Katie and Yves share a very important announcement about the show. 

Many anthologies of nature poetry and Black poetry have excluded Black nature poetry. But Black people have always written poetry about nature. We write about the land that supports us and challenges us. We write about the animals we care for and the disasters that destroy our homes. We write about the rivers we cross and the soil we till. Black nature poems reflect the enormous range of experiences that we have in our physical environments. As they show us, nature can haunt, and nature can heal. In today’s episode, Katie and Yves discuss the work of a few writers who train their words on the natural world. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

Every photo tells a story. In this week’s episode, Katie and Yves take a look at specific instances when pictures were used for good…and for evil. Sometimes they expose the truth, but sometimes they obscure it. Act I: The Most Photographed Man In America How Frederick Douglass used his portraits to advance the abolitionist movement. Act II: The Polaroid Protest Two Polaroid employees discover that the company's technology was being used by the South African government to enforce apartheid. How they forced Polaroid into becoming the first major American company to withdraw from South Africa. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

Pauline Hopkins was a literary pioneer in the science fiction, fantasy, romance, and detective genres. She wrote plenty of short stories, essays, books, and plays. But as is the case with so many Black women writers from the 19th and early 20th centuries, Hopkins’s work fell into relative obscurity. Thanks to the work of scholars like Dr. Claudia Tate, Dr. Mary Helen Washington, and Ann Allen Shockley, Hopkins is now getting recognition for being the literary pioneer that she was. There are many more pieces to Pauline’s puzzle that have yet to be found. But the rediscovery of Pauline’s legacy is an ongoing labor of love. In this episode, Yves and Katie honor the life and work of the legendary author and editor Pauline Hopkins. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

It’s 404 Day, an annual celebration of all things Atlanta. And because Katie and Yves love Atlanta — Black Atlanta specifically — they’re talking about the myths Atlanta perpetuates and how those myths impact Black folks.  Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

Folks in all kinds of media are great at crafting stories that use misinformation and disinformation to sway opinions about transgender people. When you’re the target of this kind of damaging propaganda, it can be super important to create spaces where you can take control of your own narratives. Enter "The Risk It Takes to Bloom," a new memoir by award-winning author, activist, and media strategist Raquel Willis. As we approach the end of another Women’s History Month, we speak with Raquel about the beauty of Black trans people telling their stories with agency … and how honest, personal storytelling helps pave a path toward freedom. Keep up with Raquel: raquelwillis.com @raquelwillis on all social platforms Buy "The Risk It Takes to Bloom" Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

A lot of us would never want our diaries to see the light of day. But that hasn't stopped people from archiving and publishing their own and others' diary entries. It's not just about exposing people's secrets, though. Through these diaries, we get to learn more about historical eras and about the day-to-day experiences of our ancestors. We get a sneak peek into the private, interior worlds of everyday people, unmarred by the specter of surveillance. To be honest, it does feel a little voyeuristic ... but we’re lucky to have the diaries we do. So in this episode, Katie and Yves grab their tiny keys and crack open the locks on a few Black women's diaries — and we get a glimpse of their lives during Reconstruction, during the Harlem Renaissance, and today. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

What happens when a writer’s words are read for the last time? If they’re lucky, curious readers make sure that never happens. And if they’re blessed and highly favored, their readers spread the gospel far and wide. Today, Katie and Yves discuss Alice Walker’s search for Zora Neale Hurston and speak with Michael A. Gonzales, a writer who rediscovered Diane Oliver’s writing in a little-known anthology. And the rest, as they say, is literary history. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

Storytelling ain’t always love, peace, and kumbaya. Sometimes our favorite storytellers beef with each other in public. And we, the audience, eat it up. In this episode, Katie and Yves take a walk down a beef-laden memory lane, reexamining feuds between Zora Neale Hurston and other Harlem Renaissance writers. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

In the U.S., funerals are typically sad occasions, and mourning must be private and appropriate. But as much as Americans like to be uptight about death, post-mortem photography is an art that's been around for a long time, and it's still alive today. Katie and Yves delve into the funerary photography of James Van Der Zee, the controversy of posting images of the dead on social media, and the spectacle of "extreme embalming." Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

Most of us have known of Rosa Parks since we were knee-high to a grasshopper, but how much do you actually know about Rosa Parks the person? Katie and Yves discuss fictional depictions of the civil rights activist and speak with her niece, Sheila McCauley Keys to gain a new perspective on Ms. Rosa Parks.

