgar & Myrlie is available wherever books are sold.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
The history of racism has a parallel history of resistance. Courageous women and men have responded to injustice with lives of faith, hope, and love—bearing witness to the spirit of justice. They have inspiring stories we can learn from today. But who is willing to tell those stories? And who is willing to hear them? In this episode Mark Labberton welcomes historian Jemar Tisby to discuss his new book, The Spirit of Justice—a summoning of over fifty courageous individuals who resisted racism throughout US history. The book is a beautiful quilt of stories and profiles, stitched together through Tisby's contemporary cultural analysis. Jemar Tisby is the New York Times bestselling author of The Color of Compromise and How to Fight Racism. He is a public historian, speaker, and advocate, and is professor of history at Simmons College, a historically black college in Kentucky. Recent Books by Jemar Tisby The Spirit of Justice *Available now I Am the Spirit of Justice *Picture book releasing January 7, 2025 *Stories of the Spirit of Justice Middle-grade children's book releasing January 7, 2025 About Jemar Tisby Jemar Tisby (PhD, University of Mississippi) is the author of new book The Spirit of Justice, New York Times bestselling The Color of Compromise, and the award-winning How to Fight Racism. He is a historian who studies race, religion, and social movements in the twentieth century and serves as a professor at Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black college. Jemar is the founding co-host of the Pass the Mic podcast, and his writing has been featured in the Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time, and the New York Times, among others. He is also a frequent commentator on outlets such as NPR and CNN, speaking nationwide on the topics of racial justice, US history, and Christianity. You can follow his work through his Substack newsletter, Footnotes, and on social media at @JemarTisby. Show Notes The Color of Compromise (available here)*—*the larger narrative of (Christian) America's racist history Myrlie Evers Williams on her husband Medgar Evers's death Myrlie Evers Williams: “I see something today that I hoped I would never see again. That is prejudice, hatred, negativism that comes from the highest points across America. She told us then with the candor that comes with old age, she said, and I found myself asking Medgar in the conversations that I have with him. Is this really what's happening again in this country? And asking for guidance because I don't mind admitting this to the press, I'm a little weary at this point.” Fighting for justice “Black people are born into a situation in which we are forced to defend, assert, and constantly so, our humanity. And that is in the midst of constant attacks on our humanity, big and small, whether it is the vicarious suffering that we see when there's another cell phone video of a black person being brutalized by law enforcement, whether it is, you know, We all have memories of the first time we were called the N word, uh, whether it is going into the workplace and wondering if you didn't get that raise or you were passed over for that promotion, if it had anything to do with the color of your skin, even subconsciously. And so we are born into a situation in which resistance is a daily reality.” Sister Thea Bowman, Black Catholic Mississippian Nun “Her holiness leaps off the page.” Simmons College, Louisville, KY Jim Crow Era: “How do you tell the story of the Jim Crow era without centering the white supremacy, the violence, the segregation—How do you center black people in that era?” William J. Simmons, Men of the Mark The history of Simmons College as an HBCU Ida B. Wells Harriet Tubman (Araminta Ross) and the Underground Railroad Nursing, training, service, and freeing the slaves Combahee River Raid (led by Harriet Tubman)—she received a full military burial “We need the spirit of justice because injustice is present.” Fight, flight, freeze, or fawn “And in all kinds of ways, black people chose to fight their oppression.” Romans 5: Suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance produces character. Character produces hope and hope does not put us to shame. “Hope is a decision.” (Archbishop Desmond Tutu) “They chose hope.” William Pannell, Fuller Theological Seminary—My Friend the Enemy (1968) Rodney King and “the coming race war” William Pannell's impact on Mark Labberton Film: The Gospel According to Bill Pannell “When you see what's really motivating people, what's really stirring up fear and hatred, which can lead also to violence. It's still around race.” Racial anxiety and politics: “This is no longer a white man's America.” The Holy Spirit “I'm getting so Pentecostal in these days.” Psalm 11:7: “God is a God of righteousness. God loves justice.” “When I think about what exactly the spirit of justice is, I think it's the fingerprint of God on every human being made in God's image that says I'm worthy of dignity, respect, and the freedom to flourish. And when that is taken away from me because of oppression and injustice, I have this spirit within me to resist.” “The spirit of justice gives us that resilience, that strength to become determined all over again. This is not a power that we find within ourselves to get back up again every time the backlash pushes us back. It is a power. the supernatural power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, that also empowers us for the work of justice.” How to make a difference The variety of black experiences Jemar Tisby's first picture book and young reader's edition Production Credits Conversing is produced and distributed in partnership with Comment magazine and Fuller Seminary.
When MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid was growing up she was expected to be a doctor, lawyer, or architect. Then she decided to drop out of Harvard, ditch her doctor aspirations, and re-enroll as a documentary film major. These days the biggest decision Joy makes every day is deciding what news stories to include in her show The ReidOut. Sam talks to Joy about what qualifies as “breaking news,” why she doesn't believe undecided voters, and her new book “Medgar and Myrlie” and why it's so important for Civil Rights love stories to be written. Keep up with Samantha Bee @realsambee on Instagram and X. And stay up to date with us @LemonadaMedia on X, Facebook, and Instagram. For a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and every other Lemonada show, go to lemonadamedia.com/sponsors.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Happy Memorial Day! We are out of the office so in lieu of a new episode, here's an instant classic from earlier this year.We are honored to welcome an iconic Mississippian from an iconic family to the show today. Reena Evers-Everette is the daughter of civil-rights activists Medgar Evers and Myrlie Evers-Williams. Born in Mound Bayou, Mississippi, she studied business merchandising at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. She is now executive director of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Institute in Jackson, Miss., the same city where he saw her father assassinated at their home in 1963. In addition to the Institute, Reena serves as an Advisory Board Member for the Mississippi Free Press and is currently a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network fellow.Marshall Ramsey, a nationally recognized, Emmy award winning editorial cartoonist, shares his cartoons and travels the state as Mississippi Today's Editor-At-Large. He's also host of a "Now You're Talking" on MPB Think Radio and "Conversations" on MPB TV, and is the author of several books. Marshall is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and a 2019 recipient of the University of Tennessee Alumni Professional Achievement Award. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Joy gives a new perspective to the civil rights movement through this fascinating look into the lives of Medgar and Myrlie Evers who were married and considered 2 of the greatest civil rights leaders of the civil rights movement. Joy talks about her new book in which she chronicles this beautiful love story between Medgar and Myrlie. She describes the wonderful way they met, how and why they fell in love and how their marriage withstood the pressures and dangers of being civil rights activists in Mississippi in the 60s.
This week we interview Joy-Ann Reid, host of MSNBC's The Reid Out and a New York Times bestselling author. Reid's latest book, Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America, was published by Mariner […]
Myrlie Evers was arguably the first civil rights widow, a woman who was plunged into activism after the assassination of her husband—Mississippi NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers—in 1963. She survived to become a leader of the movement in her own right. But what's less well known is the remarkable story of how the couple came together, and how their love endures, decades after his death. On today's episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by journalist Joy-Ann Reid to talk about her book, Medgar & Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America. Guest: Joy-Ann Reid, host of MSNBC's The ReidOut Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel Want more A Word? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/awordplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Myrlie Evers was arguably the first civil rights widow, a woman who was plunged into activism after the assassination of her husband—Mississippi NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers—in 1963. She survived to become a leader of the movement in her own right. But what's less well known is the remarkable story of how the couple came together, and how their love endures, decades after his death. On today's episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by journalist Joy-Ann Reid to talk about her book, Medgar & Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America. Guest: Joy-Ann Reid, host of MSNBC's The ReidOut Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel Want more A Word? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/awordplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thom Hartmann speaks with journalist and host of MSNBC's The Reidout, Joy Ann Reid about her astonishing new book on American civil rights activist Medgar Evers and his wife and life partner Myrlie. Plus did Judge Cannon commit gray mail? Is Cannon all in on Trump's plan to wriggle out of prosecution in FL? Is Trump's real business pretending to be a billionaire and scamming people out of money in an election? Is his house of cards about to fall?See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Myrlie Evers was arguably the first civil rights widow, a woman who was plunged into activism after the assassination of her husband—Mississippi NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers—in 1963. She survived to become a leader of the movement in her own right. But what's less well known is the remarkable story of how the couple came together, and how their love endures, decades after his death. On today's episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by journalist Joy-Ann Reid to talk about her book, Medgar & Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America. Guest: Joy-Ann Reid, host of MSNBC's The ReidOut Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel Want more A Word? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/awordplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Myrlie Evers was arguably the first civil rights widow, a woman who was plunged into activism after the assassination of her husband—Mississippi NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers—in 1963. She survived to become a leader of the movement in her own right. But what's less well known is the remarkable story of how the couple came together, and how their love endures, decades after his death. On today's episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by journalist Joy-Ann Reid to talk about her book, Medgar & Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America. Guest: Joy-Ann Reid, host of MSNBC's The ReidOut Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel Want more A Word? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/awordplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Myrlie Evers was arguably the first civil rights widow, a woman who was plunged into activism after the assassination of her husband—Mississippi NAACP field secretary Medgar Evers—in 1963. She survived to become a leader of the movement in her own right. But what's less well known is the remarkable story of how the couple came together, and how their love endures, decades after his death. On today's episode of A Word, Jason Johnson is joined by journalist Joy-Ann Reid to talk about her book, Medgar & Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America. Guest: Joy-Ann Reid, host of MSNBC's The ReidOut Podcast production by Ahyiana Angel Want more A Word? Subscribe to Slate Plus to immediately access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Or, visit slate.com/awordplus to get access wherever you listen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Journalist Joy-Ann Reid went from a "nerdy" kid who stayed past her bedtime to watch broadcast news to now fronting her own show! The MSNBC Host and New York Times Bestselling author joins Sophia to discuss finding her passion for journalism, why she majored in documentary filmmaking at Harvard, becoming cable TV's first black woman prime-time anchor, and what it's really like behind the scenes of a busy newsroom. Plus, Joy shares what it's been like meeting her civil rights heroes and talks about her new book, "Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Journalist Joy-Ann Reid went from a "nerdy" kid who stayed past her bedtime to watch broadcast news to now fronting her own show! The MSNBC Host and New York Times Bestselling author joins Sophia to discuss finding her passion for journalism, why she majored in documentary filmmaking at Harvard, becoming cable TV's first black woman prime-time anchor, and what it's really like behind the scenes of a busy newsroom. Plus, Joy shares what it's been like meeting her civil rights heroes and talks about her new book, "Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On this week's episode of 'The Katie Phang Show': President Biden is off to Georgia for the unofficial launch of the rematch against former President Trump, with the state's primary set for Tuesday. The campaign stop comes after the President's passionate State of the Union address where he drew a stark contrast between himself and the presumed Republican nominee. Rep. Maxwell Frost joins to share his reaction. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously to allow Trump on the 2024 ballot in Colorado. Attorney George Conway breaks down the implications of the decision nationwide. Plus, author of “Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America” and MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid talks about her new book detailing the civil rights movement through the lens of a sweeping love story. All that and more on “The Katie Phang Show.”
