Between growing public interest in the racial justice movement, a polarizing political landscape and folks trapped indoors for nearly nine months now, online activism is at an all time high. Accordingly, white supremacists who spew vitriolic and violent language and ideas also abound across social media platforms.

This week Ron Dawson joins us to discuss his recent essay, "There’s a Jim Crow Mentality on Social Media,” which outlines his experiences combating racist trolls and threats of violence online.

Later, diversity trainer Risha Grant joins us to discuss her idea that "radical acceptance" of our diverse selves makes us more valuable personally and professionally.

The body positivity movement has been extremely important in combatting our country's fatphobia and teaching us all to love our bodies just as they are. Kelsey Miller, founder of "The Anti-Diet Project," is this week's guest and joins us to explain “How Whiteness Killed the Body Positive Movement.”

Miller shares her learning journey about white privilege and intersectionality and she says the body positivity movement must heed the work and labor of Black fat positive activists in order to keep the movement growing.

We also chat with Elijah Li, founder of SOULE magazine and the SOULE Foundation about why it's important for Black LGBTQ+ folks to see reflections of themselves in a world that is both anti-Black and anti-queer.

This week writer Leigh Green discusses her compelling op-ed, "White Supremacy in Me: Light-skinned and part of the problem," where she acknowledges the privileges associated with her skin tone, and challenges other light skin folk to begin the work of using their proximity to whiteness to disrupt an unjust system and spark a revolution.

Later, we speak with Peter Mercurio and Danny Stewart, who adopted their son after finding him abandoned in a New York City subway. They join us to tell their story and talk about Peter's heartwarming book "Our Subway Baby," which details their family's journey.

Nefertiti Austin was adopted by her grandparents when she was a kid because her parents struggled with addiction. She joins us this week, as a single parent of two adopted children, to discuss her book, "Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting." And we talk about her New York Times piece, "families-children-kin-grandparents.html">Grandparents, Kin and Play Cousins: The Soul and Survival of Black Families," which explores how African American families' use of fictive kinship ties and multigenerational structures have helped families survive through generations of violence, struggle and oppression.

Later in the show, award-winning poet and Louisville native Joy Priest joins us to discuss her new book of poetry, "Horsepower," which was awarded the Donald Hall Prize for Poetry.

Abby Johnson, the anti-abortion activist who recently spoke at the Republican National Convention, found herself at the center of controversy after a video of her went viral. In it, she said her adopted Black son was "statistically" more likely to grow up to be a criminal than her white sons who would likely grow up to be innocent nerds -- and thus police would be right to racially profile and stop him.

Her racist comments sparked conversations about transracial adoptions (adoptions where the adoptive parents/guardians are white and the adoptees are BIPOC).

Transracial adoptee author Melissa Guida-Richards joins us this week to talk about her essay, “Abby Johnson’s Video Shows the Problem With White Parents Adopting Children of Color,” and she joins us to offer advice for white parents who adopt child of color.

Later, we speak with Graham Ambrose of the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting for an update on the recent financial settlement in the Breonna Taylor case.

Navigating life as gay man in a homophobic and heteronormative society can be emotionally and spiritually taxing. This week author Britt East joins us to discuss his insightful new book, "A Gay Man’s Guide to Life," full of what he calls “kitchen table wisdom” to help gay men endure and thrive in an anti-queer world, by loving themselves more and by loving others as well.

Later in the show, speculative fiction author and publisher Olivia Raymond joins us to discuss the creation of her Black publishing house, Aurelia Leo, her new anthology, "Dominion," and why Black characters in speculative fiction works are vital for all communities.

As a historian of environmental justice and African American history, writer Faith Ann –- who is a white woman in an interracial marriage -– says she possesses the academic and intellectual knowledge to contribute to conversations about recent police killings with her Black husband but not the emotional knowledge. This week we discuss "What An Interracial Household Looks Like After George Floyd’s Murder.”

Later, we speak to writer Allison Gaines about recent commemorations of the 19th amendment and how not everyone got to cast a ballot when women were granted the right to vote.

Young Adult (YA) fiction is a literary tradition that has largely lacked diversity when it comes to the race and sexuality of its main characters.

Author Arvin Ahmadi's new book, "How It All Blew Up," has a queer Iranian American teenager protagonist. He joins us this week to talk about how other authors of YA novels can be more inclusive of diverse communities and identities.

Lena Waithe’s dramatic television series "The Chi" has garnered a strong following and has received critical praise since premiering on the Showtime network three years ago. Its season finale aired last week.

This week we have a lively and insightful conversation with actress and model Jasmine Davis, who joined the cast of The Chi this season, to discuss her character Imani who is a multi-layered Black trans woman that is tender, loving and all kinds of fierce.

The word "ally" is frequently heard in the fight for racial justice, usually used by a white person seeking to declare just how "not racist" they are. This week, our guest Bridgette L. Hylton joins us to explain why she says “If You’re a Real Ally, You’ll Keep It to Yourself,” which she recently wrote about for Medium.

Educator and writer Rodney Fierce thought that performing a type of muted Blackness would shield him from the usual pitfall and roadblocks of discrimination, microaggressions and racism.

He was wrong.

Fierce joins us this week to discuss his essay "The Price of Being Pleasing," and explains why performing Black harmlessness isn't worth the cost.

This week we're joined by Chad Anderson, co-director of the new documentary “Dog Valley,” which details the largely unknown story of the brutal kidnapping, rape, torture and murder of gay college student Gordon Church in Utah in 1988.

Later, we're joined by Michelle Silverton, author of ”Mom, Why Don’t You Have Any Black Friends,” and TEDx Talk, “We Are Not A Melting Pot: How to Stop Talking About Implicit Bias and Start Talking About Race." She discusses her work as a diversity educator and trainer and why she tells her white clients that in order to constructively talk about race in America, they must start by discussing and examining their own whiteness.

This week Jarvis Houston, the US spokesperson of tech startup I Love Black People joins us to discuss how the app helps Black people find businesses, accommodations and other services that are Black owned and the safest and most welcoming of Black people throughout the world.

And in this week’s feature interview, Jermaine Fowler, creator, producer and host of "The Humanity Archive" podcast joins us to discuss his mission to expose listeners to history's unsung heroes and hidden figures, while emphasizing that Black people have been an integral part of world history.