A new documentary — As We Speak — explores the weaponization of rap lyrics in the legal system, shedding light on using artistic expression as evidence in criminal trials. Directed by J.M. Harper and featuring hip-hop artist Kemba as a guide and character, the film delves into how rap lyrics have been used in court, examining the impact of this practice on the music industry and its artists. Yves and Katie caught up with J.M. and Kemba to talk to them about As We Speak and the implications of criminalizing an art form.

Blackface was born of white folks’ racism and tired imaginations. It was about how white people co-opted Black stories and impersonated Black folks. But it was also about how Black people subverted those narratives and constructed their own. In this episode, Katie and Yves talk about how the practice of blackface has been a pervasive ill in the history of U.S. culture and entertainment — and an opportunity for Black performers to hone their craft. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

It seems like everyone invokes the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., from leftist organizers to conservative pundits. “If Martin Luther King was alive, today he’d….” or “Dr. King didn’t die for you to be…” or “What would King do?” And while Dr. King is no longer alive to weigh in, he did let Ebony Magazine readers know what he’d do in certain situations through his advice column, Advice For Living. In this episode, Katie and Yves take in Dr. King’s advice, flaws and all.  Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

Throughout history and across the world, Black people have used protest songs to boost morale and inspire action. In this episode, Katie and Yves explore the history of protest songs created to uplift major social movements, including the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. Get show notes at ontheme.show Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

Katie and Yves delve into the often overlooked yet impactful role of Black artists in times of war. Join us as we unravel the stories behind the artwork, songs, and poetry that have played a crucial role in shaping perceptions, challenging systemic injustices, and advocating for change on the frontlines and beyond. We also talk with surrealist blues poet, aja monet, about how she uses art to support Palestine. Read aja’s poems in My Mother Was A Freedom Fighter Listen to aja's album When the Poems Do What They Do Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show For show notes, visit our website ontheme.show

What stories are you looking forward to this year? What stories will you create? Katie and Yves chat about all the stories to come in 2024. 

We’re diving into a realm filled with characters who make us grit our teeth, furrow our brows, and sometimes—let's admit it—make us itch to reach into the story and deliver a perfectly executed whack!  Listen to see if you’d slap the same characters we would. Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show For show notes, visit our website ontheme.show

Haters get a bad wrap and for good reason. They demean, ridicule, and well...hate, but they are often the catalyst in many of the Black stories we know and love. We hear about haters in songs, memoirs, acceptance speeches. It’s possible that without haters, we would only have a fraction of the Black stories we have today. In this episode, Katie and Yves discuss haters’ place in the Black storytelling ecosystem.  Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show For show notes, visit our website ontheme.show

Katie and Yves head to the movies to watch American Fiction. Afterward, they discuss the anatomy of the Black Struggle Industrial Complex™ using examples from the movie and Erasure by Percival Everett. Buy Erasure by Percival Everett Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show Visit our website ontheme.show

Katie and Yves talk with Ambar Johnson, an oral historian who created a guide specifically to help collect family stories. We discuss the dos and don’ts of gathering family histories, and Yves uses the guide to interview a family member. Download Ambar Johnson’s guide on collecting family stories at dandelyonsstudios.myflodesk.com Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show Visit our website ontheme.show

Some rappers put the brakes on their music careers and flipped the script — literally. In this episode, Katie and Yves discuss three different hip-hop artists who made their way down the rap-to-act pipeline and consider how we can reflect on their reinventions. Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

