Vulgar Geniuses

Yuri Kochiyama was a revolutionary! The legacy of her life's work as a civil rights activist has been beautifully documented in a children's picture book written by Kai Naima Williams, Harlem-born poet, artist, and Yuri's great-granddaughter. The Bridges Yuri Built: How Yuri Kochiyama Marched Across Movements walks readers through her origin story of becoming one of the country's most important advocators for Asian American rights.

In our interview with Kai, she pinpoints the early beginnings of Kochiyama's life when her family was imprisoned in the Japanese-American Concentration camps during World World II. This horrific moment in America's history set in motion Kochiyama's push to live a life committed to ensuring the freedom of all minorities through social change. We also talk about Kochiyama's friendship with Malcolm X, and how that relationship encouraged her to become a freedom fighter. 

Three years have passed since Hanif Abdurraqib's essay collection Little Devil In America tackled the subject of Black performance in American culture. In his newest release, There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, Hanif asks readers to sit with the idea of the common enemy, one which he defines as a person who might interrupt the affection of anyone we love.

Hanif presents us with a love story for his home state of Ohio, basketball, and frames it within the window of success and interruption. Woven within the stories of basketball greats and unknowns who fall short of obtaining victories, readers wrestle with the conversations that beg to ask, "What does one do with the grief and loss of a dream?"

Through an examination of queerness, race, and the power that they play within the lives of a Southern Black family, Jennifer Neal's Notes On Her Color is an inventive and vibrant story as mother and daughter share the ability to change the color of their skin. Gabrielle and her mother have a uniquely close relationship, but the opposite is true with her temperamental father. The patriarch's only desire is that their skin must remain white at all times while in his presence.

Neal talks about reaching into satirical storylines and historical moments (that feel satirical) that became the inspirational foundation of her debut novel. She also talks about her hope that her work adds to the many stories of queer narratives in spaces that seek to erase them.

In 2023, we celebrated our third anniversary with Yvette Lisa Ndlovu's debut short story collection, Drinking From Graveyard Wells. Her book captivated us as she worked magic, death, and time travel into stories that explored themes of family, citizenship, and autonomy. Yvette's collection grapples with her country's future with stories that reflect Zimbabwe's past under the ruling thumb of the former dictator Mugabe.

We talk with Ndlovu about the women in her stories being able to harness power in death, gentrification, and the sacrifices made when giving up home for citizenship in another country.

Quietly Hostile is the fifth book by Samantha Irby, and it is truly a love letter to all people who have embraced the power of not giving a fuck what anyone thinks. Her hilarious collection of essays gives us a peek into what Irby's life looks like after the world shut down and left her to take a swan dive into an ocean of QVC merchandise.

Samantha opens up about her undying and unwavering love for The Dave Matthews Band, gives a point-by-point analysis of what will make for the best porn storyline, and reveals the drama that happens in the comment section of the New York Times' Spelling Bee app.

We bid adieu to 2023, but not before we take a final walk down memory lane to celebrate the many wins we had during our spectacular Jordan Year.

Dennie and I talk about the stellar guests that graced our show, the interviews that were our favorite, and we give our yearly resolution wish list for 2024.

Longlisted for the National Book Award in 2022, Maria, Maria & Other Short Stories sealed Marytza K. Rubio's name in the history books for creating an immersive short story collection. Wrapped in themes of revenge, grief, and love are mystical tales throughout this exceptional novella.

Rubio spoke with us about creating an interactive book that gives artistic license over to the reader by letting them become a part of the story as the story becomes a part of them. We talk about her personal connection and inspiration behind the stories, and we start the show with a special tarot reading.

Saints of the Household from author Ari Tison is a novel woven in a gorgeous marriage of poetry and prose that presents a story of brotherhood, heritage, and choices made to defend a family member who suffers a violent act at the hands of a high school star athlete.

In this debut, Ari gifts us a story of brothers Jay & Max, two indigenous Bribri American teenagers growing up in Minnesota. At major turning points in their lives, each is dealing with abuse at the hand of their father in ways that cause unrest in their home and their relationship with each other.

We were extremely fortunate to speak with Ari about her book, growing up as one of the only 5 Bribri Americans in the country while stitching her people's culture into the foreground of her novel.

DYSCALCULIA: A LOVE STORY OF EPIC MISCALCULATION, from poet and essayist Camonghne Felix, is a powerful and brilliant memoir that serves as a masterclass in investigating self when the heart and mind are reeling from the pain of broken and scattered connections. Felix braids her stories of lost love, a complicated relationship with her mother, and her late diagnosis of dyscalculia and bipolar disorder to reveal the power of reclaiming self through healing.

Camonghne joined us in conversation to discuss her personal journey in the systems built that deliberately dismiss the pain of Black women. We talk about advocating for a better education & mental health system for young Black children and what it took for her to get to a place of self-love and acceptance to create a fuller life for herself.

The year was 2008, and as an unknown politician was taking the world by storm with hope and change, a young twenty-something Minda Honey was crossing over state lines to establish a new life with her high school sweetheart on the West Coast of California, only to find the origin of her debut memoir The Heartbreak Years.

Minda Honey graces her presence in the City Beautiful for a live podcast recording at Zeppelin Books. Orlando was the second stop on her nine-city book tour, and we made sure to roll out the red carpet for a Vulgar Geniuses' first. We talked about everything from her past relationships and being vulnerable on the page while maintaining her gift of humor and wit.