In this weekend's episode, three segments from this past week's Washington Journal First – a conversation with consumer advocate, corporate critic, and four-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader - who celebrated his 90th birthday earlier this week Then, we visited Pollster, author, and communication strategist Frank Luntz to discuss his continued work to bridge the political divide in this country. Plus – MSNBC host Joy Reid discusses her new book "Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story that Awakened America." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Joy Reid, MSNBC host of "The ReidOut," has written a new book about the historical relationship between Medgar and Myrlie Evers (now Myrlie Evers-Williams). Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America, traces the love story between the two Civil Rights figures, their efforts in Mississippi fighting against Jim Crow laws, and the aftermath of Medgar's assassination by a member of the KKK. Reid joins us to discuss the book, and why this relationship is key in understanding the history of the Civil Rights Movement. *This segment is guest-hosted by David Furst.
Joy Reid, MSNBC host of "The ReidOut," has written a new book about the historical relationship between Medgar and Myrlie Evers (now Myrlie Evers-Williams). Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America, traces the love story between the two Civil Rights figures, their efforts in Mississippi fighting against Jim Crow laws, and the aftermath of Medgar's assassination by a member of the KKK. Reid joins us to discuss the book, and why this relationship is key in understanding the history of the Civil Rights Movement. *This segment is guest-hosted by David Furst.
Jen Psaki explains why what's happening in Vladimir Putin's Russia is a preview of what Trump's America would look like in a second term. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi joins to reflect on the death of Putin-critic Alexei Navalny and why passing a Ukraine aid bill is crucial to protecting democracy across the world. Next, Jen is joined by attorney Shawn Reynolds to break down Trump's precarious financial situation as the clock ticks for him on the half-a-billion dollars he owes in civil penalties. Reynolds also reacts to Trump's recent comments regarding her client E. Jean Carroll as he continues to reference her at his rallies. Jen explains how Trump's ongoing attacks on mail-in voting – kneecapping the GOP's early vote efforts – is indicative of a larger problem within the Republican party. Finally, Joy Reid joins the show to chat with Jen about her new book "Medgar and Myrlie” and the lessons in activism that apply today.Check out our social pages below:https://twitter.com/InsideWithPsakihttps://www.instagram.com/InsideWithPsaki/https://www.tiktok.com/@insidewithpsakihttps://www.msnbc.com/jen-psaki
Veteran journalist and MSNBC Host Joy Ann Reid joins Megan Lynch discussing her new book "Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story that Awakened America"
My guest today is MSNBC host, Joy-Ann Reid. Joy is the host of MSNBC's The ReidOut and author of the new book “Medgar and Myrlie”. We talk about the book, and her career, during this episode. The 5 questions I ask in this episode: What were some key moments and experiences that have shaped your […]
The civil rights leader Medgar Evers is maybe more known for his assassination in 1963 than the work he did to fight for voting rights and desegregation. MSNBC host Joy-Ann Reid tells the story of Medgar and his wife Myrlie in a new book. Evers was the NAACP field secretary in Mississippi, a state that lynched more Black people than any other. The risks of the job created a lot of tension in their marriage — and after Medgar's death, Myrlie's fury drove her to be an activist herself.
A love story is helping paint a fuller picture of the civil rights movement. Activist Medgar Evers was killed in 1963 by a white supremacist outside his home in Mississippi. His murder thrust Myrlie Evers into the spotlight, becoming a freedom fighter in her own right. Joy-Ann Reid traces their extraordinary lives in "Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America." PBS NewsHour is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders
In today's Hot Topics, the co-hosts react to the 66th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, presidential candidate Nikki Haley's surprise appearance on "Saturday Night Live" and Shaq's recent comments that men shouldn't vent to women. Joy-Ann Reid stops by and discusses her new book on the relationship between two civil rights heroes Medgar Evers and Myrlie Evers-Williams, "Medgar and Myrlie," and shares her biggest political takeaways from the first month of 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
SOCIAL MEDIA PROVOCATEUR | CARTOONIST | BLOGGER |
We all grew up hearing about Martin Luther King and what he did for the Civil Rights movement before he was assassinated, but what about Medgar Evers? Why wasn't his story shared in our history books? I was 3o when I learned about Medgar's story and his historical role in the civil rights movement. Join us today with guest Kyle Butler as we tell Medgar's life story and tragic assassination, along with discussions about our justice system, racism in America, and white privilege. Trigger Warnings: RacismMurder (Not Graphic) Hate CrimeReligious TraumaKyle Butler The Messy Spirituality Podcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-messy-spirituality-podcast/id1459760015Tik Tokhttps://www.tiktok.com/@kyle_talks?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pcInstagramhttps://www.instagram.com/kyle_talks23?igshid=cnBvd3U1MTNtOXdkFacebookhttps://www.facebook.com/Kylelb23/?show_switched_toast=0&show_invite_to_follow=0&show_switched_tooltip=0&show_podcast_settings=0&show_community_review_changes=0&show_community_rollback=0&show_follower_visibility_disclosure=0The Ghosts of Mississippi Moviehttps://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B004LOM24S/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r(Non-Commission Link)Medgar Ever Collegehttps://www.mec.cuny.edu/ Our Favorite POC Content Creators@DonnellWriteshttps://www.tiktok.com/@donnellwrites?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc@Dez_Pez24https://www.tiktok.com/@dez_pez24?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc@Taila.TheCreatorhttps://www.tiktok.com/@taila.thecreator?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc@Chem.Thughttps://www.tiktok.com/@chem.thug?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc@Jordan_the_Stallion8https://www.tiktok.com/@jordan_the_stallion8?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc@ZiggiTylerhttps://www.tiktok.com/@ziggityler?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc@Polotics.by.Tabithahttps://www.tiktok.com/@politics.by.tabitha?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc@Jamseiiihttps://www.tiktok.com/@jmaseiii?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc@TheConsciousLeehttps://www.tiktok.com/@theconsciouslee?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc@AurielleBeWritinhttps://www.tiktok.com/@auriellebewritin?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc@BritneyVilletahttps://www.tiktok.com/@britneyvilleta?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pcFollow Us On Social Media The PodcastTik Tok @DeadlyFaithPodcastInstagram @DeadlyFaithPodcastLaciTik Tok @Laci_BeanInstagram @Laci__BeanLolaTik Tok @hellotherelolaInstagram @Spellbound_Shears
Joy Reid leads this episode of The ReidOut with what could happen should Donald Trump return to the White House. Plus, we cover how Fulton County DA Fani Willis has made her case against Harrison Floyd, one of Donald Trump's 18 co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case, as she seeks to revoke Floyd's bond for allegedly trying to intimidate witnesses and co-defendants online. Also in this episode, we analyze the deal to release the hostages held in the heavily demolished Gaza strip. Next, we learn more about Joy Reid's new book, "Medgar and Myrlie: Medgar Evers and the Love Story That Awakened America." All this and more in this edition of The ReidOut on MSNBC.
