Episode One
In the first episode, Dr. Sandro Galea, Dean of Boston University’s School of Public Health, interviews Nigerian-American writer and activist Bassey Ikpi on her memoir I’m Telling the Truth, but I’m Lying about living with bipolar II and anxiety and advocating for mental health.
Episode Two
Patricia Williams, University Distinguished Professor of Law and Humanities at Northeastern, interviews Orlando Patterson, John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard, about his 2019 book, The Confounding Island: Jamaica and the Postcolonial Predicament. The interview covers a variety of topics including slavery, social death, colonialism, gender, reggae, cricket, and Afro-pessimism in both Jamaica and the United States.
Episode Three
Caryl Phillips, Professor of English at Yale, interviews Louis Chude-Sokei, Professor of English and Director of The African American Studies Program at Boston University about his 2021 book, Floating in a Most Peculiar Way: A Memoir. Reviewed by the New York Times here, the memoir traces Professor Chude-Sokei’s life. Born in Africa during the Nigerian-Biafran war, Chude-Sokei poignantly relates his journey from childhood spent in Jamaica and Washington, DC, through coming of age both personally and professionally in Los Angeles.
The podcasts in Season One are produced by Arthur George Kamya and Ryan Blaney.