This week, Cher and James sit down with Deanna Mingo of Divyn Media and Chakka Reeves of Highwater to discuss social media, digital marketing, and writing online as women of color. In Open Mic, they debate on pandering in marketing, ownership over content platforms, and self-promotion. Lastly in Open Call, Cher hits the books, James and Deanna discuss TV, and Chakka is inspired by an art gallery in Chicago.

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Iron Galaxy: Scream like a school kid with Capsule Force, an intergalactic-retro-anime multiplayer game now available on PS4 and Steam! Visit capsuleforce.com for more information.

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Help us reach our new fundraising goal for 2015-2016! We have our eyes on a portable recorder so we can start doing more on-site interviews, continue to pay our guests, and make this podcast sustainable. Give us a hand with a one-time donation at openended.fm/donate, and becoming a member starting at $1 a month, at patreon.com/openended.

We are continuing the "Open Up" segment, from our live show, as a biweekly segment! Head over to ask.fm/openended to receive our excellent advice!

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References made during our conversation:

Chakka Reeves, a multi-disciplinary writer, artist and badass

Deanna Mingo, social media evangelist and marketing extraordinaire

Medium, an online space for long-form readers and writers

Kristy Tillman's Twitter, another great resource

Grantland, a defunct website for sports and pop-culture

Aljazeera America, another great resource, soon to be defunct

IHOP Twitter account, a member of "Weird Twitter"

Apple Music Commercial, featuring Mary J. Blige, Kerry Washington, and Taraji P Hensen

Tyler Perry on South Park understands Cher's soul

Drake lyrics Deanna can't take

Chakka's newsletter, a curated list for of artists for artists

Deanna's blog, a thoughtful output for her Scorpio feels

Open Mic, a series of mini-debates:

Cher vs. Deanna and Chakka: Marketing vs. Pandering

James vs. Deanna and Chakka: Shared spaces vs. own space for producing online media

Open Ended vs. Deanna and Chakka: Self-promotion, yes or no

Open Call, what we are feeling this week:

Cher: Cher starts Grad School this week!

Deanna: The Fosters, a TV show on ABC Family

Chakka: Woman Made Gallery in Chicago

James: Being Mary Jane, a TV show on BET, starring Scorpio Gabrielle Union

Thanks for listening to episode 38. It couldn't have been done without the help of the following folks:

The Chicago Podcast Cooperative. Like this show? You might like Your Stories Your Stories, is a weekly live show-turned-podcast completely created by our audience. We prompt our storytellers with a theme and they craft a story (or any other performance) in response.

Our Patreon supporters: Caty, Amy, Kathy, Stewart, Classy, Jennifer, Joelle, Will, "Michael", and Revision Path podcast.

If you have any recommendations for show topics, contact us!

Script written by Cher and James.

Music by U+1F60C.

Until next time, keep things Open Ended.