Grammy-nominated vocalist Tonya Boyd-Cannon and celebrated visual artist Charly Palmer engage in a riveting, soul-baring conversation that moves between art, ancestry, mental health, and creative purpose. With disarming honesty, they explore how grief, trauma, and generational memory shape their work—and why Black artists must create from spirit, not ego. From Palmer’s reflections on using flowers as both beauty and protection, to Boyd-Cannon’s revelation of how roses became emotional triggers, the two uncover how creation becomes a sacred act of survival and healing. The conversation crescendos into a powerful meditation on legacy, water as a spiritual medium, the sacredness of altars, and Blackness as a universal, unshakable force. What emerges is a profound testimony: art is not decoration—its declaration, remembrance, and resistance.

This episode is part of the ongoing conversations hosted by Baldwin & Co., a Black-owned bookstore, café, and cultural institution based in New Orleans. Baldwin & Co. exists at the intersection of literature, ideas, and community—creating space for rigorous dialogue, storytelling, and intellectual exchange.

Through author talks, podcasts, live events, and community programming, Baldwin & Co. amplifies voices shaping how we understand culture, history, politics, faith, and the future.

Stay connected with Baldwin & Co. across platforms:

Instagram: @baldwinandco
X (Twitter): @baldwinandco
Facebook: Baldwin & Co.
YouTube: Baldwin & Co.
Website: www.baldwinandcobooks.com

Visit us in New Orleans or online to support independent bookselling, discover powerful literature, and engage in conversations that matter.

#CharlyPalmer #TonyaBoydCannon  #BlackArtMatters #ArtAsResistance #CreateFromSpirit #BlackCreatives #HealingThroughArt #GriefAndCreation #SacredNotSafe #BaldwinAndCo #BlackArtistsUnite #ArtAndAncestry #VisualHealing #EmotionalArtistry #AncestralLegacy #CanvasOfTruth #WaterAsWisdom #AltarsInArt #TriggeredByBeauty #ArtForThePeople #BlackStorytellers #CulturalMemory #ExpressionWithoutPermission #VoiceAndVision #SpiritLedArt #kwamealexander #howsweetthesound

In a wide-ranging, unguarded conversation, Malcolm Gladwell and former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu use the city itself as a lens to examine America’s deeper fractures. What begins as a meditation on why New Orleans remains stubbornly, almost defiantly distinctive—resisting the cultural flattening seen in cities like Austin and Nashville—quickly expands into a larger argument: culture, not capital, is what holds societies together. Music, food, sport, and place are not luxuries, they argue, but the glue that sustains democracy when institutions falter. In New Orleans, joy and pain live side by side, producing a civic soul that cannot be replicated or scaled without losing its truth.

From there, the conversation turns darker and more urgent. Landrieu warns that the United States is living through one of the most dangerous moments in its history—not because of disagreement, but because of a growing comfort with autocracy and a collapsing ability to talk across difference. Gladwell probes whether America’s aging population, economic anxiety, and nostalgia for an imagined past are fueling fear rather than curiosity about the future. Together, they trace how trauma—from Katrina to 9/11 to economic precarity—has eroded trust, and why art, culture, and local community may be the last remaining pathways back to common ground. The message is unsettling but clear: democracies do not collapse all at once; they wither when people stop listening to one another, and when culture is treated as expendable rather than essential.

This episode is part of the ongoing conversations hosted by Baldwin & Co., a Black-owned bookstore, café, and cultural institution based in New Orleans. Baldwin & Co. exists at the intersection of literature, ideas, and community—creating space for rigorous dialogue, storytelling, and intellectual exchange.

Through author talks, podcasts, live events, and community programming, Baldwin & Co. amplifies voices shaping how we understand culture, history, politics, faith, and the future.

Stay connected with Baldwin & Co. across platforms:

Instagram: @baldwinandco
X (Twitter): @baldwinandco
Facebook: Baldwin & Co.
YouTube: Baldwin & Co.

Website: www.baldwinandcobooks.com

Visit us in New Orleans or online to support independent bookselling, discover powerful literature, and engage in conversations that matter.