With hip-hop in its 50th year, the music genre and cultural phenomenon has gone from the block to the world’s stage. In this episode, Katie and Yves are taking it back to the block (and the cubicle and the classroom and the grocery store checkout line) and delving into the role of amateur rappers play in storytelling. Discover how these part-time rappers become modern-day griots, chronicling the highs, lows, and hidden truths of their neighborhoods. Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

Here at On Theme, the season to give thanks for Black stories is year-round, ya dig? As a small token of gratitude, Katie and Yves dedicate an episode to their appreciation for Carrie Mae Weems’s “Kitchen Table Series” and Fannie Lou Hamer’s 1964 speech at the Democratic National Convention. Check out Carrie Mae Weems’s Kitchen Table Series Read “Carrie Mae Weems by Dawoud Bey” in Bomb Magazine Listen to Fannie Lou Hamer’s full speech Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

Who do you go to for advice? In this episode, Katie and Yves revisit Princess Mysteria’s 1920s advice column and speak with author and podcast host Damon Young about advice, storytelling, and faulty iPhone chargers. Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

Oh, shoot! Your best friend’s wedding is tomorrow and you didn’t prepare a toast. No worries. In this episode, Katie and Yves break down the key ingredients of the perfect toast using examples from their favorite movies and TV shows. Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

If you’re an artist, it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’re going to create art that you’re not happy with at some point. But when Black artists have to look back at past works that didn’t age well on the race front, the regret can run deep. In this episode, Katie and Yves dive into Octavia E. Butler’s, Viola Davis's, and Ernest Hogan’s stories of remorse and reckoning. Follow Coley Gilchrist @coleygilchrist Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

In today’s episode, Yves has beef with jokes about Black people running away from danger in horror movies. But the best stories have dramatic reversals, and even the most stubborn minds can be changed. Katie and Yves get into the complexity of the well-intentioned jokes and speak with Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman, a horror expert who isn’t afraid to look in the mirror and say “Candyman” five times. Follow Dr. Means Coleman on X @MeansColeman Purchase “The Black Guy Dies First” and "Horror Noire" Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

There are Black folks who are real-life colleagues with the supernatural. Then there are Black folks who are sacrificial fictional characters in problematic storylines. Then there’s the other other “magical Negro”: the one who performs the art of magic. Katie and Yves delve into the history of Black magicians and the significance of the stories they told. Then they return to the present for a conversation with modern-day magician Nicole Cardoza. Keep up with Nicole Cardoza: blackgirlmagician.com @nicoleacardoza on Instagram Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

Katie and Yves are joined by journalist and author of “When Crack Was King,” Donovan X. Ramsey. They discuss his new book, the media’s role in exacerbating the devastating effects of crack, how hip-hop artists memorialized the early days of crack in their rhymes, and the unhinged PSAs put out during the crack era. (Ahem, looking at the Partnership for a Drug Free America PSA: “Make no mistake — drug abuse is the new slavery.”) Follow Donovan on X and Instagram @DonovanXRamsey Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshow Email us at hello@ontheme.show

Art inspires. But what happens when the lives we see on the screen leave us feeling disappointed with our own lives? In this episode, Katie and Yves talk with Dr. Joy Harden Bradford of Therapy for Black Girls about what to do when our expectations don’t match our reality. Follow Dr. Joy on social media @hellodrjoy Buy Dr. Joy's book "Sisterhood Heals" Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshowEmail us at hello@ontheme.show.FM

Dear Audience, In today’s episode, we pour back into Black stories a modicum of the love that they’ve given us. In admiration & gratitude, Katie + Yves

Who doesn't love a great beginning? Katie and Yves introduce themselves and discuss the art and science of capturing audiences’ imagination by examining the first episodes of “Abbott Elementary” and “I May Destroy You.” Follow us on Instagram @onthemeshowEmail us at hello@ontheme.show

Black stories are more than a fad. We know them. We love them. They change our lives. And on this podcast, Black stories are the default.