Episode 168 of A History of Rock Music in Five Hundred Songs looks at “I Say a Little Prayer”, and the interaction of the sacred, political, and secular in Aretha Franklin's life and work. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have a forty-five-minute bonus episode available, on "Abraham, Martin, and John" by Dion. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by doing a first-pass edit, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt's irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ Resources No Mixcloud this week, as there are too many songs by Aretha Franklin. Even splitting it into multiple parts would have required six or seven mixes. My main biographical source for Aretha Franklin is Respect: The Life of Aretha Franklin by David Ritz, and this is where most of the quotes from musicians come from. Information on C.L. Franklin came from Singing in a Strange Land: C. L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America by Nick Salvatore. Country Soul by Charles L Hughes is a great overview of the soul music made in Muscle Shoals, Memphis, and Nashville in the sixties. Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music: Rhythm And Blues And The Southern Dream Of Freedom is possibly less essential, but still definitely worth reading. Information about Martin Luther King came from Martin Luther King: A Religious Life by Paul Harvey. I also referred to Burt Bacharach's autobiography Anyone Who Had a Heart, Carole King's autobiography A Natural Woman, and Soul Serenade: King Curtis and his Immortal Saxophone by Timothy R. Hoover. For information about Amazing Grace I also used Aaron Cohen's 33 1/3 book on the album. The film of the concerts is also definitely worth watching. And the Aretha Now album is available in this five-album box set for a ludicrously cheap price. But it's actually worth getting this nineteen-CD set with her first sixteen Atlantic albums and a couple of bonus discs of demos and outtakes. There's barely a duff track in the whole nineteen discs. Patreon This podcast is brought to you by the generosity of my backers on Patreon. Why not join them? Transcript A quick warning before I begin. This episode contains some moderate references to domestic abuse, death by cancer, racial violence, police violence, and political assassination. Anyone who might be upset by those subjects might want to check the transcript rather than listening to the episode. Also, as with the previous episode on Aretha Franklin, this episode presents something of a problem. Like many people in this narrative, Franklin's career was affected by personal troubles, which shaped many of her decisions. But where most of the subjects of the podcast have chosen to live their lives in public and share intimate details of every aspect of their personal lives, Franklin was an extremely private person, who chose to share only carefully sanitised versions of her life, and tried as far as possible to keep things to herself. This of course presents a dilemma for anyone who wants to tell her story -- because even though the information is out there in biographies, and even though she's dead, it's not right to disrespect someone's wish for a private life. I have therefore tried, wherever possible, to stay away from talk of her personal life except where it *absolutely* affects the work, or where other people involved have publicly shared their own stories, and even there I've tried to keep it to a minimum. This will occasionally lead to me saying less about some topics than other people might, even though the information is easily findable, because I don't think we have an absolute right to invade someone else's privacy for entertainment. When we left Aretha Franklin, she had just finally broken through into the mainstream after a decade of performing, with a version of Otis Redding's song "Respect" on which she had been backed by her sisters, Erma and Carolyn. "Respect", in Franklin's interpretation, had been turned from a rather chauvinist song about a man demanding respect from his woman into an anthem of feminism, of Black power, and of a new political awakening. For white people of a certain generation, the summer of 1967 was "the summer of love". For many Black people, it was rather different. There's a quote that goes around (I've seen it credited in reliable sources to both Ebony and Jet magazine, but not ever seen an issue cited, so I can't say for sure where it came from) saying that the summer of 67 was the summer of "'retha, Rap, and revolt", referring to the trifecta of Aretha Franklin, the Black power leader Jamil Abdullah al-Amin (who was at the time known as H. Rap Brown, a name he later disclaimed) and the rioting that broke out in several major cities, particularly in Detroit: [Excerpt: John Lee Hooker, "The Motor City is Burning"] The mid sixties were, in many ways, the high point not of Black rights in the US -- for the most part there has been a lot of progress in civil rights in the intervening decades, though not without inevitable setbacks and attacks from the far right, and as movements like the Black Lives Matter movement have shown there is still a long way to go -- but of *hope* for Black rights. The moral force of the arguments made by the civil rights movement were starting to cause real change to happen for Black people in the US for the first time since the Reconstruction nearly a century before. But those changes weren't happening fast enough, and as we heard in the episode on "I Was Made to Love Her", there was not only a growing unrest among Black people, but a recognition that it was actually possible for things to change. A combination of hope and frustration can be a powerful catalyst, and whether Franklin wanted it or not, she was at the centre of things, both because of her newfound prominence as a star with a hit single that couldn't be interpreted as anything other than a political statement and because of her intimate family connections to the struggle. Even the most racist of white people these days pays lip service to the memory of Dr Martin Luther King, and when they do they quote just a handful of sentences from one speech King made in 1963, as if that sums up the full theological and political philosophy of that most complex of men. And as we discussed the last time we looked at Aretha Franklin, King gave versions of that speech, the "I Have a Dream" speech, twice. The most famous version was at the March on Washington, but the first time was a few weeks earlier, at what was at the time the largest civil rights demonstration in American history, in Detroit. Aretha's family connection to that event is made clear by the very opening of King's speech: [Excerpt: Martin Luther King, "Original 'I Have a Dream' Speech"] So as summer 1967 got into swing, and white rock music was going to San Francisco to wear flowers in its hair, Aretha Franklin was at the centre of a very different kind of youth revolution. Franklin's second Atlantic album, Aretha Arrives, brought in some new personnel to the team that had recorded Aretha's first album for Atlantic. Along with the core Muscle Shoals players Jimmy Johnson, Spooner Oldham, Tommy Cogbill and Roger Hawkins, and a horn section led by King Curtis, Wexler and Dowd also brought in guitarist Joe South. South was a white session player from Georgia, who had had a few minor hits himself in the fifties -- he'd got his start recording a cover version of "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor", the Big Bopper's B-side to "Chantilly Lace": [Excerpt: Joe South, "The Purple People Eater Meets the Witch Doctor"] He'd also written a few songs that had been recorded by people like Gene Vincent, but he'd mostly become a session player. He'd become a favourite musician of Bob Johnston's, and so he'd played guitar on Simon and Garfunkel's Sounds of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme albums: [Excerpt: Simon and Garfunkel, "I am a Rock"] and bass on Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde, with Al Kooper particularly praising his playing on "Visions of Johanna": [Excerpt: Bob Dylan, "Visions of Johanna"] South would be the principal guitarist on this and Franklin's next album, before his own career took off in 1968 with "Games People Play": [Excerpt: Joe South, "Games People Play"] At this point, he had already written the other song he's best known for, "Hush", which later became a hit for Deep Purple: [Excerpt: Deep Purple, "Hush"] But he wasn't very well known, and was surprised to get the call for the Aretha Franklin session, especially because, as he put it "I was white and I was about to play behind the blackest genius since Ray Charles" But Jerry Wexler had told him that Franklin didn't care about the race of the musicians she played with, and South settled in as soon as Franklin smiled at him when he played a good guitar lick on her version of the blues standard "Going Down Slow": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Going Down Slow"] That was one of the few times Franklin smiled in those sessions though. Becoming an overnight success after years of trying and failing to make a name for herself had been a disorienting experience, and on top of that things weren't going well in her personal life. Her marriage to her manager Ted White was falling apart, and she was performing erratically thanks to the stress. In particular, at a gig in Georgia she had fallen off the stage and broken her arm. She soon returned to performing, but it meant she had problems with her right arm during the recording of the album, and didn't play as much piano as she would have previously -- on some of the faster songs she played only with her left hand. But the recording sessions had to go on, whether or not Aretha was physically capable of playing piano. As we discussed in the episode on Otis Redding, the owners of Atlantic Records were busily negotiating its sale to Warner Brothers in mid-1967. As Wexler said later “Everything in me said, Keep rolling, keep recording, keep the hits coming. She was red hot and I had no reason to believe that the streak wouldn't continue. I knew that it would be foolish—and even irresponsible—not to strike when the iron was hot. I also had personal motivation. A Wall Street financier had agreed to see what we could get for Atlantic Records. While Ahmet and Neshui had not agreed on a selling price, they had gone along with my plan to let the financier test our worth on the open market. I was always eager to pump out hits, but at this moment I was on overdrive. In this instance, I had a good partner in Ted White, who felt the same. He wanted as much product out there as possible." In truth, you can tell from Aretha Arrives that it's a record that was being thought of as "product" rather than one being made out of any kind of artistic impulse. It's a fine album -- in her ten-album run from I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You through Amazing Grace there's not a bad album and barely a bad track -- but there's a lack of focus. There are only two originals on the album, neither of them written by Franklin herself, and the rest is an incoherent set of songs that show the tension between Franklin and her producers at Atlantic. Several songs are the kind of standards that Franklin had recorded for her old label Columbia, things like "You Are My Sunshine", or her version of "That's Life", which had been a hit for Frank Sinatra the previous year: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "That's Life"] But mixed in with that are songs that are clearly the choice of Wexler. As we've discussed previously in episodes on Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett, at this point Atlantic had the idea that it was possible for soul artists to cross over into the white market by doing cover versions of white rock hits -- and indeed they'd had some success with that tactic. So while Franklin was suggesting Sinatra covers, Atlantic's hand is visible in the choices of songs like "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and "96 Tears": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "96 Tears'] Of the two originals on the album, one, the hit single "Baby I Love You" was written by Ronnie Shannon, the Detroit songwriter who had previously written "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Baby I Love You"] As with the