This week we return to coverage of the protests and uprisings that are still happening in Louisville in response to the police killings of Breonna Taylor, David McAtee and others.

We're joined by independent journalist Chea K. Woolfolk, who tells us about the recent arrests of live streamers covering the protests. We question why her charges varied so severely from a white live streamer who was arrested alongside her, and she talks about how she doesn’t plan on letting her upcoming court case stop her from bringing truth to the people of Louisville.

Recent uprisings around the country have made it clear to many citizens the importance of new media and amateur journalists in ensuring that folks to know what is happening on the ground, and keeping people updated in real time, without a corporate bias.

This week former meteorologist and independent journalist Tara Bassett joins us to discuss her legendary career in journalism, how animal rights activists can better engage with intersectional movements, and how it’s never to late to come out and live your truth in the world.

With Pride festivals across the country being rescheduled or cancelled because of the Coronavirus outbreak, LGBTQ folks are finding inventive ways to celebrate Pride Month virtually.

This week we speak with model, social media influencer, and Pop/R&B singer Teraj about his career, how he celebrated Pride virtually this year with the South Florida Pride Collective, and how queer and trans folks can celebrate Pride while amplifying the freedom calls of #BLM.

Kamen Edwards, author of "The One and Only Dylan St. Claire"

Taylor Ryan of Change Today, Change Tomorrow joins us this week to spotlight #FeedTheWest, an initiative which provides food and educational resources to African Americans in west Louisville affected by food deserts. The lack of access to food in the West End was made worse last week by the abrupt closing of a vandalized grocery store -– the only major grocer in the neighborhood.

Later in the show, author Alexander Watson shares adventures from his recent book "River Queens: Saucy boat, stout mates, spotted dog, America."

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This week we continue discussing the high profile killing of 26-year-old ER technician Breonna Taylor by Louisville police officers. We are joined by Dr. Ricky Jones, head of the University of Louisville's Pan-African Studies department, who tells us why he thinks Black moderates helped kill Taylor and others like her, including Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd.

The March 13 shooting death of 26-year-old EMT Breonna Taylor by Louisville Metro Police Department officers has gained national attention in recent weeks and is sending shock waves throughout the city of Louisville and the nation.

Strange Fruit is devoting the next several episode to coverage of Taylor’s case. This week we are joined by writer, activist, and renowned debate coach Shauntrice Martin, who helps us outline what we know about the case so far, as we work understand everything that led to Taylor's unjust death - starting with the use of a "no-knock" warrant.

Because racist microaggressions can be unsettling, oppressive and emotionally exhausting, especially when they happen in the workplace. Accordingly, many people of color try to be intentional about the places they work so as to avoid such interactions. Freelance writer Jessica Hoppe thought she did just that when she obtained a position to create original and authentic Latinx web content for her new company. She was wrong.

Hoppe joins us on this episode to discuss how she navigated on-the-job microaggressions and explain that many companies claiming they want authentic diversity are really just reinforcing stereotypes.

This week we discuss the prison industrial complex and the far reaching impact mass incarceration has on the families, children and loved ones left behind by those who are behind bars. Journalist and author Sylvia A. Harvey joins us to talk about her book "The Shadow System: Mass Incarceration and The American Family."http://donate.strangefruitpod.org"> Donate to support this and future episodes of Strange Fruit.

This week we're joined again by activist Amber Butts of Black Youth Project to discuss the innovative ways Black folks are finding joy and creating community during the COVID lockdown.

Later, we speak with newly minted Dr. Dennis Johnson the recent "zoombombing" of his virtual dissertation defense, which was hacked by someone who posted racist and pornographic content.

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Lambda Award-winning writer and activist Michelle Tea has always considered herself “radical queer,” – those outside-of-the-mainstream LGBTQ folks who have nothing left to lose and make their own rules about everything.

As she describes it in an essay for Buzzfeed, for Tea and the queer friends she shared a radical subculture with, “that meant prioritizing freedom, glorifying poverty, experimenting with our bodies in every way possible. The possibility of having children was raised only to highlight how absurd that would be….[we] mostly viewed kids as a potential drag on [our] liberties, or simply an impossibility.”

 Later in the show, Chicago-based rapper and actor Mykele Deville stop by the studio to discuss his role as Verb in the rousing production of Idris Goodwin’s “Hype Man: A Break Beat Play” at Actors Theatre of Louisville, which runs thru October 13^th.

From its practical and everyday uses, to Black celebrities and fashion icons donning it on red carpets, the durag is finally getting its just due. Fashion & beauty editor Jamé Jackson of TheBlondeMisfit.com joins us this week talk to us about her essay, "How the Durag Became a Political Statement." It illuminates the cultural and political significance of the durag, and how it’s always represented much more than just a hair accessory.

Later in the show we switch gears and turn our attention -- and the conversation -- to last spring’s Met Gala where fashion theme was “Camp: Note on Fashion.” Jackson explores the queer, black and urban roots of camp, and argues that ideas around and performances of camp belonged to Black and queer communities long before it became popular at the annual ball.

In our Juicy Fruit segment, we’re surprised by just how long many Americans will go without changing their underwear.

The official end of summer and LGBTQ pride season is fast approaching, but there’s still time to have some fun at some events in the region.

Now in its third year, OUTLOUD Musical Festival in Nashville features 14 LGBTQ+ artists across two stages, including headliners Greyson Chance, Kim Petras and Gia Woods.

OUTLOUD creator and producer Jack Davis joins us at the start of this week’s show to tell us what to expect at the festival happening on September 14.

We also speak with friend to the show Mike Slaton, Executive Director of the Louisville Pride Foundation, about the Louisville Pride Festival coming up on September 21. The event is free and this year's headliner is performer Todrick Hall.

In our feature interview, we explore the notoriously segregated history of swimming pools and other public spaces dedicated to leisure and enjoyment. Dr. Victoria Wolcott joins us to discuss her insightful piece “The Forgotten History Of Segregated Swimming Pools And Amusement Parks" published by The Conversation, and her book “Race, Riots, and Roller Coasters: The Struggle over Segregated Recreation in America.” 