#MalcolmGladwell #MitchLandrieu #AmericasDangerousMoment #DemocracyInCrisis #CultureMatters #TheSoulOfAmerica #NewOrleans #CivicLife #ArtAndDemocracy #CulturalResilience #PoliticalDialogue #ListeningAcrossDifference #AmericanDemocracy #PublicIntellectuals #IdeasThatMatter #HardConversations #DemocracyAndCulture #AmericanFuture #CulturalIdentity #ThinkingOutLoud 

Dr. Daniel Black and Avery Young" "This conversation is a masterclass in Black language, music, spirituality, and survival. Dr. Daniel Black and Avery Young explore how Black people have always communicated with more than words—through rhythm, silence, gesture, melody, and the body itself. From church songs and blues traditions to humming, repetition, and coded speech, they break down how Black expression became a form of protection, resistance, and joy when speech alone wasn’t safe. Moving between personal stories, theology, music, and history, they reveal how gospel and blues are really the same language spoken in different places, and how Black idiomatic expression carries memory, meaning, and power that English alone can’t hold. At its core, the conversation is about survival and freedom—the idea that the real assignment in life is to walk fully as yourself, bring your whole body into the room, and trust that collective rhythm can carry you across even the deepest waters.

Dr. Daniel Black is an award-winning novelist and professor whose work excavates Black memory, masculinity, spirituality, and survival with surgical honesty and poetic force. Some of his most notable books are, Perfect Peace, Don't Cry For Me, Isaac's Song, The Coming, Black on Black and The Sacred Place. 

Avery Young is a poet, the first Chicago poet laureate, he is a composer, and cultural worker whose artistry fuses music, movement, and ancestral knowledge to reveal how Black expression has always carried meaning beyond words.

#DanielBlack #AveryYoung #BlackArt #BlackLiterature #BlackPoetry #CreativeDialogue #CulturalMemory #HealingThroughArt #StorytellingAsResistance #BlackIntellectualTradition #ArtAndLiberation #BlackThought #SpokenWord #LiteraryConversations #CulturalWorkers #BaldwinAndCo #BlackCreativity #RadicalImagination

Robert F. Smith is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners and one of the most influential investors and philanthropists in technology and education today.

Dr. Monique Guillory is an educator, cultural scholar, and university president known for her leadership in higher education and her work at the intersection of Black studies, innovation, and institutional transformation.

This wide-ranging conversation brings together history, technology, education, and moral leadership to confront a single reality: the world is changing faster than our institutions are willing to admit. Robert Smith—in conversation with the President of Dillard University, Dr. Monique Guillory—reflects on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., emphasizing that economic justice—not just civil rights—was always central to King’s vision, and that younger generations are still willing to put their bodies on the line when injustice is clear.

From there, the discussion pivots to the present and future, where artificial intelligence and software are rapidly reshaping labor, wealth, and opportunity. Smith argues that higher education—especially HBCUs—faces an existential crisis if it does not radically rethink how it prepares students for an economy driven by AI, automation, and data. The old promise of “get a degree, get a job” no longer holds.

Drawing from his own journey—leaving a prestigious career to take calculated risks—Smith makes the case that understanding systems, capital, and arbitrage is now essential for survival. The core message is both urgent and hopeful: those who learn how the new economy works, lean into innovation, and act boldly can shape the future rather than be erased by it. Sitting still, he warns, is the greatest risk of all.

Order Robert F. Smith Book Here: https://bookshop.org/a/20190/9781400244102
Order Baldwin & Co. Merch Here: https://shop.baldwinandcobooks.com
Learn more about Baldwin & Co. Foundation: https://bcofoundation.org

This podcast is your front-row seat to the world of books, ideas, and thought-provoking conversations with some of the most brilliant minds and celebrated authors of our time.

At Baldwin & Co., we believe that stories have the power to inspire, connect, and transform. Through this podcast, we bring the pages of bestselling novels, memoirs, and groundbreaking works of nonfiction to life. Whether you’re an avid reader, aspiring writer, or simply someone who enjoys meaningful discussions, Baldwin & Co. Author Dialogues is here to ignite your curiosity and enrich your understanding of the world.

What to Expect:
Author Talks and Exclusive Interviews
Join us as we sit down with internationally acclaimed authors, rising literary stars, and thought leaders across genres. Discover the stories behind the stories—their creative processes, challenges, and inspirations—and gain insights into the craft of writing.

Spotlight on Book Events
The Baldwin & Co. Author Dialogues goes behind the scenes of our renowned book events and signings, giving you an intimate glimpse into conversations that define literary culture.

#LeadBoldly #FutureOfWork #AIRevolution #EducationReimagined #EconomicJustice #MLKLegacy #HBCUs #HigherEducationCrisis #ArtificialIntelligence #TechAndSociety #HumanCenteredWork #CapitalAndLabor #RiskAndInnovation #NextIndustrialRevolution #DigitalTransformation #EquityAndOpportunity #GenerationalChange #BlackInnovation #CommunityLeadership #SystemicChange #RobertSmith #RobertFSmith #billionaire #richestmanintheworld #richestblack

This conversation traces a sweeping and urgent history of Black women as architects of the global human rights movement, long before the language of “human rights” became mainstream. Historian Keisha N. Blain explains how her book Without Fear uncovers the forgotten women—activists, writers, missionaries, and organizers—who refused to limit their demands to U.S. civil rights and instead framed Black freedom as a universal human claim.

