The Nod 423n1v

On the heels of the bombshell documentary “On the Record,” which details the reported sexual abuse of Black women at the hands of Russell Simmons, two of his accs, Sherri Sher and Drew Dixon, The Nod to share their personal stories. The conversation continues around the documentary as activist and acc, Sil Lai Abrams, and author and journalist Dr. Joan Morgan discuss the allegations against Russell Simmons and the practice of silencing of women in hip hop.

Kendrick Sampson dishes on the explosive season finale of Insecure, his new film Miss Juneteenth, and reminds us that we all have a role in the fight for Black liberation.

Amid a still raging global pandemic, the nation has been reeling over the most recent spate of killings of Black people at the hands of police. Brittany and Eric sit down to process their feelings and memorialize the lives we lost. #BlackLivesMatter

On this final episode of The Nod podcast, Brittany and Eric take some AMA questions from listeners and each other. As they prepare to embark on their newest journey (a daily video show on Quibi), the friends reflect on what it has been like to work together over the last few years, and make some recommendations for podcasts to listen to once you've exhausted the entire archive of The Nod. And this isn't goodbye! Sign up for updates on the new daily Quibi show The Nod with Brittany & Eric at thenod.show

The Nod podcast is coming to an end, and this week we are looking back at some of the highlights from the last 2.5 years of the show! It’s just like the moment right before Will turns out the lights in the empty living room at the Banks house. In this jam-packed clip show, Brittany and Eric take a trip down memory lane, and talk about how some of your favorite episodes of The Nod came together. Be sure to come back next week for the final episode of The Nod podcast! And sign up for updates on the new Quibi show The Nod with Brittany and Eric at thenod.show

Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr. was born in Sierra Leone, and when he was eight years old, his mom brought him to live with her in the States. Then, when he was a teenager, his mom got sick and ed away. In the years since, Saidu has struggled with how distant he felt from his mom, often using poetry to work through his feelings. On this week's show, a beautiful story about the infinite gratitude--and resentment--we can feel for the parents who gave us everything. Plus, an update about our podcast. "Borders Between Us" was produced by Saidu Tejan-Thomas Jr. and Jay Allison for the public radio website transom.org. The story was made possible by funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

In this week's BONUS, Brittany and Eric discuss their intentions for the coming year.

We reunite of Crime Mob to get the inside story of Knuck If You Buck, the club anthem that defined the crunk era and took them from high school kids to rap legends. All tea, no shade—straight from the people who lived it: Diamond, Princess and Lil Jay.

This week, Brittany gets personal as she sits down with author and poet Bassey Ikpi to talk about her new book, I'm Telling the Truth, but I'm Lying. In the book Bassey re-examines her life through the lens of her mental health and diagnosis of bipolar II.* This episode of The Nod contains mentions of suicide and serious mental health issues, and may not be suitable for all of our listeners.

Watchmen, the new superhero drama from HBO, contains some of the sharpest and most deliberate commentary on race currently on television. This week, Eric sits down with Watchmen writer Cord Jefferson (The Good Place, Succession) to talk about how Jefferson approached crafting Watchmen's explosive sixth episode, and what makes the show so singular in its unflinching look at race in America.

The movie "White Chicks" may have made critics— and honestly, the world —cringe, but Brittany delivers her treatise on why the film deserves a second look. 

Friday, the 1995 comedy starring Ice Cube and the late, great, John Witherspoon, is one of Eric’s all-time favorite movies. But during a recent re-watch, he noticed some deeply unsettling themes that lay in stark contrast to the film’s cheery, comical tone. Can Eric convince Brittany that the cruelty he sees in Friday is real?

The Gimlet podcast, Mogul, is back with a new host and a new season about Miami hip hop and the infamous 2 Live Crew. Brittany and Eric invite the new host of the show, Brandon "Jinx" Jenkins, into the studio to learn more about what led this season of Mogul to the 305. And Brittany and Brandon go head to head in a special Miami themed round of Six Degrees of Black Separation.

Weddings, school dances, birthday parties for your great auntie—if you’re having a big function, the Cha Cha Slide is going to be on the playlist. But how did the Cha Cha slide become so ubiquitous? Brittany teams up with the Gimlet fam over at Every Little thing to find out. Get ready to learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the Cha Cha Slide.

What if we told you that every fad diet, fashion editorial, and #fitspo post on social media could all be traced back to racist pseudoscience? In this episode, Brittany is ed by Sabrina Strings, sociologist and author of Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia, whose groundbreaking research parses the intersection of thinness, whiteness, and beauty ideals.

On August 5th, 2019, the world lost one of the best of us in Toni Morrison. For Brittany, just being able to grow up in a world where Toni Morrison existed felt like a gift. This week, a special episode from our friends at The Cut On Tuesdays featuring Brittany and other Black women sharing their experiences of growing up with the beloved writer. Featuring: Zoe Haylock, Aminatou Sow, Glory Edim, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Angela TK, and Ashley C. Ford.

Brittany and Eric face off against listeners in their favorite game: Six Degrees of Black Separation. Thug tears are shed, hair is snatched and Black history is made. RELATED LINKS: -Twitter thread: Celebrities describing how good Rihanna smells -Additional music in the show is by Takstar 

Eric tells Brittany the story of Elouise Westbrook, a legendary housing rights activist in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood of San Francisco who never, ever took no for an answer.

Brittany and Eric share a new episode of Mogul that's a tribute to the life and career of Reggie Ossé. Reggie hosted the first season of Mogul and he had a personality and a presence that was truly larger than life. A couple of months after completing the show, Reggie was diagnosed with colon cancer and he ed away in December of 2017. The folks at Mogul are going to tell you Reggie’s story — his early days growing up a hip-hop head in Brooklyn, his time as a lawyer representing legendary artists like Jay-Z and Dame Dash and his reinvention as Combat Jack, hip hop’s flagship podcaster. Subscribe to Mogul on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Two years ago Eric was faced with a dilemma. He hosts a podcast about Black culture. He went to an HBCU. But when it came to choosing a school for his daughter, he wasn’t sure if an Afrocentric education was the right choice. So he decided to go on a journey to learn more about Afrocentric education. Find out what happened, and stay tuned for an update on how Eve is doing two years in. This episode is part of our summer podcast club series. We’ve put together a handy guide on how to organize your own podcast club. For more information, visit thenod.show/podcastclub.