As the host of Strange Fruit we’ve often wondered why pants made for men have plenty of pockets while most pants designed for women are pocketless. This week we discuss about the problematics of the gender binary when it comes to fashion and clothing and speak with Washington Post writer Samantha Schmidt about a Washington, DC area sewing class designed to deconstruct the gender rules in fashion and reconstruct clothing that better meets form and function for the queer and trans participants.

Later this month, Louisville plays host to the second annual Midwest Queer Comedy Festival, a showcase designed to expose audiences to comedic voices from the LGBTQ community. Starting August 21st, the MQCFest will be five nights of shows, showcases, podcasts, and after parties. This year's line-up is stacked with nearly 75 acts, including headliner Sampson McCormick.

McCormick is an award-winning Black queer comic who first joined us for a conversion about breaking barriers last December. He’s back this week to talk about his upcoming appearance at MQCFest and about his new movie A Different Direction with Darryl Stephens from TV’s “Noah’s Arc.”

Also joining us to discuss all things queer and comedic is comedian Keith McGill, who is an associate producer of the festival, and MQCFest creator and executive producer Dwayne Duke.

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This week we’re joined by writer and reproductive justice activist Quita Tinsley. In her recent piece "Why I Refuse To Leave the South as a Queer Black Person," Tinsley argues that while the potential for violence or discrimination against queer and trans folks in the South can be higher than other regions, the entire nation is unsafe for those same people. And when she visited northern “Gay Meccas” like New York and San Francisco, she felt isolated and experienced overwhelming levels of anti-blackness that exceeded what she felt in the South. We discuss how she learned to embrace and celebrate her identity as a Southerner.

Later in the show we shift the discussion from regional space to “gayborhoods,” an area of a city or town characterized as being inhabited or frequented by LGBTQ folks. In his feature article “you-be-my-gaybor.html">Won’t You Be My Gaybor?” for Richmond, VA’s RVA Mag writer Wyatt Gordon discusses the city’s lack of a gayborhood — the absence of gayborhoods in many southern cities — and examines if it is a sign of social repression or in fact a reflection of progress.

In our Juicy Fruit segment, we honor the legacy of literary giant Toni Morrison who died this week.

This week we’re joined by Tarell Alvin McCraney, chair of play writing at the Yale School of Drama, 2013 recipient of a MacArthur Fellows Genius Grant, and the 2017 Academy Award winner for Best Adapted Screenplay for Moonlight.

McCraney’s newest endeavor is his first television project, an original scripted series for Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network called David Makes Man. The compelling lyrical drama makes-man.html">will premiere on August 14. 

David Makes Man centers on a 14-year-old prodigy from the projects of South Miami who is haunted by the death of his closest friend, and relied on by his hardworking mother to find a way out of poverty. We discuss the show, its phenomenal ensemble cast, his life since Moonlight, and how important it is for him to create Black art for Black people. 

Later in the show we speak to culture writer Beandrea July about the new documentaryToni Morrison: The Pieces I Am. We discuss the themes of the documentary, Morrison’s legacy as a writer, and the resistance and criticism Morrison encountered from many other writers when it came to celebrating and honoring the brilliance of her work.

In our Juicy Fruit segment this week, the model who cried “pinkston-trans-lie-2639425349.html?xrs=RebelMouse_fb&ts=1564415559&fbclid=IwAR010NdW30amulq1S50hr7t4O1_wUYcZvniLP5h-FZwRnaUyUUUC8vV1HJg">trans.” And even the bell can’t save “Saved By the Bell” actor and Extra TV host Mario Lopez from the backlash after his recent commentary that supporting trans children is “dangerous.”

Sober spaces for LGBTQ folks to socialize are on the rise. With many of them facing social stigma, discrimination, harassment and violence, LGBTQ people are at a greater risk for drug and alcohol addiction than their straight counterparts.

We wondered just how easy or difficult it is for queer folks to commit to sober living when so much of gay social is tied to parties, nightclubs and bars and many of our community’s biggest Pride Festival sponsors are beer and liquor companies. In this week’s episode, we hear from four friends of the show who called to tell us about their individual struggles with substance abuse and their new lives of sobriety free from drugs and alcohol.

In Hot Topics, we discuss why the body-shaming sentiment of “she’s let herself go” is never a good excuse for when a man murphy-apologizes-antoine-fuqua-195600936.html">cheats on his wife.

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In recognition of Minority Mental Health Month, we continue examining issues affecting African Americans and their mental well-being – or the lack thereof.

In February 2016, 23-year-old Black Lives Matter activist MarShawn McCarrel took his own life on the step of the Columbus, Ohio courthouse steps. This March, the body of another social activist, 29-year-old Amber Evans, was found in a Columbus river, and her death was also ruled a suicide.

JoAnne Viviano, Health Reporter for The Columbus Dispatch joins us this week to discuss the toll that fighting for social justice can take on the mental health of activists like McCarrel and Evans. The activists she interviewed for her piece in the Dispatch cited long workweeks, encountering widespread racism, vicariously transferring traumas, and unrealistic expectations of fellow activists as some of the factors that adversely affect their mental health – and have necessitated a shift in how their community looks after one another in a commitment to a healing process.

Then, we shine the spotlight on a small Texas college named Paul Quinn College that is so committed to the mental well-being of its students that it offers and encourages every incoming student to meet with a counselor to have their needs assessed, at a free on-site mental health clinic. Eva-Marie Ayala, staff reporter for The Dallas News, tells us how this tiny HBCU, which prides itself on recruiting at-risk students, promotes health and wellness throughout its campus.

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Because July is Minority Mental Health Month, we’re dedicating this entire episode to discussing the mental health and wellness of black kids and adults. Our first guests this week are Aaron Hunt, a clinical psychology doctorate student and co-author of “Depression in Black Boys Begins Earlier Than You Think,” and his partner Lee Dukes, a special education teacher and a second-year Master of Education student.

They join us to discuss suicide and depression in black boys, how the school system is complicit in creating and fostering poor mental health, and what it will take to turn this trend around.

Later, therapist Brittany Johnson join us to discuss how poverty, race and unresolved childhood traumas are leading more black adults to seek therapy. She credits Millennials with breaking the stigma around mental health and therapy.