Moving from the 19th century to the present, the discussion highlights figures like Ida B. Wells, Madam C.J. Walker, Maria Stewart, Margaret Cartwright, and Katie Diallo, revealing how these women forged international alliances, challenged imperialism, and exposed state violence as a human rights abuse—often without access to power, funding, or formal political spaces. Their work crossed borders, languages, and movements, linking Black struggles in the United States to anti-colonial fights across the globe.

Blain also reflects on the emotional and ethical challenges of archival research—deciding what to reveal, what to protect, and how to honor lives lived under constant risk. The throughline is clear: Black women have always been thinking globally, acting strategically, and organizing without fear and hesitancy, even when history refused to remember them. The conversation is both a recovery of the past and a call to action for the present.

Keisha N. Blain is an award-winning historian and bestselling author whose work centers on Black women, human rights, and global freedom movements. Author of "Without Fear: Black Women and the Making of Human Rights." Co-author of "Four Hundred Souls."

Kathe Hambrick is the Executive Director of the Amistad Research Center, a cultural preservationist, and a public historian known for her work documenting Black history in Louisiana and beyond.

Order Keisha N. Blain Books Here: https://bookshop.org/a/20190/9780393882292
Order Baldwin & Co. Merch Here: https://shop.baldwinandcobooks.com
Learn more about Baldwin & Co. Foundation: https://bcofoundation.org

#keishanblain #keisha #keishablain #blain #withourfearbook #withoutfear #democracy #blackwomen #fannielouhamer #marybethune #madamcjwalker #humanrights 

What happens when two of America’s sharpest thinkers get brutally honest about race, power, hope—and the lie of progress? In this electric, no-holds-barred conversation, Charles Blow and Don Lemon blow the lid off respectability politics, coalition fatigue, and the myth of a post-racial America. From the illusion of diversity to the erasure of Black history, they lay bare the truth: we’re not returning from the edge—we’re going over it.

Charles Blow, a New York Times columnist and bestselling author known for his sharp, uncompromising analysis of race and politics, and Don Lemon, is an Emmy-winning journalist and longtime news anchor recognized for his fearless commentary on social and cultural issues.

Charles challenges the idea of waiting for white America to "come around" while Don urges Black America to build without begging. They debate reparations, the crumbling political system, and why the mask is finally off—for everyone. It’s personal, intellectual, spiritual, and radical. If you’ve ever felt exhausted, enraged, or inspired by what’s happening in America right now, this conversation will shake you—and maybe wake you up.

#CharlesBlow #DonLemon #CNN 

Welcome to Baldwin & Co. Author Dialogues, the official podcast of Baldwin & Co. coffee + bookstore—a sanctuary for literature, creativity, and community. Sponsored by Baldwin & Co. Foundation 501(c)3.

This podcast is your front-row seat to the world of books, ideas, and thought-provoking conversations with some of the most brilliant minds and celebrated authors of our time.

At Baldwin & Co., we believe that stories have the power to inspire, connect, and transform. Through this podcast, we bring the pages of bestselling novels, memoirs, and groundbreaking works of nonfiction to life. Whether you’re an avid reader, aspiring writer, or simply someone who enjoys meaningful discussions, Baldwin & Co. Author Dialogues is here to ignite your curiosity and enrich your understanding of the world.

Order Imani Perry Books Here: https://bookshop.org/a/20190/9780062977397
Order Maurice Ruffin Books Here: https://bookshop.org/a/20190/9780593729410
Order Baldwin & Co. Merch Here: https://shop.baldwinandcobooks.com
Learn more about Baldwin & Co. Foundation: https://bcofoundation.org

Imani Perry and Maurice Carlos Ruffin delivered a conversation that was part history lesson, part cultural critique, and part sermon on survival. Imani Perry, with her blend of razor-sharp intellect and poetic cadence, challenged the myths America tells itself about freedom and progress, while Maurice Ruffin brought wit and piercing clarity to the lived realities of race, class, and power in New Orleans and beyond. Together, they wrestled with the contradictions of American democracy, the erasure of Black voices, and the radical necessity of joy as resistance. Their dialogue was less about answers than about urgency—an insistence that literature is not escape, but confrontation, and that remembering the past is the most revolutionary act we can commit.

