Welcome back for Season 3 of the My American Meltingpot podcast! Our logo is a little more colorful and so are we.
Episode 17 is a little bit different and a whole lot of fun. I recorded this episode in front of a live audience at the Respect Women’s Podcast Festival in Philadelphia on August 25, 2019. The festival was held at Amalgam Comics & Coffeehouse – the only comic book shop owned by a Black woman on the East Coast – and was a celebration of female podcasters. It was all the way amazing.
Breaking Down the Breakdown
Here’s what you’ll hear on the episode:
Since we were in a (very cool) comic book shop, and because I knew this would be the first episode of Season 3, I decided to share the My American Meltingpot origin story. I broke down the who, what and whys of our title, and what I hope people walk away with after listening to the show. (If I’m wrong, and you’re not getting that at all, please leave me a message and tell me what YOU think this show is really about or what you’d like to see more of.) I also explained why I added the tagline – Stories at the Intersection of Race and Real Life to our podcast title.
At the end of the episode, there is some audience participation. We played the game, “Stump the Diversity Diva.” I challenged the audience to name any aspect of real life and I would then explain how that aspect could be connected to race. Spoiler alert: Nobody could best me!
And just because we were live, doesn’t mean we didn’t take a break for a Meltingpot Minute. The Meltingpot Minute for episode 17 is all about the lack of respect in the New York Times’ #1619 project. Note: It’s not what you think.
Just in Case…
You want to learn more about some of the issues mentioned in episode 17, or because you want to fact check some of my more unbelievable claims during the Stump the Diversity Diva Challenge, here are some links you may find useful.
The New York Times’ incredible #1619 project.
The Opinion Piece I wrote for the New York Times about using the uppercase B when writing about Black people.
Racist Laundry detergent commercials are a thing. *Factcheck: In the episode, I said the detergent was Cheer, it was actually Calgon.
The one about the Asian American missionary who got killed by the people he was trying to convert.
When and why Black Americans couldn’t eat vanilla ice cream in the United States. It wasn’t an actual law, but it was still “enforced.”
Who really invented the ductless air conditioning that’s all the rage in the US and Europe today? Apparently it was the Japanese, not anyone in the USofA.
Yes, film can actually be racist.
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Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and stay tuned for episode 18 which launches on Friday, September 20. We’re going to be talking about how and when to talk to your kids about race. All from a multicultural perspective…of course.