Johnson, author of the self-published book "Get Out of Your Own Way: 21 Days to Stop Self Sabotage,” shares tips on recognizing and conquering anxiety.

In Juicy Fruit, we salute chart topping crossover rapper Lil Nas X, who recently publicly confirmed that that he’s a gay man, and we celebrate black and queer mermaids everywhere.

Social movements such as #MeToo and #TimesUp have brought greater attention to the issue of sexual harassment and sexual assault. These movements are largely focused on women and girls – so what about the nearly Factsheet.pdf">1 in 4 men who have experienced sexual violence?

Zeke Thomas is a music producer, deejay and the son of NBA Hall of Famer Isaiah Thomas – and he’s a survivor of sexual assault and rape. In 2017, Thomas revealed in a nationally-televised interview that he was sexually assaulted at 12 years old, and then experienced date rape at the age 27, committed by a man he met on a dating app.

Later in the show we’re joined by longtime friend to the show Dr. Frederick Smith, who first joined us in 2015 to discuss his novel "Play It Forward." (He’s also the author of "Right Side of the Wrong Bed," a Lambda Literary Award finalist.)

Smith joins us this week with poet and creative writer Chaz Lamar, to discuss their new novel, In Case You Forgot, which tells the story of two newly-single black queer, men who are packing up and starting again—in love, career, and life—in the West Hollywood neighborhood of LA.

And in Juicy Fruit: A shopper at a Texas Walmart learns the hard way that  you can have your cake but you must pay for it, too!

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In 1920, black farmers in this country owned some 15.6 million acres of land, but by 1999 that number had fallen to 2 million.  In 1910, there were nearly one million black farmers in America. In the year 1999, only 18,000 remained, and statistics showed that black farmers were disappearing at a rate five to six times that of white farmers.

Leah Penniman, farmer and educator at Soul Fire Farm in the Albany, New York, area, attributes the virtual disappearance of Black farmers to decades of discrimination against Black farmers by the US government – denying them farm loans, for example – and racist violence targeting land-owing Black farmers in the South.

But after 100 years in decline, Penniman writes for YES Magazine, Black farmers are making a comeback. She joins us this week to say that these farmers aren’t just growing healthy food, but just as importantly they are healing racial traumas, instilling collective values, and changing the way communities of black folks think about the land.

Later in the show we talk with writer Gloria Oladipo about her essay in Teen Vogue describing why her therapist specifically needed to be a woman of color.

And in hot topics, we talk about drivers behaving badly.

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Mothering within Black communities can take many forms. Dr. Patricia Hill-Collins coined the term “other mother” to describe a woman who cares for a child that is not biologically her own.

In many Black families, the role of the aunt has fit this function. Sometimes aunts are blood or marriage relatives but many of them are chosen family – mom’s best friend from college or the elderly neighbor down the street who looks after the community’s children. She can serve as a quiet confidant or a gentle authority figure.

This week we spoke writer Brandon T. Harden about his Philadelphia Inquirer article, “day-black-aunts-20180511.html">They may not get a holiday, but ‘aunts’ are the backbone of the black community.”

Later in the show we talk with freelance journalist Sonia Weiser about the troubling financial realities of New York City’s Legal Aid attorneys – many of who have to moonlight as rideshare drivers or bartenders to make ends meet – as highlighted in her New York Times piece, “aid-lawyers-salary-ny.html">Lawyers by Day, Uber Drivers and Bartenders by Night.”

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In the US, June is recognized as LGBTQ Pride Month. Celebrations and festivities are held throughout the month to commemorate the rebellion that began at the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969, and to celebrate the social and legal advances for LGBTQ people in the 50 years since.

This weekend in Louisville marks the return of the annual Kentuckiana Pride Festival, our city’s largest and longest-running annual Pride celebration. Our guest this week is the organization’s president and director, Allen Hatchell who joins us to discuss the festival’s headlining entertainment, vendors and what changes folks should expect this year. 

We also have the beginnings of a tough but important public conversation about community gatekeeping, transphobia, and gay racism within LGBTQ pride organizations, and Allen addresses some of our public criticisms of the Kentuckiana Pride Festival.

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While becoming a mother is often a wondrous, exciting and joyous endeavor, it can also be wrought with anxiety, fear and even danger for many black women.

We begin this week by speaking with author Dani McClain about the politics of black motherhood, and her TIME essay “I Won’t Let Racism Rob My Black Child of Joy.” In the essay, McClain recounts being pregnant with her first child in the summer of 2016 -- the same summer that Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota were killed by police.

“Reading the news of these men’s deaths brought to mind black children who had died just as senselessly: 17-year-old Jordan Davis, gunned down at a Florida gas station by a white man annoyed by the music Davis and his friends played; 12-year-old Tamir Rice, killed by police in a Cleveland playground as he held a toy gun; 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones, shot and killed by police during a middle-of-the-night raid on her home."

In order to avoid succumbing to her fears, McClain made a plan to interview black mothers, grandmothers and other experts about how she could raise a carefree joyous child while still keeping her safe. The result became her first book, "We Live for the We: The Political Power of Black Motherhood."

“I understand that simultaneously demanding that our children be allowed to be children and carefully introducing them to the realities of black life in this country are just part of the work," McClain writes. "Dancing, laughing and finding pleasure in the small things may be of value to most families, but for black families, engaging in joyful practices is necessary to our survival, to our ability to fully claim our humanity.”

Later in the show, we speak with Dr. Mary-Ann Etiebet, MD, about her work as Executive Director of Merck for Mothers, a global initiative to reduce maternal mortality worldwide.

In her op-ed, “Black Women Dying From Childbirth Is Persistent, But Here’s How We Can Reverse This Unacceptable Trend,” Etiebet notes that more women in the United States die today from complications of pregnancy and childbirth than 20 years ago. Further, Black women are three to four times more likely to die from a pregnancy or childbirth related complication than white women.

We examine the causes of this trend and the work being do to reverse it.

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But it's not uncommon that once these social safe havens are created and made public, organizers and attendees are met with the inevitable barrage of interrogations and accusations regarding such spaces:

"Why is this space just for black people?" "Why is this club just for Latinx people?" "Isn’t a black gay pride event divisive and 'reverse racist?'"

