Is rejection and trauma the Black Manosphere and Toxic Femininity villain origin story?! In today’s episode we’re joined by soon-to-be PhD Candidate Anuli Akanegbu to discuss patriarchy, the know-your-place aggression towards Black women online, and what draws people to these spaces on the internet. What’s The Word? Patriarchy. This term is used to describe a society that…
S2 E11: Notes On The Field
Today we’re talking about the quintessential anthropological experience: fieldwork! We heeded your requests to do more casual episodes, so we’re answering questions about what the field is, what it’s like to go to the field, and other tips we have. We start out with Zora Neale Hurston’s imagery of culture as a tight chemise and…
S2 E10: Entitled IX
Happy Birthday to our wonderful co-host Alyssa! We’re back for our second episode of the semester to talk about hegemony, institutional power, and the academic hierarchies that fail to protect Black queer and trans women. What’s the Word? Hegemony. We give a brief explanation of hegemony and how it comes into being. What We’re Reading…
S2 E9: Separate But Equal Month
There wouldn’t be a fabric of the nation if Black Americans hadn’t picked the cotton for it! Brendane and Alyssa are back for Semester 2 with announcement of all the big things we’ve been talking about and getting into decolonization, history and national myths with The 1619 Project, banning books, racial constructs, and whether we…
S2 E8: 40 Acres Ain’t Praxis
We’re giving you notes from the shoal! In our last episode of the semester, Alyssa and Brendane are joined by the brilliant Amber Starks AKA Melanin Mvskoke to talk about blackness, indigeneity, the im/possibility of solidarity, and so much more! What’s the Word? Praxis. A commonly used (and perhaps abused!) term in conversations around activism and solidarity…
S2 E7: Harlem Ever After
Who are these new folx on the block?! In this episode, Brendane and Alyssa are talking about gentrification, blackness, mambo sauce, and the new show Harlem (2021) on Amazon Prime that has Blackademic Twitter abuzz. There are definitely spoilers in this episode! What’s the Word? Gentrification. We explain the term, its origins, and the causes…
S2 E6: Anthropologists At-Large: Debriefing the AAA Annual Meeting
We’re back y’all! Thank you for accommodating our much needed break. In return, we’re giving you one: no readings! In this episode, Brendane and Alyssa debrief on the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association that was held in Baltimore from November 17-21, 2021. We kiki and spill tea on what we expected from the…
S2 E5: The Emancipation of ZD: Black Feminist Futurity
Call my girls and put ’em all on a spaceship! In this episode, Alyssa and Brendane are joined by the co-hosts of the amazing Lose Your Sister podcast, Jordan and Liberty. Together, we unpack Black feminist futurity and temporality, the end of the/this world, community, and Squid Game (no spoilers, promise!). What’s the Word? Futurity. We…
S2 E4: Fleeing the Plantation
We’re reimagining Black feminism and fugitivity, y’all! In this episode, Alyssa and Brendane are joined by graduate student and educator Naomi Simmons-Thorne. Together, they unpack fugitivity, bridging the bifurcation in Black feminist theory, the attack on CRT, fugitive pedagogy, and and COVID in the classroom. What’s the Word? Fugitivity. We discuss the development of fugitivity…
S2 E3: 600 Years A Slave
We may have left the plantation, but the plantation never left us! In this episode Brendane and Alyssa unpack afterlives, the plantation, futurity, and the singularity that continues to shape the present: slavery. In our introduction we take a moment to remember the late Dr. Steven Gregory, Professor of Anthropology and the inaugural Dr. Kenneth…