The Intersection 's Podcast

On this episode, we pay homage to Hip-Hop culture by discussing the significance, growth, changes and longevity of the genre.  We pay particular attention to Chuck D's PBS documentary "Fight the Power:  How Hip-Hop Changed the World!"

In courtrooms across America, defendant-authored rap lyrics are being introduced as incriminating evidence. Prosecutors describe these lyrics as an admission of guilt.   Please join us as we speak with McKinley "MAC" Phipps, a rap artist that spent 21 years in prison for a crime he maintains he did not commit.  Mac tells us how his rap lyrics and rap persona were used to prosecute and incarcerate him for 21 years.

The story of FN Meka — a fictitious character billed as the first musical artist partly powered by artificial intelligence to be signed by a major record label — might seem like a bizarre one-off if you have not been paying attention to the digital world.But to seasoned observers of technology in pop music and the debate over cultural appropriation, the rise and fall of this so-called robot rapper, whose songs were written and voiced by humans, has raised important questions that are not going away anytime soon.In this episode, we discuss the controversy surrounding FN Meka, including  him being signed by Capital Records and the stereotypes embedded in this avatar.

This episode begins by detailing controversial positions taken by Hip Hop artists including Da Baby and Lil Boosie and homophobic social media as well as performance made comments, while also discussing the rise of queer identified artists such as Young MA, Azalea Banks, Breezy, Lil Nas X, ILoveMakonnen and numerous others.  This episode is vulnerable, raw and honest featuring queer identified rapper Mystory.   You can follow Mystory on all of her social media sites including her instagram @ https://www.instagram.com/mystorymuzic/ and Spotify.As a disclaimer, there are discussions of terms that we do not always know the accurate definition.  We acknowledge and understand that there are variations in the terms and how one identifies and this guide is not all inclusive but we would like you to have a starting point of some of the definition of terms, which you can find here.

Throughout history African Americans have enacted numerous forms of resistance including violent and non-violent tactics in all arenas, political, social and economic. Media, both broadcast and print in the Black community has always represented a counter-public for ideas and attitudes of this community as well as been significant to resistance struggles for African Americans. In fact, Malcolm X, El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, stated that “if you’re not careful, the media will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the oppressor.” This episode examines the importance and necessity of the 1619 to assert Black Americans existence and history into the American narrative.

Racism is nothing new, and continuous media representation never fails to remind us of that. In this episode, we discuss the controversy of "Karen," microaggressions in modern-day society

Episode one of season two of the Intersection revisits COVID. This season, the conversation will focus more on current socioeconomic problems we face with Vaccines, Mask Mandates, and other issues currently being debated across the nation.

It is described as a summer that changed the lives of millions. A summer that opened the eyes of a nation. A summer that helped propel a movement.   As we get ready to enter the Summer season and reflect on the events of the past few weeks – in particular the Derek Chauvin trial in Minnesota – it only feels right that we examine our own pivotal summer which NPR has dubbed the Summer of Racial Reckoning: the Summer of 2020. And on this episode, we will have the students take part in the discussion right along with us. Just as they have in the past, artists responded to the “Racial Reckoning” through their talent and their voices.  This episode explores the summer of 2020, Black music and citizens viewpoints.

Although social justice is typically thought of as a political agenda, many justice movements have used music as a way of inviting and maintaining broad-based participation in their initiatives.  Join us in our conversation with multi-Grammy and Brit Award winner, singer/songwriter/artist Seal as we discuss the role of Black music in social justice initiatives.

The relationship between anime and hip hop culture and in turn Asian and black American culture is a long one.  This timely episode examines the cross-cultural exchange between Black and Asian cultures, featuring interviews with Dr. Dawn Elissa Fischer and Mark McCray.

Two weeks ago, America sat down to watch the championship game of the National Football League, otherwise known as the Superbowl.  On this episode we discuss how athletes fight for social justice within the sports industry (another form of popular culture) and speak with Dr. Lisa Shannon about the history of Black athletes resisting social injustices.  This episode is timely as we just witnessed the purchase of WNBA's Dream, a team that has consistently resisted injustices, and basketball star Lebron James continue to face criticism for his social justice stance.  Additionally, this episode, features our special student led segment "Students Through Your Speakers" and their interview with NFL great Jerome “The Bus” Bettis.

Prompted by a social media post by Black Panther star Letitia Wright concerning the COVID vaccination, this episode discusses the history of Blacks and the medical industry and why some may be skeptical of the new vaccinations.