previous album, and several other songs on this one, that had backing vocals by Aretha's sisters, Erma and Carolyn. But the other original on the album, "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)", didn't, even though it was written by Carolyn: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)"] To explain why, let's take a little detour and look at the co-writer of the song this episode is about, though we're not going to get to that for a little while yet. We've not talked much about Burt Bacharach in this series so far, but he's one of those figures who has come up a few times in the periphery and will come up again, so here is as good a time as any to discuss him, and bring everyone up to speed about his career up to 1967. Bacharach was one of the more privileged figures in the sixties pop music field. His father, Bert Bacharach (pronounced the same as his son, but spelled with an e rather than a u) had been a famous newspaper columnist, and his parents had bought him a Steinway grand piano to practice on -- they pushed him to learn the piano even though as a kid he wasn't interested in finger exercises and Debussy. What he was interested in, though, was jazz, and as a teenager he would often go into Manhattan and use a fake ID to see people like Dizzy Gillespie, who he idolised, and in his autobiography he talks rapturously of seeing Gillespie playing his bent trumpet -- he once saw Gillespie standing on a street corner with a pet monkey on his shoulder, and went home and tried to persuade his parents to buy him a monkey too. In particular, he talks about seeing the Count Basie band with Sonny Payne on drums as a teenager: [Excerpt: Count Basie, "Kid From Red Bank"] He saw them at Birdland, the club owned by Morris Levy where they would regularly play, and said of the performance "they were just so incredibly exciting that all of a sudden, I got into music in a way I never had before. What I heard in those clubs really turned my head around— it was like a big breath of fresh air when somebody throws open a window. That was when I knew for the first time how much I loved music and wanted to be connected to it in some way." Of course, there's a rather major problem with this story, as there is so often with narratives that musicians tell about their early career. In this case, Birdland didn't open until 1949, when Bacharach was twenty-one and stationed in Germany for his military service, while Sonny Payne didn't join Basie's band until 1954, when Bacharach had been a professional musician for many years. Also Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet bell only got bent on January 6, 1953. But presumably while Bacharach was conflating several memories, he did have some experience in some New York jazz club that led him to want to become a musician. Certainly there were enough great jazz musicians playing the clubs in those days. He went to McGill University to study music for two years, then went to study with Darius Milhaud, a hugely respected modernist composer. Milhaud was also one of the most important music teachers of the time -- among others he'd taught Stockhausen and Xenakkis, and would go on to teach Philip Glass and Steve Reich. This suited Bacharach, who by this point was a big fan of Schoenberg and Webern, and was trying to write atonal, difficult music. But Milhaud had also taught Dave Brubeck, and when Bacharach rather shamefacedly presented him with a composition which had an actual tune, he told Bacharach "Never be ashamed of writing a tune you can whistle". He dropped out of university and, like most men of his generation, had to serve in the armed forces. When he got out of the army, he continued his musical studies, still trying to learn to be an avant-garde composer, this time with Bohuslav Martinů and later with Henry Cowell, the experimental composer we've heard about quite a bit in previous episodes: [Excerpt: Henry Cowell, "Aeolian Harp and Sinister Resonance"] He was still listening to a lot of avant garde music, and would continue doing so throughout the fifties, going to see people like John Cage. But he spent much of that time working in music that was very different from the avant-garde. He got a job as the band leader for the crooner Vic Damone: [Excerpt: Vic Damone. "Ebb Tide"] He also played for the vocal group the Ames Brothers. He decided while he was working with the Ames Brothers that he could write better material than they were getting from their publishers, and that it would be better to have a job where he didn't have to travel, so he got himself a job as a staff songwriter in the Brill Building. He wrote a string of flops and nearly hits, starting with "Keep Me In Mind" for Patti Page: [Excerpt: Patti Page, "Keep Me In Mind"] From early in his career he worked with the lyricist Hal David, and the two of them together wrote two big hits, "Magic Moments" for Perry Como: [Excerpt: Perry Como, "Magic Moments"] and "The Story of My Life" for Marty Robbins: [Excerpt: "The Story of My Life"] But at that point Bacharach was still also writing with other writers, notably Hal David's brother Mack, with whom he wrote the theme tune to the film The Blob, as performed by The Five Blobs: [Excerpt: The Five Blobs, "The Blob"] But Bacharach's songwriting career wasn't taking off, and he got himself a job as musical director for Marlene Dietrich -- a job he kept even after it did start to take off. Part of the problem was that he intuitively wrote music that didn't quite fit into standard structures -- there would be odd bars of unusual time signatures thrown in, unusual harmonies, and structural irregularities -- but then he'd take feedback from publishers and producers who would tell him the song could only be recorded if he straightened it out. He said later "The truth is that I ruined a lot of songs by not believing in myself enough to tell these guys they were wrong." He started writing songs for Scepter Records, usually with Hal David, but also with Bob Hilliard and Mack David, and started having R&B hits. One song he wrote with Mack David, "I'll Cherish You", had the lyrics rewritten by Luther Dixon to make them more harsh-sounding for a Shirelles single -- but the single was otherwise just Bacharach's demo with the vocals replaced, and you can even hear his voice briefly at the beginning: [Excerpt: The Shirelles, "Baby, It's You"] But he'd also started becoming interested in the production side of records more generally. He'd iced that some producers, when recording his songs, would change the sound for the worse -- he thought Gene McDaniels' version of "Tower of Strength", for example, was too fast. But on the other hand, other producers got a better sound than he'd heard in his head. He and Hilliard had written a song called "Please Stay", which they'd given to Leiber and Stoller to record with the Drifters, and he thought that their arrangement of the song was much better than the one he'd originally thought up: [Excerpt: The Drifters, "Please Stay"] He asked Leiber and Stoller if he could attend all their New York sessions and learn about record production from them. He started doing so, and eventually they started asking him to assist them on records. He and Hilliard wrote a song called "Mexican Divorce" for the Drifters, which Leiber and Stoller were going to produce, and as he put it "they were so busy running Redbird Records that they asked me to rehearse the background singers for them in my office." [Excerpt: The Drifters, "Mexican Divorce"] The backing singers who had been brought in to augment the Drifters on that record were a group of vocalists who had started out as members of a gospel group called the Drinkard singers: [Excerpt: The Drinkard Singers, "Singing in My Soul"] The Drinkard Singers had originally been a family group, whose members included Cissy Drinkard, who joined the group aged five (and who on her marriage would become known as Cissy Houston -- her daughter Whitney would later join the family business), her aunt Lee Warrick, and Warrick's adopted daughter Judy Clay. That group were discovered by the great gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, and spent much of the fifties performing with gospel greats including Jackson herself, Clara Ward, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. But Houston was also the musical director of a group at her church, the Gospelaires, which featured Lee Warrick's two daughters Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick (for those who don't know, the Warwick sisters' birth name was Warrick, spelled with two rs. A printing error led to it being misspelled the same way as the British city on a record label, and from that point on Dionne at least pronounced the w in her misspelled name). And slowly, the Gospelaires rather than the Drinkard Singers became the focus, with a lineup of Houston, the Warwick sisters, the Warwick sisters' cousin Doris Troy, and Clay's sister Sylvia Shemwell. The real change in the group's fortunes came when, as we talked about a while back in the episode on "The Loco-Motion", the original lineup of the Cookies largely stopped working as session singers to become Ray Charles' Raelettes. As we discussed in that episode, a new lineup of Cookies formed in 1961, but it took a while for them to get started, and in the meantime the producers who had been relying on them for backing vocals were looking elsewhere, and they looked to the Gospelaires. "Mexican Divorce" was the first record to feature the group as backing vocalists -- though reports vary as to how many of them are on the record, with some saying it's only Troy and the Warwicks, others saying Houston was there, and yet others saying it was all five of them. Some of these discrepancies were because these singers were so good that many of them left to become solo singers in fairly short order. Troy was the first to do so, with her hit "Just One Look", on which the other Gospelaires sang backing vocals: [Excerpt: Doris Troy, "Just One Look"] But the next one to go solo was Dionne Warwick, and that was because she'd started working with Bacharach and Hal David as their principal demo singer. She started singing lead on their demos, and hoping that she'd get to release them on her own. One early one was "Make it Easy On Yourself", which was recorded by Jerry Butler, formerly of the Impressions. That record was produced by Bacharach, one of the first records he produced without outside supervision: [Excerpt: Jerry Butler, "Make it Easy On Yourself"] Warwick was very jealous that a song she'd sung the demo of had become a massive hit for someone else, and blamed Bacharach and David. The way she tells the story -- Bacharach always claimed this never happened, but as we've already seen he was himself not always the most reliable of narrators of his own life -- she got so angry she complained to them, and said "Don't make me over, man!" And so Bacharach and David wrote her this: [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "Don't Make Me Over"] Incidentally, in the UK, the hit version of that was a cover by the Swinging Blue Jeans: [Excerpt: The Swinging Blue Jeans, "Don't Make Me Over"] who also had a huge hit with "You're No Good": [Excerpt: The Swinging Blue Jeans, "You're No Good"] And *that* was originally recorded by *Dee Dee* Warwick: [Excerpt: Dee Dee Warwick, "You're No Good"] Dee Dee also had a successful solo career, but Dionne's was the real success, making the names of herself, and of Bacharach and David. The team had more than twenty top forty hits together, before Bacharach and David had a falling out in 1971 and stopped working together, and Warwick sued both of them for breach of contract as a result. But prior to that they had hit after hit, with classic records like "Anyone Who Had a Heart": [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "Anyone Who Had a Heart"] And "Walk On By": [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "Walk On By"] With Doris, Dionne, and Dee Dee all going solo, the group's membership was naturally in flux -- though the departed members would occasionally join their former bandmates for sessions, and the remaining members would sing backing vocals on their ex-members' records. By 1965 the group consisted of Cissy Houston, Sylvia Shemwell, the Warwick sisters' cousin Myrna Smith, and Estelle Brown. The group became *the* go-to singers for soul and R&B records made in New York. They were regularly hired by Leiber and Stoller to sing on their records, and they were also the particular favourites of Bert Berns. They sang backing vocals on almost every record he produced. It's them doing the gospel wails on "Cry Baby" by Garnet Mimms: [Excerpt: Garnet Mimms, "Cry Baby"] And they sang backing vocals on both versions of "If You Need Me" -- Wilson Pickett's original and Solomon Burke's more successful cover version, produced by Berns: [Excerpt: Solomon Burke, "If You Need Me"] They're on such Berns records as "Show Me Your Monkey", by Kenny Hamber: [Excerpt: Kenny Hamber, "Show Me Your Monkey"] And it was a Berns production that ended up getting them to be Aretha Franklin's backing group. The group were becoming such an important part of the records that Atlantic and BANG Records, in particular, were putting out, that Jerry Wexler said "it was only a matter of common decency to put them under contract as a featured group". He signed them to Atlantic and renamed them from the Gospelaires to The Sweet Inspirations. Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham wrote a song for the group which became their only hit under their own name: [Excerpt: The Sweet Inspirations, "Sweet Inspiration"] But to start with, they released a cover of Pops Staples' civil rights song "Why (Am I treated So Bad)": [Excerpt: The Sweet Inspirations, "Why (Am I Treated So Bad?)"] That hadn't charted, and meanwhile, they'd all kept doing session work. Cissy had joined Erma and Carolyn Franklin on the backing vocals for Aretha's "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You"] Shortly after that, the whole group recorded backing vocals for Erma's single "Piece of My Heart", co-written and produced by Berns: [Excerpt: Erma Franklin, "Piece of My Heart"] That became a top ten record on the R&B charts, but that caused problems. Aretha Franklin had a few character flaws, and one of these was an extreme level of jealousy for any other female singer who had any level of success and came up in the business after her. She could be incredibly graceful towards anyone who had been successful before her -- she once gave one of her Grammies away to Esther Phillips, who had been up for the same award and had lost to her -- but she was terribly insecure, and saw any contemporary as a threat. She'd spent her time at Columbia Records fuming (with some justification) that Barbra Streisand was being given a much bigger marketing budget than her, and she saw Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, and Dionne Warwick as rivals rather than friends. And that went doubly for her sisters, who she was convinced should be supporting her because of family loyalty. She had been infuriated at John Hammond when Columbia had signed Erma, thinking he'd gone behind her back to create competition for her. And now Erma was recording with Bert Berns. Bert Berns who had for years been a colleague of Jerry Wexler and the Ertegun brothers at Atlantic. Aretha was convinced that Wexler had put Berns up to signing Erma as some kind of power play. There was only one problem with this -- it simply wasn't true. As Wexler later explained “Bert and I had suffered a bad falling-out, even though I had enormous respect for him. After all, he was the guy who brought over guitarist Jimmy Page from England to play on our sessions. Bert, Ahmet, Nesuhi, and I had started a label together—Bang!—where Bert produced Van Morrison's first album. But Bert also had a penchant for trouble. He courted the wise guys. He wanted total control over every last aspect of our business dealings. Finally it was too much, and the Erteguns and I let him go. He sued us for breach of contract and suddenly we were enemies. I felt that he signed Erma, an excellent singer, not merely for her talent but as a way to get back at me. If I could make a hit with Aretha, he'd show me up by making an even bigger hit on Erma. Because there was always an undercurrent of rivalry between the sisters, this only added to the tension.” There were two things that resulted from this paranoia on Aretha's part. The first was that she and Wexler, who had been on first-name terms up to that point, temporarily went back to being "Mr. Wexler" and "Miss Franklin" to each other. And the second was that Aretha no longer wanted Carolyn and Erma to be her main backing vocalists, though they would continue to appear on her future records on occasion. From this point on, the Sweet Inspirations would be the main backing vocalists for Aretha in the studio throughout her golden era [xxcut line (and when the Sweet Inspirations themselves weren't on the record, often it would be former members of the group taking their place)]: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around)"] The last day of sessions for Aretha Arrives was July the twenty-third, 1967. And as we heard in the episode on "I Was Made to Love Her", that was the day that the Detroit riots started. To recap briefly, that was four days of rioting started because of a history of racist policing, made worse by those same racist police overreacting to the initial protests. By the end of those four days, the National Guard, 82nd Airborne Division, and the 101st Airborne from Clarksville were all called in to deal with the violence, which left forty-three dead (of whom thirty-three were Black and only one was a police officer), 1,189 people were injured, and over 7,200 arrested, almost all of them Black. Those days in July would be a turning point for almost every musician based in Detroit. In particular, the police had murdered three members of the soul group the Dramatics, in a massacre of which the author John Hersey, who had been asked by President Johnson to be part of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders but had decided that would compromise his impartiality and did an independent journalistic investigation, said "The episode contained all the mythic themes of racial strife in the United States: the arm of the law taking the law into its own hands; interracial sex; the subtle poison of racist thinking by “decent” men who deny they are racists; the societal limbo into which, ever since slavery, so many young black men have been driven by our country; ambiguous justice in the courts; and the devastation in both black and white human lives that follows in the wake of violence as surely as ruinous and indiscriminate flood after torrents" But these were also the events that radicalised the MC5 -- the group had been playing a gig as Tim Buckley's support act when the rioting started, and guitarist Wayne Kramer decided afterwards to get stoned and watch the fires burning down the city through a telescope -- which police mistook for a rifle, leading to the National Guard knocking down Kramer's door. The MC5 would later cover "The Motor City is Burning", John Lee Hooker's song about the events: [Excerpt: The MC5, "The Motor City is Burning"] It would also be a turning point for Motown, too, in ways we'll talk about in a few future episodes. And it was a political turning point too -- Michigan Governor George Romney, a liberal Republican (at a time when such people existed) had been the favourite for the Republican Presidential candidacy when he'd entered the race in December 1966, but as racial tensions ramped up in Detroit during the early months of 1967 he'd started trailing Richard Nixon, a man who was consciously stoking racists' fears. President Johnson, the incumbent Democrat, who was at that point still considering standing for re-election, made sure to make it clear to everyone during the riots that the decision to call in the National Guard had been made at the State level, by Romney, rather than at the Federal level. That wasn't the only thing that removed the possibility of a Romney presidency, but it was a big part of the collapse of his campaign, and the, as it turned out, irrevocable turn towards right-authoritarianism that the party took with Nixon's Southern Strategy. Of course, Aretha Franklin had little way of knowing what was to come and how the riots would change the city and the country over the following decades. What she was primarily concerned about was the safety of her father, and to a lesser extent that of her sister-in-law Earline who was staying with him. Aretha, Carolyn, and Erma all tried to keep in constant touch with their father while they were out of town, and Aretha even talked about hiring private detectives to travel to Detroit, find her father, and get him out of the city to safety. But as her brother Cecil pointed out, he was probably the single most loved man among Black people in Detroit, and was unlikely to be harmed by the rioters, while he was too famous for the police to kill with impunity. Reverend Franklin had been having a stressful time anyway -- he had recently been fined for tax evasion, an action he was convinced the IRS had taken because of his friendship with Dr King and his role in the civil rights movement -- and according to Cecil "Aretha begged Daddy to move out of the city entirely. She wanted him to find another congregation in California, where he was especially popular—or at least move out to the suburbs. But he wouldn't budge. He said that, more than ever, he was needed to point out the root causes of the riots—the economic inequality, the pervasive racism in civic institutions, the woefully inadequate schools in inner-city Detroit, and the wholesale destruction of our neighborhoods by urban renewal. Some ministers fled the city, but not our father. The horror of what happened only recommitted him. He would not abandon his political agenda." To make things worse, Aretha was worried about her father in other ways -- as her marriage to Ted White was starting to disintegrate, she was looking to her father for guidance, and actually wanted him to take over her management. Eventually, Ruth Bowen, her booking agent, persuaded her brother Cecil that this was a job he could do, and that she would teach him everything he needed to know about the music business. She started training him up while Aretha was still married to White, in the expectation that that marriage couldn't last. Jerry Wexler, who only a few months earlier had been seeing Ted White as an ally in getting "product" from Franklin, had now changed his tune -- partly because the sale of Atlantic had gone through in the meantime. He later said “Sometimes she'd call me at night, and, in that barely audible little-girl voice of hers, she'd tell me that she wasn't sure she could go on. She always spoke in generalities. She never mentioned her husband, never gave me specifics of who was doing what to whom. And of course I knew better than to ask. She just said that she was tired of dealing with so much. My heart went out to her. She was a woman who suffered silently. She held so much in. I'd tell her to take as much time off as she needed. We had a lot of songs in the can that we could release without new material. ‘Oh, no, Jerry,' she'd say. ‘I can't stop recording. I've written some new songs, Carolyn's written some new songs. We gotta get in there and cut 'em.' ‘Are you sure?' I'd ask. ‘Positive,' she'd say. I'd set up the dates and typically she wouldn't show up for the first or second sessions. Carolyn or Erma would call me to say, ‘Ree's under the weather.' That was tough because we'd have asked people like Joe South and Bobby Womack to play on the sessions. Then I'd reschedule in the hopes she'd show." That third album she recorded in 1967, Lady Soul, was possibly her greatest achievement. The opening track, and second single, "Chain of Fools", released in November, was written by Don Covay -- or at least it's credited as having been written by Covay. There's a gospel record that came out around the same time on a very small label based in Houston -- "Pains of Life" by Rev. E. Fair And The Sensational Gladys Davis Trio: [Excerpt: Rev. E. Fair And The Sensational Gladys Davis Trio, "Pains of Life"] I've seen various claims online that that record came out shortly *before* "Chain of Fools", but I can't find any definitive evidence one way or the other -- it was on such a small label that release dates aren't available anywhere. Given that the B-side, which I haven't been able to track down online, is called "Wait Until the Midnight Hour", my guess is that rather than this being a