Our first guest this week is Berkeley-based writer Kelsey Blackwell, who wrote the essay “Why People of Color Need Spaces Without White People.” We discuss with Kelsey the need for POC-only gathering places that are free from white judgement and the stereotypes and marginalization that permeate mainstream society.

Later in the show we get specific in the conversation of race, with Salem State Communications professor Joshua Adams. He recently published a piece on Medium: We Should Stop Saying “People of Color” When We Mean “Black People”

“Saying POC when we mean black people is this concession that there’s a need to describe a marginalized group as 'less' Black for in order for people (specifically, but not only, white people) to have empathy for whatever issue being discussed,” he writes.

And in Juicy Fruit, we talk about two very different kinds of uninvited house guests.

Welcome to a new season of Strange Fruit!

In her essay “'Children do not deserve privacy,' and other abusive myths masked as good parenting," Oakland-based writer and educator Amber Butts examines the complicated feelings she holds for the ex-stepfather who raised and provided for her. “His metric for goodness was stepping up and taking care of a child that wasn’t his,” she writes. “But my ex-stepfather is not a good man.”

It wasn’t until Butts saw a social media post where a mother said she knocks on the door before entering her kids’ rooms that Butt was reminded of the lack of privacy she had as a child and she began to reflect on how refusing children privacy is one of several abusive practices mislabeled as good parenting.

We discuss the need for parents and caregivers to actively work to examine and undo the “misleading metrics” of good parenting that they inherited from previous generations.

Butts says children deserve houses that aren’t prisons. “Anything that mirrors how the state achieves control must be questioned and obliterated, especially when that influences how we care for our babies," she writes. "Children deserve privacy in the homes that they are in. Children deserve love beyond conditions. This is a requirement. They should not have to prove this."

Affordable and stable housing has long been a precarious and stressful pursuit for many Americans. Housing costs across the country have risen, and evictions are becoming much more commonplace than in past years.

In 2016, American property owners filed at least 2.3 million eviction claims. Princeton’s Eviction Lab, which recently released the nation’s largest eviction database, revealed that the Southern region is the area of the country’s most impacted by evictions and that Black renters are disproportionate the victims of the eviction crisis.

Eviction Lab’s report revealed that nine of the 10 cities with the highest eviction rates are not only located in southern states but are also cities that are at least 30 percent black in population.

This week we chat with Atlanta-based journalist Max Blau about why southern renters are losing their homes at such high rates, and we examine some of the social and political obstacles standing in the way of safe, stable and affordable housing for many African Americans.

The 2018 film "Boy Erased" brought conversion therapy to the attention of many film goers.

Sometimes referred to as reparative therapy or ex-gay therapy, conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of trying to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity through psychological or spiritual methods.

This week we’re joined by Tanner Mobley, Director of Ban Conversion Therapy Kentucky, and Mikhail Schulz (also known as award-winning drag entertainer Vanessa Demornay), who is a self-described survivor of conversion therapy. Schulz and Mobley agree that conversion therapy is dangerous, and promotes the idea that LGBTQ people can and should change who they are.

Mobley and his organization are leading efforts to ban conversion therapy in the state, and legislation has been introduced in both the Kentucky Senate and House which aims to make it illegal to practice conversion therapy on minors.

Guests:

• Tanner Mobley, from Ban Conversion Therapy Kentucky
• Conversion therapy survivor (and local drag legend!) Mikhail Schulz

With the 91st Academy Awards just weeks away, we decided to have one last conversation about former would-be Oscars host Kevin Hart, his violently anti-gay tweets, and his recent reconciliation appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show. Tre’vell Anderson, Director of Culture & Entertainment for Out Magazine, joins us to discuss why Ellen was the wrong person to pardon Hart.

Later in the show we talk about the difference between simply fitting in and actually belonging within gay male culture.  Scholar-activist and writer Dr. Jeffry Iovannone reflects on finding his place in mainstream gay culture and finding community and acceptance among his peers.

In Juicy Fruit, we discuss a pack of polar bears that invaded a Russian town and a mother in Maryland who’s going to extremes to find her son a date for Valentine’s Day.

Studies have shown that black students learn better in school environments where their cultural identities are reflected by the school’s curriculum, teachers and administrators. This week we talk about school culture and choices, with New York Times reporter Eliza Shapiro about her feature, ‘schools-segregation-brooklyn.html">I Love My Skin!’ Why Black Parents Are Turning to Afrocentric Schools.

Later in the show, we are joined by co-Directors David Y. Chack and Karen Edwards-Hunter, and actor Tyler Madden from “The Green Book,” which is currently running in Louisville. The play is inspired by Victor Hugo Green’s, “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” which from 1936-1967 helped African Americans traveling in automobiles across the United States find helpful services and places that were friendly to blacks travelers.

This week, filmmaker Billy Cliff joins us to discuss His new film, A Long Road To Freedom: The Advocate Celebrates 50 Years, which spotlights milestone moments in LGBTQ history through never-before-seen footage, and engaging interviews with such folks as Margaret Cho, Don Lemon, Gloria Allred, DeRay Mckesson, and Caitlyn Jenner.

Narrated by Laverne Cox, with music by Melissa Etheridge, the documentary chronicles five decades of the fight for LGBT equality, and the magazine that covered it all.

For our feature interview this week, we speak to tech guru, entrepreneur, and star of the Golden Globe-nominated hit TV show "Pose," Angelica Ross. She joins us to discuss her career, her innovative strides within the tech world, and the importance of black trans visibility.

And in Juicy Fruit: Famed restaurateur, model, author, and television host B. Smith has often been dubbed the “Black Martha Stewart.” Now she’s suffering from Alzheimer's and relies on her longtime husband and business partner Dan Gasby to take care of her. Gasby has recently announced that he has a live-in girlfriend who supports him as he cares for his wife. And she’s a white woman. Doc and I discuss our differing views on this arrangement.

Monosexism is a belief that monosexuality (being straight or gay) is superior to bisexuality or other non-monosexual orientations. It's often paired with biphobia, and both are still pervasive within, and outside of, the queer community.

