Radio Silence
mark aguhar
This week’s post is basically a triple Britchlist: one part tearful slut podcasts, one part poetry britch magic, one part everything else.
First the podcasts. These are all of my favorite podcasts and it goes without saying that at one point or another they have made me tearful. Another great thing about these podcasts is that more than half of them were introduced to me by Jay Santa Cruz, who has impeccable tastes. The concept of a weekly britchlist was inspired by her love of sharing awesome things with me in the course of our friendship.
- The Read is my favorite, FAVORITE podcast. Thursday is the best day of the week. Kid Fury and Crissle (like all Sagittarius/Virgo partnerships: think Jay and Bey or Lucas de Lima and myself) are destined for the throne. Outside of Jay Santa Cruz they are my only source of pop culture news and their weekly reads give me life. The Read is the standard by which I measure any other podcast I listen to. I love hearing the voices of two black gay best friends being real as fuq. Their show and just the way they show up in the world makes me proud and gives me a lot of courage to be myself and not to apologize for it. Also the products they rep on The Read are everything. It’s hard to isolate my favorite episode because they are all consistently on point but “The Snatching” is a recent favorite. And if like me you can’t get enough of Kid Fury head on over to his Youtube channel for episodes of Furious Thoughts and The Green Experiment.
- The only thing keeping For Colored Nerds in second place among my faves is its biweekly schedule. But the struggle is real and I don’t love them any less. Brittany and Eric are another pair of black best friends who keep it 100% real. The two of them have covered so many pertinent topics along the intersections of pop culture, emerging adulthood, mental health, sex education all through their own individual lenses of blackness. One thing that I really love about these friends (and the same could be said of any of these friends doing podcasts together) is the way in which they are always challenging and growing with each other. In “King Kunta” Eric hearing Brittany’s perspective on To Pimp A Butterfly admits that he had never considered the points she’d brought up because he’s a man, and then commits to keep those things in mind upon further listenings of the album. Again it’s hard to isolate my favorite episode but their recent one on Baltimore is up there.
- Do You Like Prince Movies: In my current favorite episode Wesley Morris and Alex Pappademas talk about the similarities between Drake and Morrissey.
- Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period: This podcast makes me feel like I’ve been sleeping on Denzel for too long. Comedians W. Kamau Bell and Kevin Avery are showing me the way as they go movie by movie and “get into the Denzelishness.”
- Friends Like Us: Recently Gina Brillon, Pat Brown, Sade Pilot and Marina Franklin had a really vulnerable conversation (May 6, 2015). I’m enjoying getting into this podcast, hearing the voices of four unique women of color supporting and encouraging each other.
- Longform Podcast: The last episode that I really enjoyed was Andy Greenwald at the end of April. Other favorite interviews have been with Mac McClelland, Molly Crabapple, Ta-Nehisi Coates and Wesley Morris.
- RuPaul: What’s the Tee, I’m only a few episodes into this podcast but I was hooked with the first episode.
- Poetry Project has a podcast! I think it might be going through some revamping but you can find readings from Morgan Parker, Gina Abelkop, Bhanu Kapil, Lucas de Lima, Jackie Wang, Joyelle McSweeney, Oki Segumi, Alice Notley, Reina Gossett, Penny Arcade and myself.
- You Must Remember This: I only listen to this podcast when the subject is of interest to me. My favorite episodes so far have been on Lena Horne and Frances Farmer. Karina Longworth is a great storyteller with a really great voice.
- Wednesday night I had dinner with Johannes, Joyelle and their gurls. I love spending time with them, their daughters give me life. It was good to just regroup and touch base in a place where I’m supported and appreciated.
- I spent Thursday evening with Katy Cousino and we had a bad bitch of a time. We made crafts, we ate Burger King, watched Drag Race, got tearful and ate Blizzards at the top of a parking garage while we danced to Trap Queen. She is my kween and she’s been holding it down while holding me up.
- This video, in which Crissle reads da fuq out of a mediocre white man.
- The opening theme to Tokyo Ghoul is my go to tearjerker right now. I always cry right after the minute mark.
- #BeyonceAlwaysOnBeat. Bitch werk. My favorite is the same as Ava DuVerney’s. I also love all the ones to Little Einstein’s and the Backyardigans. As well as this one and this one.
- Mark Aguhar. Shout out to Jay Santa Cruz for leading me to great things.
- This article.
- Jayme Russell, former ND MFA, has a new tumblr and ongoing project which I’m really excited about. I have a whole box of books I can’t wait to hand over for her erasures and some chapbooks that I’m looking forward to see if Chris Holdaway will add to his already impressive chapbook library.
- This summer I’m somewhat of a travelling cat lady. Watching #otherpeoplescats is a secret passion of mine. Check out my instagram to stay abreast of my summer adventures in cat sitting.
- Monday night I dropped in on my big brother Grant Osborn. He and his wife Kari are one of my favorite couples, he and I have been friends since I was a freshman at Notre Dame. He has been a long supporter of my life as a poet and reader of early drafts. He’s never made me feel ashamed of writing about things that have happened to me and what I feel (which was rare for me in my early poetry life). I got to meet the new addition to his beautiful family and we had one of our classic long conversations. It was just what I needed on the eve of the full moon.
- Again the company of women this past week. In person, at work, online, over the phone and over and over the women and non-binary people in my life are giving me the energy I need to just get through the day.
- CA Conrad is coming through in a big way this week. First of all their poem, Slaves of Hope Live Only for Tomorrow… gurrrrrllll. Come through CA. And if that wasn’t enough their post on the Poetry Foundation’s blog was everything. Gahtdamn.
- My Pratt classmate, Diamond Sharp, was recently interviewed at Glappitnova. I met her briefly in the spring while we were both visiting Pratt and I’m excited to get to know her better.
- Sarah Xerta wrote this beautiful essay over at Entropy and I love them for it.
- RuPaul’s Drag Race! I’m hooked. Once I finish watching this season’s finale and reading Andy Emitt’s poems over at Luna Luna, I’m going to binge watch all the previous seasons this summer.
- This article from the Guardian which details all those killed by the police this year.
- John Ebersole is also going in on recent conversations of whiteness in poetry.
- I’m still catching up on all of the brilliant things that have been written recently but I’m excited about the conversations that are taking place. Especially these posts on Harriet by Lillian-Yvonne Bertram.
Tata my lonely britches, Katy this is for you.
Sade Murphy was born and raised in Houston, TX. She is the author of "Dream Machine," a poetry collection.
Latest posts by Sade Murphy (see all)
- Never Can Say Goodbye - August 19, 2015
- I Feel Precarious - August 5, 2015
- Upside Down and Inside Out - July 22, 2015
