Stuck with Damon Young

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Jacqueline Woodson joins Damon to discuss her decorated career and what we can do to combat the legislative effort to ban books from Black and queer authors from classrooms and school libraries. Then journalist Hillary Crosley Coker comes through to celebrate and contextualize the legacy of Jezebel and the rest of the now extinct Gawker Media Network.

Dr. Saida Grundy returns to help Damon understand some of the cultural and economic nuances of the Black Mecca, in response to the response to TikTok restaurant critic Keith Lee's unpleasant experiences with some popular Atlanta restaurants. Then, author and NBC correspondent Antonia Hylton discusses her upcoming book Madness: Race and Insanity in a Jim Crow Asylum, which leads to a revealing conve...

Malaika Jabali returns to discuss her new book "It's Not You, It's Capitalism," and how the American economy hurts the American experience. Then comedian Zainab Johnson helps Damon advise a parent apprehensive about a future filled with family-themed halloween costumes. 

Dr. Karida L. Brown & Charly Palmer, authors of "The New Brownies' Book: A Love Letter to Black Families," a collective anthology inspired by W. E. B. Du Bois’ original work, join Damon to talk about some of the ideas behind their work, the importance of it at a time when so much black literature is being challenged and banned in schools and the process of working on a project like this together a...

Michael Harriot, author of Black AF History, joins Damon for a discussion on the history of the word "woke" and the real world danger of writing the truth about white people. Then, Morgan the Producer helps Damon discuss how Jada Pickett-Smith's recent comments on her and Will Smith's "marriage" change Damon's opinion on the Chris Rock Oscars slap.

Democratic United States Representative Summer Lee returns to Stuck with Damon Young to discuss the implications of student loans on black Americans, then Minda Honey, author of “the Heartbreak Years,” helps Damon decide who the most famous person in America is in 2023.

Gene Demby, co-host of NPR's “Code Switch” podcast, joins Damon for a conversation on the dangers of social media illiteracy, and how everything—from how we vote and what we eat to where we live and even how we consume sports—can be affected by misinformation.

Jenee Desmond Harris, Slate’s “Dear Prudence” columnist and podcast host, joins Damon for a discussion rooted in divorce and giving relationship advice during a time when it feels like couples from all walks of life are splitting up. Then, Panama Jackson returns to help Damon advise a young man with cash flow issues who wants to know if he should pursue dating while broke. 

Deesha Philyaw, author of "The Secret Life of Church Ladies," joins Damon for a discussion about making money on the heels of Deesha's two-book seven-figure deal. Morgan the Producer then makes her Dear Damon debut talking tipping etiquette. 

Mitch Jackson, Pulitzer Prize winning author of "Fly: the Big Book of Basketball Fashion," joins Damon to discuss the impact of the NBA on the black community's fashion decisions. He and Damon also share bumps in the road in their own respective fashion journeys. 

On the NFL’s opening week, best-selling author and MacArthur Genius Kiese Laymon joins Damon for an in-depth conversation on how they can enjoy such a violent, racist sport that profits on the destruction of (primarily Black) bodies. Plus, they find beauty in Black virtuosity and 90s-fine quarterbacks.  

Jeff Jenkins, host of National Geographic’s Travel series Never Say Never, joins Damon for an extremely fun and lively conversation about their own (and some stereotypically Black) anxieties about travel. And then for Dear Damon, the brilliant writer and educator Dr. Bettina Love helps advise a prospective writer, who fears there will be no writing related jobs left when they graduate.

On the heels of retired NFL player Michael Oher’s recent lawsuit against the Tuohy family, where he claims that they manipulated him into a conservatorship, University of Boston Professor Saida Grundy returns to help Damon unpack all of the problems with “The Blindside.” Including why the white savior narrative is so seductive (and so dangerous), and how both Michael Lewis (the author of The Blinds...

In the wake of the 50th anniversary of hip hop, Clover Hope, author of "The Motherlode: 100+ Women Who Made Hip-Hop," joins Damon to explore their respective histories and current perspectives on the genre. Then in Dear Damon, NPR music critic Rodney Carmichael helps Damon talk through the differences between different generations of hip hop artists. 

