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On this episode, SunAh sits down with Dr. Kaitland M. Byrd, a visiting scholar at the National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan and the author of “Real Southern Barbecue: Constructing Authenticity in Southern Food Culture.” The two dive into the behind the scenes of creating food authenticity, particularly around BBQ. Kaitland also talks about how the craft and artisanal food revivals obscure the labor of women and racial minorities.

On this episode, SunAh is joined by Aisha Upton, whose research focuses on race and gender, social movements, and civil society. Aisha explains how Black Greek-Letter Organization sororities responded to the Black feminist movement and how these organizations are responding to the contemporary Black Lives Matter movement.

On this episode, SunAh welcomes Dr. Brittney Dernberger, a Researcher at Insight Policy Research who studies, social inequality and mobility, examining who gets ahead in life and why. The two talk gender roles and gender attitudes from past to present, including whose attitudes are changing and whose gendered expectations are not.

On this episode, SunAh is joined by Dr. Nancy Yuen, a pop culture expert and author of “Reel Inequality: Hollywood Actors and Racism” and co-author of “Tokens on the Small Screen: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Prime Time and Streaming Television.” The two talk about racial representation in mainstream media – how it’s progressed, how it hasn’t, and what is coming to a screen near you next.

On this episode, SunAh welcomes Dr. Jonathan Cox, an assistant professor in the department of sociology at the University of Central Florida. Jonathan shares his findings on racial attitudes among college students and millennials. He explains what it means to be “color-full” as an approach to race and racism versus “color-blind” and how these perspectives can shape our interactions, policies, and practices.

On this episode, SunAh sits down with Dr. Louise Seamster, an assistant professor of African American Studies and Sociology and Criminology at the University of Iowa. Louise discusses her work on “predatory inclusion” in student debt and debt’s contribution to the racial wealth gap. She also dives into what makes student debt cancellation so controversial and how “the condition of debt induces you to do harm to others.”

On this episode, SunAh is joined by Domonique Anderson, a Social Impact Strategy Consultant. Dominique breaks down the differences between gentrification and community revitalization before explaining the importance of community land trusts for shaping the future of a city.

On this episode, SunAh talks with Dr. Kati Barahona-Lopez, an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. Kati discusses why how we talk about immigration matters and the expectations we have for immigrants to self-disclose trauma in order to access social services.

On this episode, SunAh welcomes Mia Keeys, the Director of Health Equity Policy and Advocacy of the American Medical Association. Mia explains the differences between health inequalities and health disparities and then shares the policies and practices that are being implemented to advance health equity.

November is National Adoption Month, and on this episode, SunAh is joined by Dr. Katie Bozek, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and Dr. Carla Goar, an associate professor of Sociology at Kent State University and adoption researcher. Katie provides insights into recent adoption headlines, giving context to our current cultural (mis)understandings of transracial adoption. Carla discusses her research with white adoptive parents to transracially adopted children.