SUBSCRIBE NOW!! 
#impaniperry #mauriceruffin

Welcome to Baldwin & Co. Author Dialogues, the official podcast of Baldwin & Co. coffee + bookstore—a sanctuary for literature, creativity, and community. Sponsored by Baldwin & Co. Foundation 501(c)3.

This podcast is your front-row seat to the world of books, ideas, and thought-provoking conversations with some of the most brilliant minds and celebrated authors of our time.

At Baldwin & Co., we believe that stories have the power to inspire, connect, and transform. Through this podcast, we bring the pages of bestselling novels, memoirs, and groundbreaking works of nonfiction to life. Whether you’re an avid reader, aspiring writer, or simply someone who enjoys meaningful discussions, Baldwin & Co. Author Dialogues is here to ignite your curiosity and enrich your understanding of the world.

In a sharp, witty, and unflinching conversation at Baldwin & Co. bookstore, W. Kamau Bell and Cebo Campbell dissected the deep roots and modern manifestations of privilege, power, and race in America. Drawing parallels between environmental mismanagement and cultural erasure, they lamented how indigenous wisdom and Black creativity are often ignored or co-opted, while white privilege continues to reward audacity and mediocrity—evident in everything from Silicon Valley scams to the myth-making of American media. Cebo reflected on the inspiration for his book, “Sky Full of Elephants,” revealing how the simple act of swapping a Black protagonist into a classic white-centered narrative exposes the double standards and biases embedded in American storytelling. Both men skewered the way white-collar criminals are lionized and how trust and opportunity are so often reserved for those who fit a narrow, privileged mold. Their exchange ultimately challenged the audience to question who gets to fail, who gets to dream, and why America still struggles to see beyond the surface.

W. Kamau Bell is an Emmy-winning comedian, director, author, and social commentator best known as the host of CNN’s United Shades of America. Combining humor with incisive cultural critique, Bell uses storytelling and satire to confront race, identity, and inequality in the United States. His work spans bestselling books, acclaimed documentaries, and stand-up stages across the country, making him one of today’s most essential and influential voices on race and social justice.

Cebo Campbell is an author, creative director, and storyteller whose work blends sharp cultural insight with imaginative, emotionally rich narratives. Known for his novel Sky Full of Elephants and his acclaimed audio fiction projects, Campbell’s writing explores identity, love, memory, and the surreal dimensions of everyday life. His voice is distinct, lyrical, and deeply human—marking him as one of the most inventive contemporary storytellers of his generation.

Order W. Kamau Bell Book Here: https://bookshop.org/a/20190/9781101985885
Order Cebo Campbell Book Here: https://bookshop.org/a/20190/9781668034927
Order Baldwin & Co. Merch Here: https://shop.baldwinandcobooks.com
Learn more about Baldwin & Co. Foundation: https://bcofoundation.org

This podcast is your front-row seat to the world of books, ideas, and thought-provoking conversations with some of the most brilliant minds and celebrated authors of our time.

At Baldwin & Co., we believe that stories have the power to inspire, connect, and transform. Through this podcast, we bring the pages of bestselling novels, memoirs, and groundbreaking works of nonfiction to life. Whether you’re an avid reader, aspiring writer, or simply someone who enjoys meaningful discussions, Baldwin & Co. Author Dialogues is here to ignite your curiosity and enrich your understanding of the world.

#KamauBell, #CeboCampbell, #RaceInAmerica, #CulturalBias, #StorytellingMatters, #PrivilegeExposed, #AmericanScam, #MediaBias, #DoubleStandards, #BlackExcellence, #RepresentationMatters, #SystemicRacism, #PowerAndPrivilege, #DismantleTheSystem, #TruthToPower, #UnmaskingPrivilege, #DiversityInMedia, #BlackVoices, #ComedyWithPurpose, #BookTalk, #BaldwinAndCo, #MustWatch#WhitePrivilege, #BlackCreativity, #SkyFullOfElephants, 

This conversation with Dr. Daniel Black moves through the delicate and difficult terrain of healing—across bloodlines, across memory, across time. Drawing from his novel Isaac’s Song, Dr. Black explores what it means to face generational wounds without letting them define us. He breaks open the quiet myths of Black masculinity, the fear of vulnerability, the stories we fabricate to survive, and the ancestral technologies that still guide us toward freedom.

Through intimate storytelling and sharp cultural insight, Dr. Black unpacks power, forgiveness, usefulness, memory, and the ritual genius of Black people. This is a conversation about reclaiming the parts of ourselves we abandoned, learning to touch without violence, honoring flawed parents, and choosing a version of manhood that doesn’t destroy the men who carry it.

A profound, soulful dialogue that lingers long after it ends.