It's a special, COVID induced episode of Stuck with Damon Young. Fresh off of traveling for the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Birmingham Alabama, Damon, along with his original guest Panama Jackson, are both positive for the virus. Thus, Morgan the Producer makes her Stuck with Damon Young debut to help unpack the circumstances surrounding the Montgomery River Brawl - or F...

Allen Hughes, director of the Emmy nominated Hulu original documentary "Dear Mama" on the life of legendary rapper Tupac Shakur, joins Damon to discuss his career, personal relationship with Tupac, and experiences directing the recent documentary. Then, author Blaire Kelley joins Damon to advise a black woman who is concerned for the outlook of a new relationship with a partner who has only dated w...

Cultural critic Shamira Ibrahim consoles Damon while he laments Pittsburgh's removal from Beyonce's international tour. Nestled deep in the heart of Taylor Swift country, Pittsburgh, or as Damon likes to call it, the Paris of Appalachia is the only stop so far to be struck from the tour. Shamira helps Damon unpack why that may be and quantify the effect of the decision of Pittsburgh's black communi...

Joel Anderson, host of Slate's "Slow Burn" podcast, which this season is focused on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, joins Damon to discuss the origins and driving motivations of one of the most influential, yet problematic, African Americans in our country's history. Then on Dear Damon, Shaniqua McClendon, vice president of politics at Crooked Media, helps advise a listener who is tired of d...

Saida Grundy, Professor of Sociology, African American Studies, and Women's and Gender Studies at Boston University, joins Damon to discuss the historical context and future implications of the Supreme Court's Affirmative Action decision. Saida sticks around for Dear Damon and helps unpack the situation surrounding Keke Palmer’s Usher experience and her semi-nameless baby’s daddy patriarchal reacti...

Comedian and actor Sam J talks with Damon about the highs and lows of writing for comedy and show business, the brokest things they've ever done on the road to success, and how to balance making money with fulfilling one's passion. Then, on Dear Damon, Alzo Slade returns to the show to help Damon advise a listener who wants to unmask for the first time since the start of the pandemic this summer.

Juanita Tolliver, MSNBC political analyst and host of Crooked Media's What A Day," joins Damon to discuss their complicated feelings about the Fourth of July and Juneteenth, and ask: what exactly are we celebrating? Then on Dear Damon, W. Kamau Bell returns to help Damon figure out at what point it's best to end a relationship in defense of one's mental health.

This week on Stuck with Damon Young, poet and author Hanif Abdurraqib joins Damon to give their takes on basketball fans' relationship with NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic, as well as to speak on their own personal relationships with the game and how they've changed over time. Then on Dear Damon, Dr. Chanda Prescod Weinstein returns to help Damon advise a listener on the nuances of ant...

Description: This week on Stuck with Damon Young, cultural critic Aisha Harris, the author of the new book "Wannabe: Reckons with the Pop Culture That Shapes Me" joins Damon for a discussion on how our relationship with pop culture is affected by our relationships with ourselves and our own self images. Then on Dear Damon, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of the recently released "Chain Gang All St...

This week on Stuck with Damon Young, Dr. Chanda Prescod Weinstein, Theoretical Physicist and Black Feminist Science and Society joins Damon for a conversation rooted in religion, science, identity and the comprehension of the universe around us. Then in Dear Damon, author Joseph Earl Thomas and Damon consider a listener's aversion to driving while black. 

Vice News reporter Alzo Slade joins Damon to discuss how and why buying — or even renting — a home can be so hard for Black people in this country. Then, political analyst Malaika Jabali makes her Dear Damon debut to help Damon break down and assess what “chivalry” actually means in 2023.

This week, comedian W. Kamau Bell joins Damon to discuss whether some of their past work would fly in today's media landscape, and the importance for artists of all varieties to constantly evolve with the changing times. Then, on Dear Damon, poet Camonghne Felix helps Damon advise a white person who wants to explore the pros and cons of using darker skinned emojis to connect with their Black cowork...

Rapper-turned-marijuana mogul Wiz Khalifa joins Damon in a conversation spanning parenthood, Pittsburgh, and the changing weed business. Plus, Damon and Wiz counsel a young writer about safely (and effectively) working substances into the creative process.

