Off Color

Today we welcome award-winning poet Dominique Christina to the basement to discuss her new book Anarcha Speaks, the relationship between politics and poetry, and the deep pathos of Kanye West. Before that, though, Rebekah and James listen to some listener questions from the new Off Color hotline. Give us a call at (719) 377-6219 so we can chop it up with you on the air!

For our Halloween special, we dug into the archives to bring you an unheard episode with the late Dr. Gregory Diggs. But first, Rebekah and James go down the Colorado ballot and tell you how to vote. Got a problem with any of our Rebekahmendations? Yell at us at @offcolorpod.

In the spirit of Rebekah's new film project Running With My Girls, we invite two brilliant Black women who are running for office in Denver: Shontel Lewis (@Shontel4RTD) and Shayla Richard (@ShaylaRRichard). We discuss the Kavanaugh confirmation, Bette Midler's offensive tweet, and the co-opting of Black women's struggle. Stick around until the end to hear some bars from Shontel.

Today we have a packed house, with three incredible women joining us in the basement: activist/academic Lisa Calderón, Denver City Council candidate Candi CdeBaca, and poet Kerrie Joy. We get into some current events including the Botham Jean murder, the infamous Serena Williams cartoon, and the brilliance of Cory Booker and Kamala Harris during the Kavanaugh hearings.

For the second half of our talk with lawyer-turned-engineer Sonia Gupta (@soniagupta504), we move away from Twitter controversies and onto larger questions about how to take meaningful action in the era of Trump. We also revisit Boots Riley's incredible (and controversial) film Sorry to Bother You and get Sonia's take on it.

Today we welcome our first-ever white guest, actress Catherine Erhart, to discuss Spike Lee's hit film "BlacKkKlansman". We debate what the film says about Charlottesville, the "toothless yokel" Klansman stereotype, and the puzzling sex appeal of Adam Driver. We also share a few thoughts about our dear friend Elisabeth Epps and her legal struggles.

This is the first half of our conversation with Sonia Gupta (@soniagupta504), lawyer turned software engineer turned "mid-level social media influencer". We discuss Sonia's repeated run-ins with racist internet trolls, and ask whether Twitter's benefits outweigh the toxicity of its culture. Tune in on Monday August 27th to hear Part 2!

Colorado Democratic Party consultant Hashim Coates joins us in the basement to discuss the new Boots Riley film "Sorry to Bother You", the upcoming elections, innovative forms of protest, and the best place in Denver to get a bean pie.

Tonight we step out of the basement to record our first LIVE episode! Rebekah and a panel of experts discuss inequity in American education, debate the possibility of a prison-free society, and take some lively questions from the audience.

Special guests: Colorado State Rep. James Coleman, Elisabeth Epps of the Denver Justice Project, and educator Fernando Branch.

We are joined in the basement by activists Elisabeth Epps (@elisabeth) and Victor Galvan Ramirez (@victorgalvan247), as well as jazz singer Danette, to discuss questions of citizenship and equity for POC in America. Whose democracy is this? What is a vote worth? What will it take to survive the struggle we see today in our cities and at our border?