This week we chat with loyal Strange Fruit listener Hayden Smith, who describes himself as, “a 28-year-old black, bisexual, writer, poet, and activist, happily immersed in a same-sex interracial marriage to my partner of five years.” Hayden joins us to discuss how bi-erasure and gay racism have affected him and had an impact on his relationship.

For our feature interview, we welcome to the studio Patrese D. McClain and Cecil Blutcher, from the cast of "Pipeline" at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Written by Dominique Morriseau and directed by Steve H. Broadnax III,  "Pipeline" is a heart-wrenching portrayal of a mother and son grappling with the “school-to-prison-pipeline” for young men of color in the U.S. education system.

For many African Americans, style has never been simply about keeping up with the latest trends or adhering to what one would consider chic. After the Great Migration--the movement of millions of black Americans out of the rural South--style also signaled financial success and social clout, despite racial prejudice.

This week, Chicago Tribune writer Lolly Bowean joins us to discuss her recent piece, “met-black-women-gifted-furs-20181217-story.html">In handing down furs, black women continue a rich tradition."

Later in the show we explore another aspect of African American culture, the sometimes toxic relationship between black mothers and their children. Journalist Arah Iloabugichukwu’s explores this phenomenon in her piece, “The Strained Relationship Between Black Mothers & Their Daughters.”

And in hot topics, we discuss all the places that folks shouldn’t put Vicks VapoRub.

In his recent The New York Times essay, “men-crossing-legs.html">I Cross My Legs. Does That Make Me Less of a Man?” novelist Brian Keith Jackson reflects on his childhood worry that crossing his legs would telegraph his sexuality. Eventually he realized he was repeating the move in an attempt to shrink from the judgmental gaze of others. He joins us this week to talk about overcoming this fear and learning to open up.

We also chat with South African HIV Activist and writer Krishen Samuel about his essay “Becoming a Real Gay Boy: Gender vs. Sexuality." Samuel joins us to offer a gay man’s perspective on what he describes as the straitjacket that is masculinity when you do not fit neatly into your gendered box.

And, most importantly, some of special friends and family send Kaila a birthday tribute that brings her to tears. Happy Birthday, Kaila!

We’re joined this week by Dr. Tamura Lomax, independent scholar and the co-founder and CEO of the online feminist and anti-racist publication The Feminist Wire, to discuss her book, "Jezebel Unhinged: Loosing the Black Female Body in Religion and Culture."

In the book, she traces the Jezebel trope (the portrayal of black women as naturally lascivious and seductive) from the black church to black pop culture. On today's show, we discuss how the persistence of this trope perpetuates heteronormativity, gender hierarchy and patriarchy within black communities and cultural institutions.

Later in the show we chat with writer Matthew Thompson about his provocative essay, “The messy relationship between f*ggots & the Black American pop diva,” which explores the symbiotic relationship between black women pop stars and black gay men.

Our featured guest this week is black gay stand-up comic Sampson McCormick, who’s headlined such venues as the historic Howard Theater, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Laugh Factory in Hollywood, Harvard University, and the National Museum of African-American History in Washington D.C.

An award-winning entertainer, Sampson join us to talk about his decades-long career of breaking barriers, overcoming obstacles, and shattering expectations as a black queer comic. And he weighs in some of his fellow comics who’ve made headlines lately, including Mo’nique, D.L. Hughley, and, of course, Kevin Hart.

In a very special edition of Juicy Fruit, my sister-in-law Steu stops by the studio and we discuss whether it’s time for Santa to get a makeover.

As a cisgender person, you might pride yourself on your transgender wokeness. Your email signature includes your PGP (Personal Gender Pronoun), you address groups of people as “y’all” instead of “guys “or “ladies and gentlemen,” and you’ve even got a #BlackTransLivesMatter bumper sticker with a t-shirt to match.

Later in the show we talk with Gabby Ryan from Melbourne, Australia about her journey to coming out as asexual. Gabby is seven years into what she describes as, “a happy straight-passing relationship with a cis-het man.” We had lots of questions, and Gabby was gracious enough to help us and our listeners learn more about what asexuality means to and for her and her partner.

In the 5th grade, Ola Ojewumi was diagnosed with a heart condition that made it difficult for her heart to properly pump blood throughout her body. By 11 years old, Ola was a double transplant recipient, with a chronic illness and limited mobility who relied heavily on a wheelchair. She became a person living with disability.

For many years Ola despised being disabled and tried to hide her disability. Now, she is the founder of the global education nonprofit organization, ascend.org/">Project ASCEND, which provides college scholarships and and civic engagement opportunities to low-income and disabled youth.

This week we speak with Ola about her disabled black girl magic--her struggles, triumphs, and how she shows the world what it means to live with disabilities, not in spite of them.

And in Juicy Fruit: A Harvard professor says that if you eat more than six french fries at meal time then you've been overeating.

And PETA wants us to start feeding two birds with one scone.

To us, World AIDS Day is a day to commemorate those we've lost to HIV/AIDS, uplift those who are living with the virus, and a reminder for us to fight like hell together to end both the stigma and the epidemic.

We’ve dedicated this week’s show to discussing where we are now when it comes to HIV/AIDS awareness.

First up, we hear from a wonderful young man named Chad about his journey with HIV, from his recent diagnosis, to the ensuing depression, and his eventual path to resiliency and empowerment. His story is moving, powerful and awe-inspiring.

Later in the show, Rhonda Cowan and Ryan Benningfield from Volunteers of America (VOA) join us to drop some HIV 101 knowledge and talk us through what to expect when going to get an HIV test.

Volunteers of America offers free, anonymous HIV testing at their office at 933 Goss Avenue. More information at (502) 654-8389 or on their website. 

Happy Belated Turkey Day! We’re keeping it light this week with a full episode of Juicy Fruit, featuring a hodgepodge of hot topics. Did the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos-flavored turkey make your Thanksgiving menu this week?

Speaking of flavors, the fda-flavors-ban.html">FDA is moving to ban the sale of all menthol-flavored cigarettes and restrict sales of flavored vapes and e-cigarettes. More than 88 percent of African-American smokers prefer menthol cigarettes. Is this an appropriate attempt to improve public health or simply misguided government overreach?

