Vulgar Geniuses

IMAKEMADBEATS is standing on the precipice of the dawning of a new day in Memphis, Tennessee. In one hand, he holds a beat machine, and in the other, he has the deed to the most sought-after property known as the Orange Mound Tower, worth $50 million. 

Music producer, film screenwriter, and community leader, James Dukes, joins us to talk about his award-winning short film THE DEVIL WILL RUN. He also talks about teaming up with fellow Memphian Victoria Jones to bring generational wealth back to Black communities in their city. 

In this episode, we speak to New York Times bestselling author and National Book award finalist Ibi Zoboi about her recently released biography 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹 𝑪𝑯𝑰𝑳𝑫: 𝑨 𝑩𝑰𝑶𝑳𝑶𝑮𝑰𝑪𝑨𝑳 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑳𝑳𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵 𝑶𝑭 𝑶𝑪𝑻𝑨𝑽𝑰𝑨 𝑩𝑼𝑻𝑳𝑬𝑹. This stunning and imaginative story tells the life of a young Octavia learning to dream beyond the stars to create stories where Black people live in futuristic worlds. Ibi Zoboi's book marries prose and poetry to tell of the extraordinary life of a writer whose gift for the written word was present at the young age of 10. 

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 is the newest poetry chapbook from writer Mant¿s (Tyra Jamison). This multifaceted work expands over themes of transformation and liberation, with the Black Femme at the center of each piece. This book comes from the publishing hands of author Deesha Philyaw and artist Vanessa German. In our interview with Mant¿s, we talk about the writers who have influenced their work, the mentors that guided them in helping to begin to define the craft of writing, and the power that they possess in this form of language that they call poetry. 

Writer/Director Adamma Ebo & Producer Adanne Ebo debuted their film, Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul. this year at the Sundance Film Festival. After a major scandal rocks the congregation at the Wander to Greater Paths Church, Pastor Lee-Curtis Childs (Sterling K. Brown) and his wife Trinitie (Regina Hall) attempt to bring his flock back home. The Ebo Sisters sit down with us talk about their journey to finding their way behind the camera lens, love for all things anime, and how pivotal growing up in Atlanta was to their storytelling and showing the vastness that is Blackness.

In 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 Frida Liu had a very bad day. After receiving a phone call from the police that her child was in their custody, Frida must explain why she left her 18-month-old baby home alone for two hours. Finding herself in a fight for her child's life, Frida is court-ordered to spend one year in a highly guarded rehab facility to learn how to become a good mother.  We speak to New York Times Bestselling author Jessamine Chan about the inspiration behind this heart-wrenching novel as we explore the ethics and morality of motherhood in the next episode of The Vulgar Geniuses Podcast.

Malinda Lo, author of Last Night At The Telegraph Club and newly-minted recipient of the 2021 National Book Award, joins us on today's episode. We talk about her highly celebrated novel and the necessity of seeing herself reflected in the books that she writes. Last Night at the Telegraph Club is a story of a Queer teenage Chinese American girl in the mid-1950s who falls in love and must now come to terms with the truth about her sexuality, and what this revelation could mean for her relationships with family and friends.

On our season 3 premiere, we talk to visual artist and Kentucky Native Noel W. Anderson about his solo exhibit HEAVY IS THE CROWN, now showing at the Telfair Museum in Savannah, Georgia. Anderson’s manipulated images printed on large distressed tapestries, photos, and vintage Ebony magazines advertisements ask us to wrestle with where we stand at the intersection of race and access. This exhibit is part of Telfair Museums’ Legacy of Slavery in Savannah Initiative, a multi-year project to consider how the legacies of slavery still manifest in the city of Savannah. 

As we close another year in this ponderosa dodging Omarion, we bid farewell to 2021. This year taught us to pivot when needed, change what didn't work, and expect the unexpected. We take one final look to see how we did with our 2021 resolutions, talk about our favorite books and interviews, and our hopes for the future. Join us on the Vulgar Geniuses Podcast as we recap the best of 2021!

It's the last episode of Season 2 of The Vulgar Geniuses Podcast, so we bring you the gifts of all gifts! For our finale, we talked to National Book Award Finalist Robert Jones, Jr., author of the New York Times Bestseller 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒔. This week's interview was recorded live by the Orange County Library System in Orlando, Florida. 

We sit down with Robert to discuss how after 14 years, he completed one of the most beautiful love stories and necessary novels of our generation. As Marlon James said,  𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒔 is "...What the American novel is, should do, and can be." 

In this episode of The Vulgar Geniuses Podcast, we talk to young adult author Cristin Bishara about her sophomore novel VIAL OF TEARS. Cristin shares with us the familial connection, and inspiration, behind this novel that begins with her great-grandfather in Lebanon in 1954.  

Sisters Sam and Rima are transported to the underworld after receiving a magical family heirloom from Lebanon containing a magical burial coin belonging to the immortal god Eshmun. They must battle demons and gods to do all they can to make it back home to their mother or face death.