Bio: Dr. Daniel Black — Professor at Clark Atlanta University
Dr. Daniel Black is an award-winning novelist, scholar, and professor whose work centers the depth, beauty, and complexity of Black life. A graduate of Clark Atlanta University and Temple University, he is known for novels such as The Coming, Perfect Peace, and Black on Black, blending storytelling with cultural history, spirituality, and ancestral wisdom. As a longtime professor at Clark Atlanta, Dr. Black has become one of the leading literary voices of his generation, celebrated for his ability to illuminate the inner lives of Black families, explore generational healing, and honor the traditions that shape the African American experience.

Bio: Pastor Jonathan Everett — Rock of Ages Church

Pastor Jonathan Everett is the visionary leader of Rock of Ages Church in New Orleans, where he is widely known for his dynamic preaching, community-centered ministry, and unwavering commitment to empowering families, healing neighborhoods, and developing the next generation of leaders. Through bold outreach initiatives, innovative programs, and a message rooted in faith and real-life transformation, Pastor Everett has become one of the city’s most influential spiritual voices and a driving force for hope, unity, and uplift.

Bio: Jerid P. Woods — A Black Man Reading

Jerid P. Woods, known to thousands as A Black Man Reading, is a celebrated literary curator, educator, and digital tastemaker who has reshaped contemporary reading culture through his vibrant engagement with Black literature. With a platform dedicated to amplifying Black authors, uplifting community storytelling, and sparking critical dialogue, Woods has become one of the most trusted voices in modern book advocacy. His work bridges classrooms, bookstores, and online communities, inspiring people everywhere to read more deeply, think more critically, and love Black stories unapologetically.

Watch on YouTube Here: https://youtu.be/ajCPpUKL8L4
Order Dr. Daniel Black Books Here: https://bookshop.org/a/20190/9781335090416
Order Baldwin & Co. Merch Here: https://shop.baldwinandcobooks.com
Learn more about Baldwin & Co. Foundation: https://bcofoundation.org

#drdanielblack #danielblack #isaacssong #blackonblack #dontcryforme #perfectpeace #theytellmeofahome #jeridpwoods #ablackmanreading #pastoreverret #rockofages 

Order Ta-Nehisi Coates Books Here: https://bookshop.org/a/20190/9780593230381
Order Joy-Ann Reid Book Here: https://bookshop.org/a/20190/9780063068803
Order Baldwin & Co. Merch Here: https://shop.baldwinandcobooks.com
Learn more about Baldwin & Co. Foundation: https://bcofoundation.org

If you’re not ready for the truth, stay in your bubble. But if you want to witness the most unfiltered, unapologetic, and necessary conversation of our time, then buckle up. Ta-Nehisi Coates and Joy-Ann Reid just dropped what can only be described as the Dialogue of the Decade at Baldwin & Co. bookstore in New Orleans—a conversation so raw, so real, and so utterly necessary that America might just pretend it didn’t happen. But we won’t let that happen.

In a world where soundbites pass for substance and political theater replaces real justice, Ta-Nehisi and Joy sat down to burn through the illusions and expose the rot at the core of America’s so-called values. And trust me, no one walked away unscathed.

Truth #1: America has never truly cared about Israel.
Truth #2: White America is still as racist as ever.
Truth #3: People only support you if they’re getting something in return.
Truth #4: Why Kamala Harris lost to Donald Trump.
Truth #5: Black authors are being banned for a reason.
Truth #6: The genocide in Gaza is funded by American tax dollars.

This wasn’t just another intellectual discussion—it was an awakening. And it happened at Baldwin & Co., the heartbeat of radical thought in New Orleans. If you missed it, fix that mistake now. Watch. Listen. Share. Because this is the most important dialogue you’ll witness this decade—and America needs to hear it.

Baldwin & Co. isn’t just a bookstore. It’s a battleground for truth. And last night, Coates and Reid went to war.

Welcome to Baldwin & Co. Author Dialogues, the official podcast of Baldwin & Co. coffee + bookstore—a sanctuary for literature, creativity, and community. This podcast is your front-row seat to the world of books, ideas, and thought-provoking conversations with some of the most brilliant minds and celebrated authors of our time.

At Baldwin & Co., we believe that stories have the power to inspire, connect, and transform. Through this podcast, we bring the pages of bestselling novels, memoirs, and groundbreaking works of nonfiction to life. Whether you’re an avid reader, aspiring writer, or simply someone who enjoys meaningful discussions, Baldwin & Co. Author Dialogues is here to ignite your curiosity and enrich your understanding of the world.

#tanehisicoates #joyannreid #joyreid #reidout #baldwinandco #baldwinandcompany