In this episode of Mad Valid Podcast (MVP), host Reyna Erika sits down with AriDy Nox—a multi-disciplinary Black femme storyteller—whose work is rooted in radical imagination, liberation, and joy as resistance. 🎙️✨

Trigger Warning:

This episode includes a discussion about suicide between 25–35 minutes. Please take care of yourself while listening. 💛

AriDy opens up about breaking big tasks into manageable steps, honoring the creative process, and daring to create with the audacity of their ancestors. From navigating overwhelm to reclaiming joy, this episode reminds us that showing up for yourself—piece by piece—is an act of courage.

About AriDy Nox:

AriDy Nox is a multi-disciplinary Black femme storyteller whose work imagines liberated futures through magical realism, historical reimaginings, and ancestral reckoning. 🌿

Their plays include BLACK GIRL IN PARIS (2020), A WALLESS CHURCH (2019), and the FRESHWATER PLAY series (2020), all crafted with the belief that radical imagination is key to liberation. AriDy’s work centers Black femmes as architects of expansive, transformative worlds. Their work has been developed across the country, bringing bold, imaginative stories to life through collaboration and resistance.

AriDy’s accolades include:

-Graduate of NYU’s Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program

-Member of MTF’s Inaugural MAKERS cohort and Horizon Theatre’s Black Women Speak Cohort

-Emerging Writer’s Group Fellow at The Public Theater (2020–2023)

-Playwrights Center Core Writer (2022–2025)

-Van Lier New Voices Fellow (2023–2024)

Connect with AriDy:

Website: www.aridynox.com

Instagram/TikTok: @aridynox

Hosted by: Reyna Erika

Produced by: Brisa Areli Muñoz

Design & Editing by: Andrea Negrete

Music by: Nicholas Ryan Gant @ghettofalsetto

Instagram: @madvalidpodcast

Email: [email protected]