They Did That

From Dean of Black Twitter, Michael Harriot, comes a Black history podcast like you've never heard before. Using a recipe that includes detailed research, barbershop humor and a little seasoned salt, a parade of cookout-certified celebrity guests helps Michael Harriot serve up a compelling, hilarious and more accurate version of Black history that was conveniently whitewashed from your social studies book.

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Without Judy Heumann, it’s hard to see how we would ever have achieved the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Disabled by polio at just 18 months old in 1949, Judy grew up in a time when nothing prevented discrimination against people with disabilities. In fact, so-called “ugly laws” even outlawed the appearance in public of people who were “diseased, maimed or in any way deformed.” But Judy didn’t let any of this stop her. Instead, she became a trailblazer that transformed the state of disability rights in the United States and the rest of the world. In this special episode, we speak with the legend herself: Judy Heumann.

Judy Heumann passed away on March 4th, 2023. Her life’s work has sparked a growing movement that continues to this day. You can learn more about Judy’s legacy in her memoir Being Heumann, the documentary Crip Camp, and her podcast the Heumann Perspective.

May her memory be a blessing.

A Sony Music Entertainment and Somethin' Else production.

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Mary Ellen Pleasant was a Black conductor of the Underground Railroad, and she was on the run. But in 1852, when her boat arrived on the shores of Gold Rush-era San Francisco, she walked off as someone else. Someone white. Her mission: Expand the Underground Railroad westward—and use her ability to pass to get it done. She’d spend the next decade living a mysterious double life and would go on to be known as “The Black City Hall” of San Francisco. Today, the story of Mary Ellen Pleasant, the double-agent abolitionist who shook up the west coast in the name of liberation.

A Sony Music Entertainment and Somethin' Else production.

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Before Michelle Yeoh’s historic win at the Oscars, there was another Asian actress nominated for the prize. Merle Oberon, the famous Golden Age actress, was the first Asian woman to ever be nominated for her performance in the 1935 film, “The Dark Angel.” The only thing was - no one knew she was Asian... In this episode we get into Merle’s complicated but fascinating story and learn about the problematic systems within Hollywood that caused Merle Oberon to hide her Asian identity to get cast in leading roles. 

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Ons Jabeur plays some of the most exciting tennis out there. But for most of her career, Ons has been told that to succeed, she needs to change—to conform to how the mostly white western bubble of tennis approaches the game. But Ons has consistently stuck with her Tunisian team. In the last few years, Ons has been climbing the rankings. And she's been doing it with her own team, by following her own playbook. In this episode, we get into Ons' story, and ask, is it possible that your greatest obstacle could also be your greatest strength?

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Before Darwin and evolution, there was Mary Anning and her mysterious fossils. Mary was a working class girl on the Jurassic Coast of England, and she loved to hunt for fossils on the beach. But when her dad died unexpectedly, Mary was forced to turn her hobby into a job. Her discoveries were so big they called theories about life on earth and even God into question. On this episode, the story of the mother of paleontology: Mary Anning.

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Our host, Takara Small, quizzes two producers on their knowledge of everything from Black pop culture to Black history legends that deserve to have their praises sung. From Oprah’s net worth to the first Black woman on a banknote… we're covering Black inventors, artists and business extraordinaries that changed the game. Our contestants put their competitive streak to the test, including the host! So we invite you to play along with us, and we are not playing any games.

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Before open heart surgeries became an everyday thing, the heart was totally and completely off-limits. Operating on a beating heart was just about the most taboo thing you could do. But in 1893, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, a surgeon in Chicago, got a patient with a stab wound to the heart. And it was clear that without surgery, he was going to die. Dr. Williams had never heard of anyone doing heart surgery, but he decided he would be the first to try. And he was going to do it in his own hospital. The first Black-owned and operated hospital in the United States. We talked with Dr. Alisha Jefferson and Dr. Sandeep Jauhar, author of Heart: A History. Dr. Jauhar has a new book, “My Father’s Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s,” which you can pre-order on Amazon.

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Joseph Bologne put French classical music on the map, was a favorite of Marie Antoinette, and influenced the kings of strings we celebrate today, Mozart and Beethoven. An unbelievable feat for a man born in Guadeloupe to his enslaved mother and a French plantation owner. His talents made him untouchable, enviable even. So how did he go from star composer at the top of the charts to obscurity? Today, the story of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

To learn more about our contributor Marlon Daniel and his work to elevate the music of Joseph Bologne through the Festival International de Musique Saint-Georges visit https://saintgeorgesfestival.com/.

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James Hemings innovated mac and cheese and brought vanilla ice cream, crème brûlée and french fries to the United States from Paris in the late 18th century. And while most of us don’t know Hemings, we do know his brother-in-law and enslaver, the 3rd president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. Hemings was an American culinary founding father. He and other enslaved chefs invented fine dining in America. So why haven’t they gotten a seat at their own table?

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