In music news: It might be NSFW, but if the viral Jill Scott video has you clutching your pearls or shaking your head, well then you’ve got this all wrong.

And by popular request, #TeamStrangeFruit reveals our selections for our Holiday-inspired mixtape.

November is National Adoption Month, a designation intended to raise awareness of the need for permanent families for children in the foster care system.

How much does race matter when it comes to giving a child a loving adoptive home? How important are racial heritage and cultural traditions for a child who is racially and ethnically different from their adoptive parents? And what is it like being adopted by two moms or two dads?

Morgan Rumple is a black woman who was adopted as an infant by a white lesbian couple who lived in a nearly all-white community in Indiana.  She joins us to discuss her experiences as a transracial adoptee and how her parents navigated homophobia, racism, and cultural differences.

No matter how you spell it, say it, or intend for it to be received, the N-word remains a hot button issue. The rules seem pretty clear for white people - don’t say it, ever. But it gets more complicated for non-black people of color.

Writer and podcaster Olga Marina Segura joins us this week to discuss the complicated relationship between Latinx folks and the N-word. Even though she identifies as Afro-Latina (her father is a black man), Segura says she’ll never feel comfortable using the word as a term of endearment and challenges other Latinx folks to think more critically about using the word.

A teenager named Cameron Terrell was arrested in October on suspicion of murder in an alleged gang killing in South Los Angeles. Before you try to guess where this story is going, you should know: Cameron Terrell is a white, and from a wealthy L.A. suburb.

Terrell was able to make bail: $5 million.

At trial, he was acquitted of the charges, leaving some to wonder how differently Terrell's story might have ended had he been black, poor, and actually from the neighborhood where the shooting happened. Did the jury give him the benefit of the doubt because he was white?

Nicole Santa Cruz me-terrell-analysis-20180922-story.html">covered the story for the L.A. Times. She joins us this week to tell us more about the case.

And in Halloween-related hot topics, a woman and a ghost get on an airplane...stop us if you’ve heard this one.

(Photo by Al Seib, Los Angeles Times)

This week actors Crystian Wiltshire and Neill Robertson join us to discuss their roles in the current production of “Dracula” at Actors Theater of Louisville. Actors Theater has been producing this vampire tale, based on Bram Stoker’s gothic vampire fable, each Halloween season for more than 20 years.

In Juicy Fruit, NBC News host Megyn Kelly kelly-skips-today-blackface-nbc.html">offended just about everybody when she defended blackface and other racist costumes. Commentator Don Lemon weighed in and, of course, so do we!

Author and historian David Williams joins us this week to talk about his new book "Secrets of Old Louisville" which is filled with the forgotten lore, hidden treasures and shocking secrets that are a part of the enchanted Louisville neighborhood’s history.

In 1982, Williams also founded one of the largest LGBTQ+ archives and libraries in the country, the Williams-Nichols Collection, which is now housed at the University of Louisville and contains more than 1,700 books, buttons, bar flyers and other LGBTQ+ memorabilia related to Louisville and the country.

Later in Juicy Fruit, Jai and Doc discuss rapper Remy Ma’s controversial stance on the use of the N-word by white rapper Lil Xan and other non-black people of color, including Robert Ortiz, the gay and Puerto Rican New Yorker who got caught on video using the word to insult his black Lyft driver.

And finally, Jai teases that Doc and her wife Missy have something very interesting planned for their Halloween costumes.

This week on Strange Fruit, Doc finally gets to interview one of her faves: Zoie Fenty, better known online as GotDamnZo.

Zoie has over 4 million followers on Instagram, where he's carved out a niche. He edits viral videos (especially videos of kids being funny) to make it look like he's having a conversation with the subject on Facetime.

He also watches outrageous hair and nail tutorial videos and posts his reactions.

Zoie joins us to talk about his work, how he got his start, and his favorite things about internet fame.

Why does the cost of basics at Kroger vary depending where you are in Louisville? It's an issue of supply and demand, but it's one that ends up affecting low-income people across the city.

In this week's episode of Strange Fruit, we talk to Bailey Loosemore of the Courier Journal about a recent story that looked at the cost of grocery staples at Kroger grocery stores around Louisville.

After a week where talk about sexual assault was inescapable to anyone near a radio, TV, newspaper, the internet, etc., it might seem like jokes about rape are the last thing anyone would want to hear.

But Cameron Esposito's stand-up comedy routine promises just that. In fact, that's the title of her latest special. "It's a deliberately incendiary title," Cameron explains.

"Rape jokes are a concept that exists in stand-up comedy, and I wanted the number one Google result, if you put in 'rape jokes,' to be an hour of really funny stand-up about sexual assault from my perspective as a survivor."

(Esposito's special is indeed now the number one Google result for that search.)

She's donating the proceeds from the special, and her tour, to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network). And speaking of her tour, it's bringing her to Louisville on Sunday.

She joins us on this week's show to talk about her work, and how good comics skirt the line between funny and too far.

Aunt Vi, the matriarch of the family on Ava DuVernay's Queen Sugar, knows her way around a kitchen. Not only can she cook, but she bakes a mean pie -- a skill that becomes a side business.

Aunt Vi's pies became like a character unto themselves. She's in sort of a second act in her life, finding love again after an abusive relationship.

Dr. Tanisha Ford is an associate professor of Black American Studies and History at the University of Delaware -- and a huge Queen Sugar fan. She says Aunt Vi's story line started her thinking about what pie making has meant for black women, and what it means for a woman like Aunt Vi in particular.

She joins us this week to talk about how food is central to how we understand community, and how Queen Sugar uses food as a way to have deeper political conversations about capitalism and appropriation.

A recent article called him "the most vocal queer, black voice on the radio." Sam Sanders has been a journalist with NPR since 2009, and he hosts the podcast It’s Been a Minute. It's safe to say he has a lot in common with #TeamStrangeFruit.

He joins us this week to talk about his work on the show, and authentically representing black and queer voice to an audience who is, largely, neither. 

We also chat with author Tiffany Tso about her recent essay, "Nail Salon Brawls & Boycotts: Unpacking The Black-Asian Conflict In America."