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(00:00) Introduction

On this week's episode of Stuck with Damon Young, author and MacArthur genius Kiese Laymon joins Damon to discuss the ousting and reinstatement of Tennessee representative Justin Pearson in reaction to his gun lobbying efforts, and then get into his MLK style code-switching when speaking. Writer and host Baratunde Thurston joins Damon for dear Damon to discuss whether sliding into one's Linkedin DM...

This week on Stuck with Damon Young, AV Rockwell, writer and director of the Sundance award winning "A Thousand and One" breaks down her inspirations for the film and its connections to her own experience growing up in New York City. Ted Lasso's Kola Bokinni then joins Damon to consider when a "parent's partner" becomes a "step-parent."

This week on Stuck with Damon Young, Yamiche Alcindor joins Damon to discuss the battle for slavery reparations in the United States. From history, to current events, they delve into the argument in favor of reparations and the best way to compensate the descendants of slaves for the labor of their ancestors. Then, on Dear Damon, Boston University professor Saida Grundy helps Damon advise a listene...

This week Damon is joined by author Kara Brown, who’s a writer and supervising producer on the new Amazon Prime horror series "Swarm." They pick apart what it means and what it’s like to write for a series with a black female lead.

On the heels of a viral interview around wokeness, Simone Polanen, host of the podcast Not Past It, joins Damon to talk about the history of the word and how we code language that describes Black people, spaces and experiences.

Pastor and writer Dante Stewart and Damon discuss the changing face of black male masculinity.

This week on Stuck, Damon follows the ecological disaster taking place in East Palestine, Ohio. He's joined by fellow Pittsburgher, Congresswoman Summer Lee to talk about environmental racism and the ways it's manifested itself in Pittsburgh area historically.

The athletic director of Albany State University, a Georgia-based HBCU, is resigning after offering a scholarship to a white football player who said the n-word on video.

The first weeks of 2023 have been rife with gun violence. In response, Bomani Jones, host of Game Theory on HBO Max, comes onto Stuck with Damon Young for a conversation about the relationship between guns and the black community. 

The second season of Stuck with Damon Young kicks off with a conversation ripped straight out of the sports headlines. The dying embers of the first ever all-black quarterback Super Bowl matchup are still sizzling, and NBA All Star weekend is at centerstage. 

Award-winning author Damon Young is joined by the brightest, weirdest, and blackest writers, comedians, and critics he knows to explore the hilarious and hideous absurdity of human behavior. This season, Damon moves away from the friction between self consciousness and social consciousness, setting his sights on the world around him (And still some of that pesky friction.).

Damon talks to Jay Ellis and Robert Jones Jr. about our bodies, and why men are so reluctant to admit to experiencing body shame.

Damon gets inside of grief, with Hanif Abdurraqib and Imani Perry, and tries to understand what it does when it’s inside of us.

Damon unpacks what it means to be truly accountable, publicly and privately, with Marc Lamont Hill and Kara Brown.

Damon unpacks the gap between our ideal political selves and our actual selves with Jamilah Lemieux and Shamira Ibrahim.

Damon talks to Kiese Laymon and Dr. Joy Harden-Bradford about why we all need therapy.

Damon explores whether our personas online and in person are collapsing into each other with Jemele Hill, Jenee Desmond Harris, and Joel Anderson.

Damon unpacks the whiplash of new money with Samantha Irby and Mehrsa Baradaran.

Damon explores his (unconvincing) performance of Christianity with Roy Wood Jr. and Dr. Brittney Cooper.

Damon examines the idea of performing Blackness around other Black people with Lauren Michele Jackson and Terence Nance.

Damon explains why he wants all the smoke – specifically, why he needs to know if he’s capable of smoke – with Darnell Moore and Hannah Giorgis.

Damon talks to Nikole Hannah-Jones (and then his real actual dad) about all of the racial and economic factors impacting where he decides to send his kids to school.

Award-winning author Damon Young is joined by the brightest and Blackest writers, comedians, and critics he knows to explore the hilarious and hideous absurdity of our behavior – and how race, gender, and class converge to make everything messy AF.

Damon is joined by Saida Grundy and Jason Reynolds to deconstruct all the weird, awkward and terrifying intraracial anxieties we have about cis-hetero sex.