The HARD SCREEN

The HARD SCREEN⁠ podcast is back!

In Part 2 of her conversation with author and journalist Amy Littlefield about The W: A History of the WNBA⁠, Spruill explains why she started the Change.org/FreeBG in 2022 after Brittney Griner was detained in Russia, the WNBA's pattern of inflicting its own injuries, and ... John Lewis?

This episode was only made possible by:

• ⁠Rozzie Bound Co-Op Bookstore⁠, especially co-owner Stephanie Planchart, for organizing and emceeing the event. Visit them at 739 South Street, Roslindale, MA;
• ⁠Distraction Brewing Co.⁠, for hosting and allowing the use of their audio equipment. If you enjoy delicious beer and a welcoming environment, visit the brewery at 2 Belgrade Avenue in Roslindale, MA;
• ⁠Amy Littlefield⁠, author of Killers of Roe, for leading the conversation with, curiosity, insight, and aplomb;
• ⁠Dani Shaw at kaleidaweb⁠, for building and hosting the amazing Hard Screen website, and documenting the event in photographs and video recordings; and
• ⁠Anwuliazuka⁠, composer of our new theme music.

To view photographs of the event taken by student photographer Eleanore Planchart and read more of Spruill's ruminations on this topic, visit https://thehardscreen.net/wnba-history-john-lewis-courage-oneofone/.

None of the contributors to this episode were paid for their mentions. The Hard Screen, on principle, seeks to amplify local and independently-owned businesses.

Follow the HARD SCREEN on social media @thehardscreen on Instagram and Bluesky; and @hardscreenpod on X.

It’s Banned Book Week 2026, and we’re throwing our energy behind the American Library Association’s (or the ALA’s) efforts to protect titles and counter censorship. If you want to unite against book bans, check out ⁠these resources⁠ at thehardscreen.net⁠ to discover ways to join this fight in ways that won’t take up much of your time.

Got a favorite book that has been banned? Or an experience with book bans where you live? Tell us about it. Email an audio note of two to three minutes to ⁠[email protected]⁠.In the body of the email, please include your name (a first name and an initial for your surname will do) along with the city/state or country in which you live. We'd especially like to hear from authors, educators, students or librarians.

Your message could be used in a future episode and by submitting an audio note to The Hard Screen, you agree that you have given your consent for us to include it in a future podcast episode or article.

It’s Banned Book Week 2026, and we’re throwing our energy behind the American Library Association’s (or the ALA’s) efforts to protect titles and counter censorship.

My recent conversations with independent bookstore owners, a banned book list from Bookshop.org, and the ALA's UniteAgainst Book Bans initiative have inspired me to share accumulated suggestions to challenge the relentless attempts to ban books, and therefore, knowledge. Why do people want to limit knowledge, you ask?

We dig into that, and more, in this special episode of the HARD SCREEN podcast.

Interested in advocating for literary freedom?

Resources mentioned in this episode can be found HERE.

Episode Credits:

This episode was recorded by Tamryn Spruill, HARD SCREEN creator and host. Theme music was composed, performed, and recorded by Anwuliazuka. Dani Shaw at kaleidaweb created our amazing website, thehardscreen.net, and maintains it. The American Library Association provided the amazing resources used in this episode and the "Every Book Banned Leaves" social media asset.

The HARD SCREEN podcast is back!

Powered by a new logo and fresh sonic energy, we bring you the third season's debut: a conversation between HARD SCREEN founder and host, Tamryn Spruill, and author Amy Littlefield.

The authors spoke about Spruill's new book, The W: A History of the WNBA, released in September by Abrams Press.

This episode was only made possible by:

• Rozzie Bound Co-Op Bookstore, especially co-owner Stephanie Planchart, for organizing and emceeing the event. Visit them at 739 South Street, Roslindale, MA;
• Distraction Brewing Co., for hosting and allowing the use of their audio equipment. If you enjoy delicious beer and a welcoming environment, visit the brewery at 2 Belgrade Avenue in Roslindale, MA;
• Amy Littlefield, author of Killers of Roe, for leading the conversation with, curiosity, insight, and aplomb;
• Dani Shaw at kaleidaweb, for building and hosting the amazing Hard Screen website, and documenting the event in photographs and video recordings; and
• Anwuliazuka, composer of our new theme music.

None of the contributors to this episode were paid for their mentions. The Hard Screen, on principle, seeks to amplify local and independently-owned businesses.

Follow the HARD SCREEN on social media @thehardscreen on Instagram and Bluesky; and @hardscreenpod on X.

Gabby Williams spoke with The Hard Screen in January during a break between the EuroLeague Women regular and postseasons where she plays for Sopron Basket in Hungary. The forward with the WNBA's Chicago Sky spoke about her new partnership for Ford, the silliness of gendering objects like cars, advertisers' renewed interest in the league's players, the toxic culture of the NCAA and much more. 

Get the latest "screen" and sign up for the HARD SCREEN Newsletter at: https://thehardscreen.net/. 

Twenty-five years since its inaugural tipoff, the WNBA is still here: "impossible shot after impossible shot after impossible shot." In the runup to the historic 2021 WNBA season, the league has provided The Hard Screen with a first look into the ways the league will pay homage to the past and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert discusses how the season is an investment in the league's next 25 years.

Count It sound clip is copyrighted to the WNBA and provided with permission. 

Get the latest "screen" and sign up for the HARD SCREEN Newsletter at: https://thehardscreen.net/.

On the one-year anniversary of Breonna Taylor's murder by Louisville police officers, we review the changes that have happened in the wake of her death, explain why justice still has not been served and replay an episode that originally aired on July 31, 2020 about the relentless grief inflicted on families whose loved ones have been killed by police and how that pain is compounded by impunity. WARNING: THIS EPISODE CONTAINS VIVID DESCRIPTIONS OF POLICE VIOLENCE AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL LISTENERS.

Get the latest "screen" and sign up for the HARD SCREEN Newsletter at: https://thehardscreen.net/.

Now that Atlanta Dream co-owner Kelly Loeffler has been voted out of a Senate seat she was never voted into, does this mean she returns to WNBA ownership as if nothing ever happened? Unlikely, if the players, who supported her rival, Rev. Raphael Warnock, in the race, have anything to do with it. Many of Loeffler's "sins" during the election, which Warnock won, reflect a racist ideology that runs counter to what most players in the WNBA stand for and, therefore, are unforgiveable.

Get the latest "screen" and sign up for the HARD SCREEN Newsletter at: https://thehardscreen.net/.

Ahead of the November 3rd presidential election, WNBA champion Natasha Cloud is urging all people to vote, especially Black and brown people who historically have been disenfranchised from the electoral process. In a wide-ranging interview with Tamryn Spruill, Cloud also discussed the need for police reform, the Breonna Taylor case in the context of voting, the Trump supporters in her family and why she is voting for Joe Biden. 

Get the latest "screen" and sign up for the HARD SCREEN Newsletter at: https://thehardscreen.net/.

"Vote like your life depends on it," says Natasha Cloud, starting guard for the 2019 WNBA champion Washington Mystics. With the 2020 presidential election just two weeks away, The Hard Screen brings you an election special that includes:

Get the latest "screen" and sign up for the HARD SCREEN Newsletter at: https://thehardscreen.net/.