case of Don Covay stealing the melody from an obscure gospel record he'd have had little chance to hear, it's the gospel record rewriting a then-current hit to be about religion, but I thought it worth mentioning. The song was actually written by Covay after Jerry Wexler asked him to come up with some songs for Otis Redding, but Wexler, after hearing it, decided it was better suited to Franklin, who gave an astonishing performance: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Chain of Fools"] Arif Mardin, the arranger of the album, said of that track “I was listed as the arranger of ‘Chain of Fools,' but I can't take credit. Aretha walked into the studio with the chart fully formed inside her head. The arrangement is based around the harmony vocals provided by Carolyn and Erma. To add heft, the Sweet Inspirations joined in. The vision of the song is entirely Aretha's.” According to Wexler, that's not *quite* true -- according to him, Joe South came up with the guitar part that makes up the intro, and he also said that when he played what he thought was the finished track to Ellie Greenwich, she came up with another vocal line for the backing vocals, which she overdubbed. But the core of the record's sound is definitely pure Aretha -- and Carolyn Franklin said that there was a reason for that. As she said later “Aretha didn't write ‘Chain,' but she might as well have. It was her story. When we were in the studio putting on the backgrounds with Ree doing lead, I knew she was singing about Ted. Listen to the lyrics talking about how for five long years she thought he was her man. Then she found out she was nothing but a link in the chain. Then she sings that her father told her to come on home. Well, he did. She sings about how her doctor said to take it easy. Well, he did too. She was drinking so much we thought she was on the verge of a breakdown. The line that slew me, though, was the one that said how one of these mornings the chain is gonna break but until then she'll take all she can take. That summed it up. Ree knew damn well that this man had been doggin' her since Jump Street. But somehow she held on and pushed it to the breaking point." [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Chain of Fools"] That made number one on the R&B charts, and number two on the hot one hundred, kept from the top by "Judy In Disguise (With Glasses)" by John Fred and his Playboy Band -- a record that very few people would say has stood the test of time as well. The other most memorable track on the album was the one chosen as the first single, released in September. As Carole King told the story, she and Gerry Goffin were feeling like their career was in a slump. While they had had a huge run of hits in the early sixties through 1965, they had only had two new hits in 1966 -- "Goin' Back" for Dusty Springfield and "Don't Bring Me Down" for the Animals, and neither of those were anything like as massive as their previous hits. And up to that point in 1967, they'd only had one -- "Pleasant Valley Sunday" for the Monkees. They had managed to place several songs on Monkees albums and the TV show as well, so they weren't going to starve, but the rise of self-contained bands that were starting to dominate the charts, and Phil Spector's temporary retirement, meant there simply wasn't the opportunity for them to place material that there had been. They were also getting sick of travelling to the West Coast all the time, because as their children were growing slightly older they didn't want to disrupt their lives in New York, and were thinking of approaching some of the New York based labels and seeing if they needed songs. They were particularly considering Atlantic, because soul was more open to outside songwriters than other genres. As it happened, though, they didn't have to approach Atlantic, because Atlantic approached them. They were walking down Broadway when a limousine pulled up, and Jerry Wexler stuck his head out of the window. He'd come up with a good title that he wanted to use for a song for Aretha, would they be interested in writing a song called "Natural Woman"? They said of course they would, and Wexler drove off. They wrote the song that night, and King recorded a demo the next morning: [Excerpt: Carole King, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (demo)"] They gave Wexler a co-writing credit because he had suggested the title. King later wrote in her autobiography "Hearing Aretha's performance of “Natural Woman” for the first time, I experienced a rare speechless moment. To this day I can't convey how I felt in mere words. Anyone who had written a song in 1967 hoping it would be performed by a singer who could take it to the highest level of excellence, emotional connection, and public exposure would surely have wanted that singer to be Aretha Franklin." She went on to say "But a recording that moves people is never just about the artist and the songwriters. It's about people like Jerry and Ahmet, who matched the songwriters with a great title and a gifted artist; Arif Mardin, whose magnificent orchestral arrangement deserves the place it will forever occupy in popular music history; Tom Dowd, whose engineering skills captured the magic of this memorable musical moment for posterity; and the musicians in the rhythm section, the orchestral players, and the vocal contributions of the background singers—among them the unforgettable “Ah-oo!” after the first line of the verse. And the promotion and marketing people helped this song reach more people than it might have without them." And that's correct -- unlike "Chain of Fools", this time Franklin did let Arif Mardin do most of the arrangement work -- though she came up with the piano part that Spooner Oldham plays on the record. Mardin said that because of the song's hymn-like feel they wanted to go for a more traditional written arrangement. He said "She loved the song to the point where she said she wanted to concentrate on the vocal and vocal alone. I had written a string chart and horn chart to augment the chorus and hired Ralph Burns to conduct. After just a couple of takes, we had it. That's when Ralph turned to me with wonder in his eyes. Ralph was one of the most celebrated arrangers of the modern era. He had done ‘Early Autumn' for Woody Herman and Stan Getz, and ‘Georgia on My Mind' for Ray Charles. He'd worked with everyone. ‘This woman comes from another planet' was all Ralph said. ‘She's just here visiting.'” [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman"] By this point there was a well-functioning team making Franklin's records -- while the production credits would vary over the years, they were all essentially co-productions by the team of Franklin, Wexler, Mardin and Dowd, all collaborating and working together with a more-or-less unified purpose, and the backing was always by the same handful of session musicians and some combination of the Sweet Inspirations and Aretha's sisters. That didn't mean that occasional guests couldn't get involved -- as we discussed in the Cream episode, Eric Clapton played guitar on "Good to Me as I am to You": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Good to Me as I am to You"] Though that was one of the rare occasions on one of these records where something was overdubbed. Clapton apparently messed up the guitar part when playing behind Franklin, because he was too intimidated by playing with her, and came back the next day to redo his part without her in the studio. At this point, Aretha was at the height of her fame. Just before the final batch of album sessions began she appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, and she was making regular TV appearances, like one on the Mike Douglas Show where she duetted with Frankie Valli on "That's Life": [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin and Frankie Valli, "That's Life"] But also, as Wexler said “Her career was kicking into high gear. Contending and resolving both the professional and personal challenges were too much. She didn't think she could do both, and I didn't blame her. Few people could. So she let the personal slide and concentrated on the professional. " Her concert promoter Ruth Bowen said of this time "Her father and Dr. King were putting pressure on her to sing everywhere, and she felt obligated. The record company was also screaming for more product. And I had a mountain of offers on my desk that kept getting higher with every passing hour. They wanted her in Europe. They wanted her in Latin America. They wanted her in every major venue in the U.S. TV was calling. She was being asked to do guest appearances on every show from Carol Burnett to Andy Williams to the Hollywood Palace. She wanted to do them all and she wanted to do none of them. She wanted to do them all because she's an entertainer who burns with ambition. She wanted to do none of them because she was emotionally drained. She needed to go away and renew her strength. I told her that at least a dozen times. She said she would, but she didn't listen to me." The pressures from her father and Dr King are a recurring motif in interviews with people about this period. Franklin was always a very political person, and would throughout her life volunteer time and money to liberal political causes and to the Democratic Party, but this was the height of her activism -- the Civil Rights movement was trying to capitalise on the gains it had made in the previous couple of years, and celebrity fundraisers and performances at rallies were an important way to do that. And at this point there were few bigger celebrities in America than Aretha Franklin. At a concert in her home town of Detroit on February the sixteenth, 1968, the Mayor declared the day Aretha Franklin Day. At the same show, Billboard, Record World *and* Cash Box magazines all presented her with plaques for being Female Vocalist of the Year. And Dr. King travelled up to be at the show and congratulate her publicly for all her work with his organisation, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Backstage at that show, Dr. King talked to Aretha's father, Reverend Franklin, about what he believed would be the next big battle -- a strike in Memphis: [Excerpt, Martin Luther King, "Mountaintop Speech" -- "And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy—what is the other bread?—Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread company, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hart's bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain; now we must kind of redistribute the pain. We are choosing these companies because they haven't been fair in their hiring policies; and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying, they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike. And then they can move on downtown and tell Mayor Loeb to do what is right."] The strike in question was the Memphis Sanitation Workers' strike which had started a few days before. The struggle for Black labour rights was an integral part of the civil rights movement, and while it's not told that way in the sanitised version of the story that's made it into popular culture, the movement led by King was as much about economic justice as social justice -- King was a democratic socialist, and believed that economic oppression was both an effect of and cause of other forms of racial oppression, and that the rights of Black workers needed to be fought for. In 1967 he had set up a new organisation, the Poor People's Campaign, which was set to march on Washington to demand a program that included full employment, a guaranteed income -- King was strongly influenced in his later years by the ideas of Henry George, the proponent of a universal basic income based on land value tax -- the annual building of half a million affordable homes, and an end to the war in Vietnam. This was King's main focus in early 1968, and he saw the sanitation workers' strike as a major part of this campaign. Memphis was one of the most oppressive cities in the country, and its largely Black workforce of sanitation workers had been trying for most of the 1960s to unionise, and strike-breakers had been called in to stop them, and many of them had been fired by their white supervisors with no notice. They were working in unsafe conditions, for utterly inadequate wages, and the city government were ardent