The Sunday Feature: Nobody Knows My Name: Notes on James Baldwin (R3) | iPlayer
The Nod | Gimlet Media
The Mandem Podcast
Melanin Millennials | ShoutOut Network
The Essay: Five Poems I Wish I’d Written (R3) | iPlayer
Some readers felt I was rather harsh on Radio 3 in my 50th anniversary piece last week. So I would like to point out that – though I have a problem with the madly highfalutin tone of the station – there are many programmes I enjoy. The arts-based Sunday Feature is one of these, with last Sunday’s, on American writer James Baldwin, an absolute corker. Produced by the consistently excellent indie production company Falling Tree, this was a 45-minute soundscape of edits of Baldwin interviews, interspersed with statements from contemporary thinkers. It was both dreamy and shocking. Dreamy, because of the delicacy of the production; shocking, because of the power of Baldwin’s truth. Every time he spoke, in that fey, educated voice (one that he admitted he had acquired in order to survive in a white world), he said something utterly shocking and entirely profound. “Safety is an illusion and artists are there to disturb the peace.” “In order to know your name, you need to know mine.” His words struck hard and true. And this inspired the mostly writers and critics who spoke with devastating articulacy about how our contemporary life is built upon racism, on “gratuitous violence on black and brown bodies”. “We believe that racism is something that bad people do. [That idea] gaslights you,” said one. A mesmerising, vital programme.
If James Baldwin inspires you to search out audio from the black experience, then may I recommend The Nod, from Gimlet. (The brilliant Mogul, the story of early hip-hop through one man’s life and death, which I reviewed a few weeks ago, is also from Gimlet). Although it can be confusing if you’re not up to date on US black culture, this week’s episode was fantastic. Michael Twitty (right), a black Jewish American, recently did a cooking tour of the southern states of the US. A culinary historian, he dressed in original slave clothes and cooked in the same way the slaves did, chopping wood, wringing chickens’ necks, plucking them, digging a fire pit, lighting it, letting it go down, cleaning the pots, and then eventually cooking for those who had bought a ticket. He was interviewed by The Nod’s Brittany Luse, who asked all the right questions.
From the UK, the genial Mandem Podcast has been going for a while. Like eavesdropping on a Sunday night round a friend’s, this show has a beautiful casual intimacy and humour. You just don’t hear young British black men talking like that outside of real life. I do often find it too long for me, though, as I do the otherwise great Melanin Millennials, presented by Imrie and Satia. Though I know many who like their podcasts loooong (apparently it’s “good for a proper workout”: me neither), I lose patience with one that lasts almost two hours. Sometimes, too, I feel the Millennials’ guests need a slightly tougher ride: the occasional tricky question might give them the chance to really sell their work and approach. Still, with these podcasts ambience is all, and both boast welcoming intelligence as they discuss the contemporary black experience in the UK. I should point out that Melanin Millennials is part of ShoutOut Network of podcasts – “the UK’s first diverse podcasting network” – which has plenty of others to choose from, including the interesting book show Mostly Lit.
Back to Radio 3. The Essay is a particular favourite of mine (15 minutes per episode!) and I enjoyed poet Don Paterson’s “Five Poems I Wish I had Written” this week. The first episode on Seamus Heaney’s The Underground was a real revelation, as Paterson pointed out all the classical allusions I knew nothing about. The following programmes, on poems by Elizabeth Bishop, Michael Donaghy, Robert Frost and Sylvia Plath, were stimulating and funny. Paterson has a deadpan delivery, which can be a little lulling, but his mind sparks like electricity.
