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Blacksplained

Michael Harriot

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  • 6 episodes
  • Avg 1 hr 13 min
  • English

Episodes 6

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  • S1 · E6
    August 24 · 1 hr 37 min

    Is the Internet Making Us Dumb? Blacksplained by Dr. April Scott

    Every week, Blacksplained asks an expert, scholar or person who knows what they’re talking about to tackle one question. This week, we’re talking neurodivergence, online psychology and misinformation about mental health with Dr. April Scott, director of Strategic Initiatives and Wellbeing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-M). She holds a B.S. in psychology from Tuskegee University, so we had to talk about the bonnet debate. She’s a Black woman with an M.S. in clinical psychology from Barry University and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Auburn University, so we had to talk about Cheyenne Bryant. She did her dissertation on hip-hop’s effects on Black women’s self-image, so we couldn’t avoid the debate over Yung Miami’s hit song. And since she has worked across multiple settings, including substance abuse treatment programs, community mental health centers, a Veterans Affairs hospital, group practice and university counseling centers, you’ll discover that what you believe about behavior, therapy and mental health is a combination of misinformation, misunderstanding and one of the most addictive drugs in history. That’s why Dr. April Scott, an actual psychology expert, is here to Blacksplain: Is the internet making us dumber? Chapters 00:00 Understanding Mental Health Professions 03:07 The Complexity of Mental Health 07:15 Challenges of Diagnosis and Overconsumption of Therapy 37:23 Phenomenon of Imposter Syndrome and Personality Traits 41:25 Pathologizing Personality Traits 42:22 Personality Disorders vs. Quirks 43:21 Sensory Overload and Racial Bias 58:40 Influence of Music on Body Image 56:16 Historical Impact of Racism in Research 01:11:27 Respectability Politics and Campus Norms 01:22:25 The Internet and Mental Health 01:30:16 Influence of Social Media on Behavior

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E5
    August 23 · 1 hr 33 min

    Why You Can Stop Crying About the 'Literacy Crisis,' Blacksplained by Dr. Ahmad R. Washington

    Are we actually in a literacy crisis? Or is the hand-wringing about this so-called “literacy crisis” about who gets to determine the books and the newspapers and the stories that are deemed “serious”? I knew just the person to ask. Dr. Ahmad R. Washington is the department chair and an associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Human Development at the University of Louisville. Besides winning a slew of awards for his research on using hip-hop as a tool for counseling and educating Black males, he was inducted into the prestigious Martin Luther King Jr. Collegium of Scholars and served as an inaugural antiracism commissioner for the American Counseling Association, the largest organization for professional counselors in the world. His research explores multicultural school counseling and anti-Blackness in education and the helping professions. And since he’s responsible for educating the people who become teachers, counselors, and—this is the important part—the people who determine what is worthy of learning, how we develop students, and how we determine if we’re doing it right, who better to Blacksplain what we get wrong about America’s literacy crisis?

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E4
    August 10 · 1 hr 23 min

    The Black Guy Who Tips Blacksplains How to Decolonize the Internet

    If Christopher Columbus “discovered” America for white people, then Rod and Karen Morrow reverse gentrified the internet. After all, when Elon Musk “discovered” the website he now owns, Rod was already making his case for being considered one of the founders of Black Twitter. HBO made a show about a fictional universe with dragons, witches and white people with cousins, but Rod and Karen helped focus the Black gaze on The Game of Thrones. From working at HBO as Bomani Jones examined sports (and America) through a uniquely Black lens to teaming up with a writer named Michael Harriot and a little-known producer named Pharrell Williams on Drapetomaniax, Rod and Karen are basically the internet’s Black Lewis and Clark. And when it comes to the fastest-growing form of media in the world, the Charlotte, N.C., couple host The Black Guy Who Tips, the longest-running Black podcast on Cheyenne Bryant’s internet. That’s why we sat down with Rod Morrow to talk about his origin story, how the landscape has changed during his 16 years in the game and whether the podcast space needs more Black voices. If you wanna hear how someone feels about a topic they heard some people talking about, you’re in luck. The world is filled with places where white perspective is framed as objectivity. It’s called whitesplaining. But if you value truth, expertise and lived experience from a Black perspective… Let me introduce you to the Black podfather, the OG of RSS feeds, or (my favorite —Negro Rogan. Today, the Black guy who tips Blacksplains how to decolonize the podcast space. Because he already did it.