segregationists. After two workers had died on the first of February from using unsafe equipment, the union demanded changes -- safer working conditions, better wages, and recognition of the union. The city council refused, and almost all the sanitation workers stayed home and stopped work. After a few days, the council relented and agreed to their terms, but the Mayor, Henry Loeb, an ardent white supremacist who had stood on a platform of opposing desegregation, and who had previously been the Public Works Commissioner who had put these unsafe conditions in place, refused to listen. As far as he was concerned, he was the only one who could recognise the union, and he wouldn't. The workers continued their strike, marching holding signs that simply read "I am a Man": [Excerpt: Stevie Wonder, "Blowing in the Wind"] The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the NAACP had been involved in organising support for the strikes from an early stage, and King visited Memphis many times. Much of the time he spent visiting there was spent negotiating with a group of more militant activists, who called themselves The Invaders and weren't completely convinced by King's nonviolent approach -- they believed that violence and rioting got more attention than non-violent protests. King explained to them that while he had been persuaded by Gandhi's writings of the moral case for nonviolent protest, he was also persuaded that it was pragmatically necessary -- asking the young men "how many guns do we have and how many guns do they have?", and pointing out as he often did that when it comes to violence a minority can't win against an armed majority. Rev Franklin went down to Memphis on the twenty-eighth of March to speak at a rally Dr. King was holding, but as it turned out the rally was cancelled -- the pre-rally march had got out of hand, with some people smashing windows, and Memphis police had, like the police in Detroit the previous year, violently overreacted, clubbing and gassing protestors and shooting and killing one unarmed teenage boy, Larry Payne. The day after Payne's funeral, Dr King was back in Memphis, though this time Rev Franklin was not with him. On April the third, he gave a speech which became known as the "Mountaintop Speech", in which he talked about the threats that had been made to his life: [Excerpt: Martin Luther King, "Mountaintop Speech": “And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."] The next day, Martin Luther King was shot dead. James Earl Ray, a white supremacist, pled guilty to the murder, and the evidence against him seems overwhelming from what I've read, but the King family have always claimed that the murder was part of a larger conspiracy and that Ray was not the gunman. Aretha was obviously distraught, and she attended the funeral, as did almost every other prominent Black public figure. James Baldwin wrote of the funeral: "In the pew directly before me sat Marlon Brando, Sammy Davis, Eartha Kitt—covered in black, looking like a lost, ten-year-old girl—and Sidney Poitier, in the same pew, or nearby. Marlon saw me, and nodded. The atmosphere was black, with a tension indescribable—as though something, perhaps the heavens, perhaps the earth, might crack. Everyone sat very still. The actual service sort of washed over me, in waves. It wasn't that it seemed unreal; it was the most real church service I've ever sat through in my life, or ever hope to sit through; but I have a childhood hangover thing about not weeping in public, and I was concentrating on holding myself together. I did not want to weep for Martin, tears seemed futile. But I may also have been afraid, and I could not have been the only one, that if I began to weep I would not be able to stop. There was more than enough to weep for, if one was to weep—so many of us, cut down, so soon. Medgar, Malcolm, Martin: and their widows, and their children. Reverend Ralph David Abernathy asked a certain sister to sing a song which Martin had loved—“Once more,” said Ralph David, “for Martin and for me,” and he sat down." Many articles and books on Aretha Franklin say that she sang at King's funeral. In fact she didn't, but there's a simple reason for the confusion. King's favourite song was the Thomas Dorsey gospel song "Take My Hand, Precious Lord", and indeed almost his last words were to ask a trumpet player, Ben Branch, if he would play the song at the rally he was going to be speaking at on the day of his death. At his request, Mahalia Jackson, his old friend, sang the song at his private funeral, which was not filmed, unlike the public part of the funeral that Baldwin described. Four months later, though, there was another public memorial for King, and Franklin did sing "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" at that service, in front of King's weeping widow and children, and that performance *was* filmed, and gets conflated in people's memories with Jackson's unfilmed earlier performance: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord (at Martin Luther King Memorial)"] Four years later, she would sing that at Mahalia Jackson's funeral. Through all this, Franklin had been working on her next album, Aretha Now, the sessions for which started more or less as soon as the sessions for Lady Soul had finished. The album was, in fact, bookended by deaths that affected Aretha. Just as King died at the end of the sessions, the beginning came around the time of the death of Otis Redding -- the sessions were cancelled for a day while Wexler travelled to Georgia for Redding's funeral, which Franklin was too devastated to attend, and Wexler would later say that the extra emotion in her performances on the album came from her emotional pain at Redding's death. The lead single on the album, "Think", was written by Franklin and -- according to the credits anyway -- her husband Ted White, and is very much in the same style as "Respect", and became another of her most-loved hits: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "Think"] But probably the song on Aretha Now that now resonates the most is one that Jerry Wexler tried to persuade her not to record, and was only released as a B-side. Indeed, "I Say a Little Prayer" was a song that had already once been a hit after being a reject. Hal David, unlike Burt Bacharach, was a fairly political person and inspired by the protest song movement, and had been starting to incorporate his concerns about the political situation and the Vietnam War into his lyrics -- though as with many such writers, he did it in much less specific ways than a Phil Ochs or a Bob Dylan. This had started with "What the World Needs Now is Love", a song Bacharach and David had written for Jackie DeShannon in 1965: [Excerpt: Jackie DeShannon, "What the "World Needs Now is Love"] But he'd become much more overtly political for "The Windows of the World", a song they wrote for Dionne Warwick. Warwick has often said it's her favourite of her singles, but it wasn't a big hit -- Bacharach blamed himself for that, saying "Dionne recorded it as a single and I really blew it. I wrote a bad arrangement and the tempo was too fast, and I really regret making it the way I did because it's a good song." [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "The Windows of the World"] For that album, Bacharach and David had written another track, "I Say a Little Prayer", which was not as explicitly political, but was intended by David to have an implicit anti-war message, much like other songs of the period like "Last Train to Clarksville". David had sons who were the right age to be drafted, and while it's never stated, "I Say a Little Prayer" was written from the perspective of a woman whose partner is away fighting in the war, but is still in her thoughts: [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "I Say a Little Prayer"] The recording of Dionne Warwick's version was marked by stress. Bacharach had a particular way of writing music to tell the musicians the kind of feel he wanted for the part -- he'd write nonsense words above the stave, and tell the musicians to play the parts as if they were singing those words. The trumpet player hired for the session, Ernie Royal, got into a row with Bacharach about this unorthodox way of communicating musical feeling, and the track ended up taking ten takes (as opposed to the normal three for a Bacharach session), with Royal being replaced half-way through the session. Bacharach was never happy with the track even after all the work it had taken, and he fought to keep it from being released at all, saying the track was taken at too fast a tempo. It eventually came out as an album track nearly eighteen months after it was recorded -- an eternity in 1960s musical timescales -- and DJs started playing it almost as soon as it came out. Scepter records rushed out a single, over Bacharach's objections, but as he later said "One thing I love about the record business is how wrong I was. Disc jockeys all across the country started playing the track, and the song went to number four on the charts and then became the biggest hit Hal and I had ever written for Dionne." [Excerpt: Dionne Warwick, "I Say a Little Prayer"] Oddly, the B-side for Warwick's single, "Theme From the Valley of the Dolls" did even better, reaching number two. Almost as soon as the song was released as a single, Franklin started playing around with the song backstage, and in April 1968, right around the time of Dr. King's death, she recorded a version. Much as Burt Bacharach had been against releasing Dionne Warwick's version, Jerry Wexler was against Aretha even recording the song, saying later “I advised Aretha not to record it. I opposed it for two reasons. First, to cover a song only twelve weeks after the original reached the top of the charts was not smart business. You revisit such a hit eight months to a year later. That's standard practice. But more than that, Bacharach's melody, though lovely, was peculiarly suited to a lithe instrument like Dionne Warwick's—a light voice without the dark corners or emotional depths that define Aretha. Also, Hal David's lyric was also somewhat girlish and lacked the gravitas that Aretha required. “Aretha usually listened to me in the studio, but not this time. She had written a vocal arrangement for the Sweet Inspirations that was undoubtedly strong. Cissy Houston, Dionne's cousin, told me that Aretha was on the right track—she was seeing this song in a new way and had come up with a new groove. Cissy was on Aretha's side. Tommy Dowd and Arif were on Aretha's side. So I had no choice but to cave." It's quite possible that Wexler's objections made Franklin more, rather than less, determined to record the song. She regarded Warwick as a hated rival, as she did almost every prominent female singer of her generation and younger ones, and would undoubtedly have taken the implication that there was something that Warwick was simply better at than her to heart. [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer"] Wexler realised as soon as he heard it in the studio that Franklin's version was great, and Bacharach agreed, telling Franklin's biographer David Ritz “As much as I like the original recording by Dionne, there's no doubt that Aretha's is a better record. She imbued the song with heavy soul and took it to a far deeper place. Hers is the definitive version.” -- which is surprising because Franklin's version simplifies some of Bacharach's more unusual chord voicings, something he often found extremely upsetting. Wexler still though thought there was no way the song would be a hit, and it's understandable that he thought that way. Not only had it only just been on the charts a few months earlier, but it was the kind of song that wouldn't normally be a hit at all, and certainly not in the kind of rhythmic soul music for which Franklin was known. Almost everything she ever recorded is in simple time signatures -- 4/4, waltz time, or 6/8 -- but this is a Bacharach song so it's staggeringly metrically irregular. Normally even with semi-complex things I'm usually good at figuring out how to break it down into bars, but here I actually had to purchase a copy of the sheet music in order to be sure I was right about what's going on. I'm going to count beats along with the record here so you can see what I mean. The verse has three bars of 4/4, one bar of 2/4, and three