Behind the Seen

Behind the Seen

By Mark Bauer and Branden PolkSociety & Culture
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Behind the Seen episodes

  • S2 Ep. 3: Racism in Dating (w/ special guest Todrick Hall)

    In a freewheeling conversation about dating, singer/songwriter/producer Todrick Hall joins Behind the Seen to discuss our racial “preferences,” how we acquire those preferences in the first place, and why we are OK completely disregarding a different group of people as potential partners based on such inconsequential factors as race.

    References

    For more on the breakdown of numbers by Nathalie Reshard looking for a straight black man with multiple degrees, who is a high performing athlete and who has never been to prison, visit her blog post here. 

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    Behind the Seen: @behindtheseenpod

    Mark Bauer: @BarkMauer

    Branden Polk: @BrandenPolk

    Website

    Wonymedia.com/behindtheseen

    *The views expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and do not reflect that of their employer

    1 hr 2 min
  • S2 Ep. 2: Code Violations | #BeSeen

    In today's episode, we're talking about code violations. We have our own personal codes, informed by religious texts or some other source, that we violate every day. And we have societal codes, laws and regulations that are in place to help guide, control and keep order in society. 

    We discuss how easy it is to slip into a cycle of guilt and shame when we violate our codes, and how difficult it is to break that cycle. It takes a certain amount of privilege to be able to carve out the space necessary to reflect on the behaviors that are leading to code violations, as well as to access the tools necessary to then change that behavior.

    On a macro scale, we see the same kinds of problems at play regarding mass incarceration, which disproportionately affects people of color and the economically disadvantaged. One popular retort is: If you can't do the time, don't do the crime. Not only have we shown how this isn't consistently applied to our own lives, we discuss how it's not always as simple as just not doing something. Our experiences don't exist in a vacuum, and many complex factors contribute to crime: poverty, generational traumas and other motivations. 

    Ultimately, the goal of this episode is simply to get you thinking about the topic of criminal justice and mass incarceration in such a way that makes you curious to learn more. For more about the racial disparity in mass incarceration, please visit the Sentencing Project, which has a wealth of information and data on the topic. 

    Follow us on Instagram

    Behind the Seen: @behindtheseenpod

    Mark Bauer: @BarkMauer
    Branden Polk: @BrandenPolk

    Website

    Wonymedia.com/behindtheseen

    *The views expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and do not reflect that of their employer

    54 min
  • S2 Ep. 1: Being Human | #BeSeen
    Welcome back to Season 2 of Behind the Seen! We kick off season 2 with an episode on what it means to be human. A lot of our experience as humans involves stumbling through life trying to figure out what, exactly, makes us tick. What makes us happy. And we have to do this while simultaneously fighting off identities that the world wants to put on us. But we’re never really able to fully comprehend because we have different things competing for our attention. 
    How does this factor into racial justice? External conflicts emanate from internal conflict. We quiet our internal conflict by embracing life's greatest paradox: We have to lose our life to find it. When we take our gaze off of ourselves long enough to observe the hurt in someone else, we are fully able to see ourselves. That self-emptying, while it contradicts every base human urge within us, really does lead to a joy that surpasses anything external object we could acquire—whether it's fame, fortune or success. 
    What identities do you need to lay down in order to #BeSeen?
    51 min
  • BONUS Episode: Oscar Reaction and Black Representation in Pop Culture

    The Oscars never fails to provide good fodder for race discussions and this year proved no different. Despite the diverse representation of presenters throughout the program and several firsts for black honorees and other people of color, the show wasn’t without its detractors. Even the Best Picture winner, Green Book, was widely panned for historical inaccuracies and for how creators approached the storytelling of a black entertainer and his white driver. In this bonus episode of Behind the Seen, filmmaker and producer MoJo Adam and freelance creative director Obi Okolo share their reactions to these Oscar films and discuss why black representation in pop culture and media is so important.

    1 hr
  • Episode 17: Racism, Slavery and the Church
    In this episode, we take the audio from our first Facebook Live that included special guest Bill Riedel, pastor of Redemption Hill Church in Washington DC. We brought pastor Bill on to discuss the race and the gospel series he preached earlier this summer. He discusses what compelled him to teach on this subject and what he learned in the process.
    1 hr 3 min
  • Episode 16: Justification
    In this episode, we discuss Justification, a really strong word used both in a legal context and a theological context. Justification is the act of showing something to be right or reasonable. In the theological context, the action of declaring or making righteous in the sight of God. And in the race conversation, what we’ve done historically is justify legally and spiritually the mistreatment of people who look different from us. These justifications aren’t as explicit as they might have been during slavery or Jim Crow, but they continue to influence how we talk about the mistreatment of the other today.
    43 min
  • Episode 15: How to Talk to Your Relatives About Politics at Thanksgiving
    In this episode, we take a different approach to those articles you see all over the place this time of year that tell you how to talk to your relatives about politics. Our culture is so polarized that even a holiday about solidarity and gratitude can be hijacked to create division rather than unity. And so we will talk through what it looks like to have a posture of curiosity and gratitude, and offer some guidance on how to navigate political discussions that do end up getting a little heated. And while Thanksgiving is the springboard to this topic, these lessons are ones that you can actually apply in every aspect of your life.
    Featuring special guest Destiny Herndon De La Rosa founder of New Wave Feminist.
    52 min
  • Episode 14: Understanding Dehumanization
    In this episode, we discuss Dehumanization, which is a pretty strong word but one that we all engage in in some degree or another. Dehumanization occurs when we don’t fully see other people for their inherent worth or value. We don’t see the hardships they might be enduring, the joy as well as their sorrows.
    You might argue that dehumanization is among the greatest sins. If Jesus says the greatest commandment is to love Lord with all your heart, soul and mind, and then the other one is like it--to love your neighbor as you love yourself. In order to do that, though, it requires you to view the Other in their totality just like you do yourself.
    So we’ll break it down today by discussing what it looks like to dehumanize someone in our everyday lives--it doesn’t have to be explicitly racist or bigoted; we'll also look at the language that people tend to use when they dehumanize and some surprising areas where people are dehumanizing others.
    43 min
  • Episode 13: The Importance of Safe Spaces — Even for White People
    In this episode, we discuss the importance of safe spaces. They are certainly important for minority or marginalized people to associate to freely air grievances without feeling a need to defend themselves. Less often we hear about safe spaces in regards to white people. Steve Park, executive director and founder of Little Lights in Washington DC, joins the episode to talk about the community guidelines he has erected for a Race Literacy 101 class and why that's necessary to fostering healthy dialogue on the topic of race.
    41 min
  • Episode 12: The Politics of Identity
    In today's episode, we discuss how identity politics--the associating of people around social groups by which they identify--is often necessary to advancing equity where these groups have been typically marginalized. Politics of identity flips that and is more of a manipulative device that seeks control rather than justice, and uses identity as a wedge.
    28 min

About Behind the Seen

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Behind the Seen is a conversation dedicated to uncovering our biases and how to navigate them in a constructive way. New episodes in March 2020