Nobody's perfect--even people who are committed to social justice. But activist Leslie Mac has been noticing a pattern when mistakes are inevitably made by people who consider themselves allies.

She recently described it in a piece on Medium:

• White person/organization/group ****s up royally. Usually by stepping out of their lane and commenting on someone or something they shouldn’t  or screwing over someone they claim to be in solidarity with .

• Public outrage is expressed, coupled with many Black Women giving detailed reasons why & how they ****ed up.

• The offending party claims they didn’t “intend to offend” and appears unable to hear what anyone is saying to them.

• After receiving push back on their initial response, an “apology statement” centered on themselves is issued (“we never meant to harm anyone” “I would never do what I’m being accused of” “we are so sad about how this was received”) while failing to take actual responsibility for their actions.

• When their meek, ineffective apology isn’t accepted with open arms, they become the victim of “unfair treatment” & “bullying”.

• They eventually — after a lot more free labor from Black Women — “learn” what they did wrong, declare themselves an expert on f******g up and recenter themselves as a way to “teach others”

• Do this same s*** all over again the next time they mess up.

Leslie says it's not the fact that people make mistakes--it's the way they react when being called out on those mistakes that's problematic.

She says when someone does something racist, sexist, etc., they shouldn't make their response and apology all about their own feelings. They should center the feelings of the people they harmed.

Leslie joined us to tell us more, and give us her tips for how allies can get it right. 

We also talk to Amber Duke and Soha Saiyeed with the ACLU of Kentucky. Earlier this year, they traveled to Montgomery, Alabama for the opening of the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice (more commonly known as the Lynching Memorial). They share what it was like to visit the memorial, which features Kentucky prominently, because of the number of lynchings that happened here.

We've heard way too many Barbecue Becky and Permit Patty stories in the news lately. White people see black people selling lemonade, cooking on a grill, sitting in Starbucks, etc. They decide they shouldn't be doing whatever they're doing, and call 911.

Usually someone starts taking a video, which eventually makes its way around the internet.

What we don't get to see is what happens in the 911 dispatch center. What do the people who take those calls think about these frivolous calls? What do they tell the police about the situation?

Rachel Herron was a 911 operator in Oakland, California, and she's written about how she had to respond to racist calls every day. Rachel joins us this week to tell us what happens on the other end of those calls.

A lot of those frivolous calls are based on minor ordinances -- so-called "quality of life laws" that dictate who can use public spaces and how.

History professor Andrew Kahrl studies the history of segregation. He thinks of these laws as the North's version of Jim Crow. On this week's show, we chat with Andrew about how small laws and ordinances are weaponized against certain types of people (the laws often call them "non-residents" but you can probably guess what they most often look like).

"Theo, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life!"

It's the big laugh line from a famous scene in "The Cosby Show" pilot, delivered by the show's patriarch just after his teenage son makes a heartfelt plea for acceptance, even if he doesn't follow the life path his dad wants for him.

For writer Kieran Scarlett, it's just another example of the worst kind of black TV dad: Rigid. Impatient. Always policing their sons' performance of masculinity.

Kieran finds more recent examples in "Black-Ish," and recently wrote about the phenomenon for Rewire News, in a piece called ‘Black-ish,’ Cliff Huxtable, and Me: The Problem of TV’s Cruel-to-Be-Kind Black Father.

Kieran joins us this week to talk about how pop culture portrayals affect -- and reflect -- real-world fatherhood.

But it's not just dads who struggle (and sometimes fail) to get parenting right all the time, as illustrated by an Instagram post by Olivyah Bowens. The photo shows 23-year-old Olivyah with her 2-year-old daughter, who's having a meltdown. The caption begins, "No one teaches you how to love a child you didn't plan to have."

The post clearly resonated with other parents; it quickly went viral and has over 14,000 likes. On today's show, we chat with Olivyah about being a young mom, and what caring for babies can teach us about how to be more grown up ourselves.

Dylan Marron describes his childhood self as "a brown and queer kid trying to break into the entertainment industry." People told him he was very talented but was unlikely to get work, because of how he looked and who he was.

Dylan started paying attention to the movies and TV shows he consumed. "I noticed there was a representation problem," he said. "Universal stories were being told, but not using bodies that reflected universal stories. Universal stories are told, by default, with white bodies."

He wanted to bring attention to it in a way that wasn't preachy but factual. That's how he came up with his YouTube series, "Every Single Word." It shows popular movies edited down to only include words spoken by characters of color.

In the "Every Single Word" universe, the movie "E.T." is nine seconds long. It consists entirely of a character credited only as "Van Man," saying, "Hey, who are you?" and "Open the door, son."

The Harry Potter series clocks in at just over six minutes. The entire Lord of the Rings trilogy is 47 seconds.

It's absurdly funny. And it gets its point across.

Dylan joins us this week to talk about using humor to shine a light on social justice issues -- and how he does the same thing in his latest project, "Conversations with People Who Hate Me."

Soraya Zaman's "American Boys Project" is a photography collection (and upcoming book) featuring portraits of transmasculine people throughout the country. Through it, Soraya hopes to expand our ideas of who trans men and transmasculine people are, and can be.

Soraya joins us this week to tell us more, along with Lazarus Letcher, whose portrait is included in the work.  And poet and choreographer Uwazi Zamani joins us with the story behind his phenomenal spoken-word piece, "Parades."

(Content Note: There is strong language in the poem, which is recited at the link, and also played in its entirety about 29 minutes into our show this week.)

People with HIV and AIDS are living longer thanks to advances in the way we manage the disease with medicine. That also means the need for services to assist this population is actually bigger than before.

The Kentuckiana AIDS Alliance provides help with housing, medical/dental care, co-pay assistance, educational workshops, counseling, and public transportation to and from medical appointments. They also support monthly HIV testing, social retreats and a summer camp for children who are infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

But all this was a very serious way to get into the fun part of this week's episode: Chocolate Fest! It's an annual fundraiser for the KAA, featuring chocolate desserts from Louisville restaurants. 

Andrew Shayde from the KAA joins us to talk about what we can expect at Chocolate Fest this year.

We also take a trip through this week's headlines in our Juicy Fruit segment, and kick off Leo season by wishing happy birthdays to Jai and Missy.