more bars of 4/4, all repeated: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer" with me counting bars over verse] While the chorus has a bar of 4/4, a bar of 3/4 but with a chord change half way through so it sounds like it's in two if you're paying attention to the harmonic changes, two bars of 4/4, another waltz-time bar sounding like it's in two, two bars of four, another bar of three sounding in two, a bar of four, then three more bars of four but the first of those is *written* as four but played as if it's in six-eight time (but you can keep the four/four pulse going if you're counting): [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer" with me counting bars over verse] I don't expect you to have necessarily followed that in great detail, but the point should be clear -- this was not some straightforward dance song. Incidentally, that bar played as if it's six/eight was something Aretha introduced to make the song even more irregular than how Bacharach wrote it. And on top of *that* of course the lyrics mixed the secular and the sacred, something that was still taboo in popular music at that time -- this is only a couple of years after Capitol records had been genuinely unsure about putting out the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows", and Franklin's gospel-inflected vocals made the religious connection even more obvious. But Franklin was insistent that the record go out as a single, and eventually it was released as the B-side to the far less impressive "The House That Jack Built". It became a double-sided hit, with the A-side making number two on the R&B chart and number seven on the Hot One Hundred, while "I Say a Little Prayer" made number three on the R&B chart and number ten overall. In the UK, "I Say a Little Prayer" made number four and became her biggest ever solo UK hit. It's now one of her most-remembered songs, while the A-side is largely forgotten: [Excerpt: Aretha Franklin, "I Say a Little Prayer"] For much of the
Hermon Johnson, Rev. Darryl Johnson and Reena Evers-Everette, the daughter born to Medgar and Myrlie Evers in Mound Bayou, MS discuss the Mound Bayou Museum in a historic African American city and its first annual gala. Even if you can't attend, pls GIVE moundbayougala.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Pleasure Muse: Myrlie Evers-Williams Tantalizing Trivia Raised by her grandmother, and an aunt, two respected school teachers in Vicksburg, MS. They encouraged education so in 1950 she attended Alcorn A&M where she pledged Delta Sigma Theta sorority and on her first day of school met and fell in love with Medgar Evers - they got married a year later on Christmas Eve. The young couple became prominent leaders in the civil rights movement in Mississippi, Medgar, serving as the NAACP's first Field Secretary in Mississippi; together they fought for voting rights, equal justice and the end of segregation. The Evers Family became a target of the Ku Klux Klan and White Citizens Council. She said “Medgar was the love of my life.” and “the fear of losing one another was real.” In 1962, their home in Jackson, Mississippi, was firebombed; in 1963 her husband was brutally murdered in their driveway; and the murderer was exonerated and walked free, because of an all white jury in Mississippi; Protests, vigils and calls for freedom were widespread. The world mourned with Myrlie Evers and her three beautiful children; The world watched her lay to rest an American hero, martyr and civil rights activists - who also served as a sergeant in World War II - in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. A photo of her and her son grieving became the cover of Life Magazine; millions watched her tears flow; the image was later distributed by the NAACP to provoke the moral consciousness of a nation. As a widow, she moved her children to Claremont, California, went back to college, she made two bids for U.S. Congress and wrote a book called For Us, the Living, telling her family's story in Mississippi and wrote an autobiography called Watch Me Fly. She became chairperson of the NAACP's board of directors, was named Woman of the Year by Ms Magazine, The National Freedom Award and in 2013 delivered the invocation at the inauguration of the first Black president of the US, Barack Obama. She went on to marry Walter Williams, a union organizer and moved to Oregon and committed herself to living a good life. She never gave up the fight for justice for her family, and 30 years later in 1993, under a new judge, she pressed for conviction of the murderer - requiring her to exhume Medgar's body for new evidence - and won the case, sending the murderer to jail for the last 8 years of his life. Her legendary life was played by Whoopi Goldberg in the movie Ghosts of Mississippi and was featured in several other films, including the 2022 film Till. She said she's never lived a day of her 90 years without love, and has bravely battled hate. Mirror Work: Say goodbye to someone you lost. Affirmations: I feel my feelings. I am grateful for true love. Grief is a part of healing. I turn my grief into goodwill I rest when I am hurting. I seek help. I'm grateful for each day. I honor the fallen with daily fulfillment and joy. Grieve as Gratitude : A Playlist Self-Care Shopping List: Buy and deliver flowers for someone alive for you. Love very much. “I come to you tonight with a broken heart. I am left without my husband, and my children without a father, but I am left with the strong determination to try to take up where he left off.” - Myrlie Evers-Williams, 24 hours after the murder of her husband.
A reflection and short history on one of the most important Civil Rights families you might not have heard of. Medgar Evers was an icon in the Civil Rights Movement (also known as the Southern Freedom Movement) in Mississippi until his untimely assassination in his family's home on June 12, 1963. Yet, many of us have never heard about his impact on the movement or the way his assassination reverberates still today in some communities.We unpack those dynamics and honor the legacy of both Medgar and his wife Myrlie in this special episode, coming on the heels of the 60th anniversary of that day. And we offer some thoughts in reflection on how we can be better students of our own history, and where you can go to learn more and take up the mantle of Medgar, Myrlie, and now their daughter, Reena Evers-Everette, too. Read and share the Principles and Practices of Peacemaking Follow Telos on Instagram @thetelosgroupIf you're enjoying the podcast, become a monthly donor to Telos!Leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts or SpotifySubscribe to the Telos NewsletterResources Mentioned:Learn more about the Evers family; visit the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum; visit the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument.Join an upcoming Telos ReStory US trip this September! Join the Learning Corps and stay on the journey
In an emotional interview which originally aired in 2013 during the 50th year commemoration of Medgar Evers martyrdom, NAACP Chairman Emeritus Myrlie Evers recounted the climate in Jackson, Mississippi in 1963, her husband's relationship with Dr. King, the details of her husband's assassination and, announced for the first time publicly, the NAACP's apology for denying her husband protection."This is something that I have just revealed publicly in this 50th Anniversary, where representatives from the NAACP national office were visiting {Jackson, MS], and some of the leaders asked for support, financial support to help hire someone or ones to be with Medgar to better secure his safety. And I know the quote from memory from that time, and it was, 'We have better things to do with our money than to pay someone to be with him.' That I will never forget. That I have not revealed until this time and this moment. And I'm glad that I have the strength to say it, because it speaks to the difficulty that we as people had during that particular time and how everybody did not think the same way. I know Medgar, in his fatigue, came home that night after that discussion, and sat down and cried. He was very hurt by it, but he had made his decision. And the message was that the national NAACP did not care about him. They just wanted more memberships and what not. Being his wife and the mother of his children, I asked God to help me relieve that from my heart. But up until this point I have never been able to let go of that," she says.She described an NAACP Board luncheon in Jackson. "At that luncheon that was held with the Board members, [NAACP President Ben Jealous] put his speech aside, and he stood there and he said, 'I have an apology to make.' And he apologized to me and my daughter and other family members for what the Association leadership, top leadership said to Medgar and the way they treated him. And how very shortly after that, just a few days, he was taken from us. I don't think there was a dry eye in the place at that time. Because people didn't know. It's something only a few of us knew. I never wanted to hurt the organization in any way."Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
6.9.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Remembering Medgar Evers, Trump Federal Indictment Unsealed, IN Cop Fired For Racist Posts LIVE from Jackson, Mississippi, at the Voices of Courage & Justice Gala honoring Medgar & Myrlie Evers Donald Trump's 37-count federal indictment is unsealed. A. Scoot Bolden will join us to break down the charges and give his take on when Trump could face a jury of his peers. The Florida white woman who shot and killed AJ Ownes for defending her children appeared in court for the first time. We'll let you know if she can get out of jail. A recent Democrats for Education Reform poll suggests more than 70% of Black and Latino voters support public school choice. The Executive Director, DFER NY, will be here for our Education Matters segment to explain why school choice is the best option. Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox http://www.blackstarnetwork.com The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platforms covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This is a continuation of last week's episode on Medgar Evers and part two dives into his work with the NAACP. In 1954, Medgar became the field secretary for the state of Mississippi for the NAACP and was incredibly active and energetic, still having the same energy he had in college. He was involved with the Biloxi wade-in, labor organizing, and getting unions involved in the civil rights struggle. His biographer, Michael Vincent Williams, said his reach encompassed every facet of the civil rights struggle and his presence was felt in voter registration drives, economic boycotts, sit-ins, investigative reporting, and other direct action tactics. He also helped to organize a boycott of the bus system to challenge segregation laws. The boycott was a success, and in 1965 the US Supreme Court declared segregation on buses was unconstitutional. He also sought to register black people to vote, lamenting how the law was used to prevent this. In Jones County, Mississippi, the number of registered black voters went from 1300 to 65. These measures were used by white people to hurt Black people, but also poor people in general. He recognized the systemic oppression of African Americans across the country and the continued threat of violence they faced. It is further noted that Evers played an important role in the Emmett Till investigation, convincing Mamie to have an open casket funeral, which was a pivotal moment that changed the trajectory of history. The conversation serves to illustrate the bravery and commitment of Evers to the cause of civil rights, despite the fear and danger that he faced.Visit us at blackhistoryforwhitepeople.com.Buy our book on Amazon!$5/month supports us at patreon.com/blackhistoryforwhitepeople.Check us out on Twitter @BHforWP and Instagram @BlackHistoryForWhitePeople or feel free to email us at hello@blackhistoryforwhitepeople.com.Our Sponsors:* Check out Factor 75 and use my code blackhistory50 for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/black-history-for-white-people/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
© 2020-2026 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