    • Transcript
  • S1 · E3
    August 3 · 1 hr 7 min

    Can White People Code-Switch? Blacksplained by Sunn m'Cheaux and Dr. Rachel E. Weissler

    Can white people code-switch, or is it a genetic ability that Black people are born with, like clapping on beat or making white people “fear for their lives”? Is it the same as “talking white” or is it a technical skill that people like Barack Obama, Kamala Harris and Ketanji Brown Jackson learned at the Respectability Politics School for Black Excellence? Do all white Gen-Zers (including Post Malone, Tyler Herro and Miley Cyrus) go through a Blaccent phase or are they reverse code-switching? This is why Blacksplained exists. Each week, we ask scholars, experts and people who know things to tackle one specific question about history, politics, culture, science or whatever’s got people talking. The smart, funny and insightful conversations end up in the most unexpected places while staying rooted in facts, truth and something that is often missing from the public discourse: a Black perspective. Sunn m’Cheaux is a sociolinguist, musician, educator, and Harvard University’s first (and only) Gullah instructor. m’Cheaux’s social media posts contextualizing language, race and culture have made him one of the internet’s favorite public scholars. Rachel Elizabeth Weissler is a raciolinguistic emotion perception researcher, African-American English scholar and a professor at the University of Oregon’s linguistics and Black studies departments. Dr. Weissler uses experimental methods from sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics and history to explore how Black language is used, how it changes and how it’s appropriated. But today, professors m’Cheaux and Weissler are going to Blacksplain: “Can white people code-switch?” Chapters 00:00 The Origin of Southern Accents 02:04 The Diversity of Southern Accents 04:05 The Influence of English Variations 06:45 The Impact of Language on Social Standing 11:07 The Concept of 'Talking White' 16:12 The Authenticity of Accents and Dialects 40:04 The Significance of Home and Contact 44:33 Context and Culture 46:16 Linguistic Gatekeeping 47:50 Preserving Black Language 54:08 Authenticity of Black Music 01:00:43 Cultural Evolution and Ownership 01:19:08 Defining Country Music

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  • S1 · E1
    August 3 · 54 min

    Superlawyer Lisa E. Davis Blacksplains How Black Genius Was Stolen, Exploited and Erased

    Each week, host Michael Harriot will pick one question about history, politics, science, culture or anything else worth talking about. But instead of giving his opinion or sharing his feelings on the subject, he’ll bring in a scholar, expert or professional who actually knows what they’re talking about. But these discussions won’t be neutral, performatively palatable or sterilized to make people comfortable. Instead of using “objectivity” as a standard (pronounced “Hoo why itt”), we’ll dive into each subject from an unapologetically Black perspective, grounded in real expertise and delivered with the wit, candor and cultural fluency that informs our ways of knowing. The result is a show that doesn’t just inform you; it will recontextualize what you thought you knew, give you new insight and make you realize that you aren’t going crazy. We’ll have real experts like today’s guest, attorney Lisa E. Davis Besides being one of the foremost entertainment and sports attorneys in the country, Davis is a certified “Super Lawyer” and the author of the new book: Our Minds Were Always Free: A History of How Black Brilliance Was Exploited—and the Fight to Retake Control. Today, she will help us answer the question: Can you steal Black genius? Let’s find out. One question. Actual experts. Real answers. Welcome to Blacksplained. Takeaways Theft of intellectual property has had a profound impact on the Black community The limitations of the law in addressing intellectual property theft are evident Ownership and control are critical in the music industry The role of record companies in curation and marketing is still significant in the digital age Chapters 00:00 Theft of Intellectual Property 01:12 Blacksplained: A New Perspective 02:12 The Exploitation of Black Brilliance 03:31 The Impact of Intellectual Property Theft 06:44 The Legacy of Intellectual Property Theft 08:37 Intellectual Property and Capitalism 11:24 The Limitations of the Law 16:03 The Impact on Music and Art 20:15 Ownership and Exploitation 27:41 The Difference in Cover Versions 30:05 Theft and Responsibility 32:44 Ownership and Control 35:31 Masters and Catalog Leasing 41:09 Intellectual Property and Creativity 47:11 Record Companies and Curation 49:14 The Role of Algorithms 52:28 Black Creativity and American Culture

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  • S1 · E2
    July 27 · 44 min

    Will the Internet Kill the Black Press? Blacksplained by Roland S. Martin

    As we approach the 200th anniversary of the Black press, many people wonder if anyone is keeping that mission alive. If so, who? And how do we support them? Well, Blacksplained has the answer. Each week, ContrabandCamp’s newest weekly podcast poses one question to a scholar, expert or someone who actually knows what they’re talking about. This week, ContrabandCamp senior correspondent Tiffany D. Cross and Michael Harriot sat down with the founder of the Black Star Network streaming service and the host of the daily news show Roland Martin Unfiltered to answer this episode’s question: “Is the Black press still alive?” Chapters 00:00 Defining Journalism and Content Creation 03:00 The Role of Truth in Media 06:02 The Responsibility of Journalists 09:45 The Importance of Facts in Opinion Columns 13:07 The Impact of Subjectivity in Sports and Music 15:20 The Power of Facts in Debates 19:58 The Significance of Showing Up for Black People 22:08 Mission-Driven Service 24:14 Financial Support and Funding 25:36 The Importance of Black-Owned Media 26:34 Challenges and Opportunities in Black Media 27:38 Community Support and Engagement 29:53 The Role of Black-Owned Media in Society 31:38 Building and Sustaining a Media Business 33:26 The Power of Black-Owned Media 34:52 Sustaining Independence and Growth 39:26 The Value of Black-Owned Media 40:24 Sustainable Business Growth

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