Making: Stories Without End

Black actors don’t want to be your sidekick


Listen Later

From Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee on The Guiding Light to the first Black super-couple, Jesse and Angie on All My Children, Black soap actors have been on the canvas.


According to an executive at CBS, Black women overindex as soap watchers, which has led to the first new daytime soap in decades. Beyond the Gates debuted with a core Black family in February 2025. It’s an exciting time to be a Black soap fan.


Even though there’s been Black representation, Black writers and actors have often had to push to be more than sidekicks, according to soap writer Shannon Peace.


“You see the faces; they’re there,” Peace said. “But what are the storylines? Why do we still feel often like they’re being backgrounded or there being support staff, to prop [up] other characters or other families? And when I say other characters or other families, I mean white characters or white families.”


Peace said she doesn’t see that problem in primetime television, but it still exists in daytime.

“I feel in primetime mode, for the most part, they’ve done away with a Black sidekick, with a Black friend — that Black best friend — and you have Black characters in meaningful front-facing roles that are driving story. I don't see that in daytime.”


What Natalie read:

  • Afternoon Delight: Why Soaps Still Matter by Carolyn Hinsey
  • Her Stories: Daytime Soap Opera and US Television History by Elana Levine
  • The Survival of Soap Opera: Transformations for a New Media Era, edited by Sam Ford, Abigail De Kosnik and C. Lee Harrington
  • Worlds Without End: The Art and History of the Soap Opera from the Museum of Television and Radio


You can listen to this podcast episode by following “Making: Stories Without End” wherever you get your podcasts. Episodes drop every Tuesday for six weeks starting April 8.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Making: Stories Without EndBy WBEZ Chicago

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

3,536 ratings


More shows like Making: Stories Without End

View all
Sound Opinions by Sound Opinions

Sound Opinions

1,956 Listeners

This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,523 Listeners

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

38,252 Listeners

The Moth by The Moth

The Moth

27,248 Listeners

Curious City by WBEZ Chicago

Curious City

642 Listeners

Nerdette by WBEZ Chicago

Nerdette

1,397 Listeners

Death, Sex & Money by Slate Podcasts

Death, Sex & Money

7,707 Listeners

Reveal by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX

Reveal

8,236 Listeners

Serial by Serial Productions & The New York Times

Serial

74,957 Listeners

Embedded by NPR

Embedded

11,874 Listeners

Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons by WBEZ Chicago

Reset with Sasha-Ann Simons

306 Listeners

Code Switch by NPR

Code Switch

14,482 Listeners

S-Town by Serial Productions

S-Town

45,885 Listeners

It's Been a Minute by NPR

It's Been a Minute

8,906 Listeners

The Dream by Little Everywhere

The Dream

14,983 Listeners

Throughline by NPR

Throughline

15,947 Listeners

Motive by WBEZ Chicago

Motive

2,212 Listeners

The Pie: An Economics Podcast by Becker Friedman Institute at UChicago

The Pie: An Economics Podcast

173 Listeners

Suave by Futuro Media

Suave

1,508 Listeners

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus by Lemonada Media

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus

10,589 Listeners

Wild Card with Rachel Martin by NPR

Wild Card with Rachel Martin

626 Listeners

Good Hang with Amy Poehler by The Ringer

Good Hang with Amy Poehler

6,446 Listeners

Climbing the Walls by Understood.org

Climbing the Walls

332 Listeners