Reckon True Stories

By: Ursa Story Company
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  • Summary

  • Reckon True Stories is a celebration of new and classic nonfiction – the essays, journalism, and memoirs that inspire us, that change the world, and help us connect with each other. Join hosts and acclaimed authors Deesha Philyaw (The Secret Lives of Church Ladies) and Kiese Laymon (Heavy, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, Long Division) for in-depth discussions about the stories we tell and how they impact our culture. Produced by Ursa Story Company, in partnership with Reckon.
    2024 Ursa Story Company
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Episodes
  • Deesha and Kiese on Writing About Parents, Forgiveness, and Grief

    Deesha and Kiese on Writing About Parents, Forgiveness, and Grief
    Jul 30 2024
    Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon discuss the complicated process of writing about family — specifically parents. They talk about the ways parents fail, how they disappoint, but why it is important, and necessary when writing about family and those we love, to give them grace, and allow them the room to make mistakes. They ask the question, What do we owe to those we write about? And they call for writers to be guided, first and foremost, by love. Deesha and Kiese talk about their own relationships with their parents, the processing and tending to those relationships, and how they moved through feelings of shame and anger while working through layers of grief. Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned Heavy (Kiese Laymon) “Snap” (Deesha Philyaw, Pipe Wrench Magazine 2021) “How Can You Be Mad At Someone Who’s Dying Of Cancer?” (Deesha Philyaw, Full Grown People 2015) “Whiting” (Deesha Philyaw, Short Reads 2023) “These Are Your Memories” (Kiese’s mother’s letter, 2018) “If We Can Soar: What Birmingham Roller Pigeons Offer the Men of South Central” (Shanna B. Tiayon, Pipe Wrench Magazine 2021) More from Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon: The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw) Heavy (Kiese Laymon) Long Division (Kiese Laymon) How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: Essays (Kiese Laymon) Ursa Short Fiction podcast (Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton) Produced by Ursa Story Company in partnership with Reckon. Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Kiese Laymon Show Producers: Dawnie Walton & Mark Armstrong Associate Producer: Marina Leigh Episode Editor: Kelly Araja Reckon Editor In Chief: R.L. Nave Reckon Deputy Editor: Michelle Zenarosa Audience Director: Katie Johnston Creative Strategist: Abbey Crain Sr. Social Producer: Sid Espinosa
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    54 mins
  • Hanif Abdurraqib on Basketball, Ohio, and the Art of the Playlist

    Hanif Abdurraqib on Basketball, Ohio, and the Art of the Playlist
    Jul 23 2024
    Deesha and Kiese welcome acclaimed writer, poet, and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib, author of There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension. They talk about music—the significance of music to their youth and their lives now, their listening practices, and Abdurraqib’s process of creating playlists. They also discuss basketball and what is so special, so singular, about Columbus in terms of high school basketball. Deesha admits how she’s had to challenge her own notions of Ohio in regards to sports and to politics, and Abdurraqib talks about the joys and the frustrations of place, of community, and of notions of home. Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned Hanif Abdurraqib Yona Harvey Brian Broome Hanif Abdurraqib Blog (Medium) There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension (Hanif Abdurraqib) “Nicki Minaj’s ‘Pink Friday’ Sequel is Pure Spectacle” (Hanif Abdurraqib, The New Yorker 2023) Diane Seuss Greg Tate Wanda Coleman Terrance Hayes Listening List: “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Nirvana) “Funkytown” (Lipps Inc.) “Nothing from Nothing” (Billy Preston) “Kung Fu Fighting” (Carl Douglas) Parliament Funkadelic Hot Buttered Soul (Isaac Hayes) Celia Cruz Miriam Makeba Whitney Houston “Basketball” (Kurtis Blow) “Shoot Pass Slam” (Shaquille O’Neal) “(I Know I Got) Skillz” (Shaquille O’Neal) “Soul in the Hole” (3rd Bass) (7L & Esoteric, The Handle ft. Sadat X) “Hit ‘em High” (Busta Rhymes, Coolio, LL Cool J, Method Man) “Let’s Go Crazy” (Prince & The Revolution) “Human Made” (Kid Cudi) “The Pink Seashell” (Fall Out Boy, Ethan Hawke) African-American Sound Recordings BLK ODYSSY “Yellow Brick Road” (Lo Village) Flood City Trax (Nondi) Black Rainbows (Corinne Bailey Rae) Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? (McKinley Dixon) Pink Friday 2 (Nicki Minaj) Allison Russell Read more from Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon: The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw) Heavy (Kiese Laymon) Long Division (Kiese Laymon) How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: Essays (Kiese Laymon) Ursa Short Fiction podcast (Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton) Produced by Ursa Story Company in partnership with Reckon. Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Kiese Laymon Show Producers: Dawnie Walton & Mark Armstrong Associate Producer: Marina Leigh Episode Editor: Kelly Araja Reckon Editor In Chief: R.L. Nave Reckon Deputy Editor: Michelle Zenarosa Audience Director: Katie Johnston Creative Strategist: Abbey Crain Sr. Social Producer: Sid Espinosa
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    47 mins
  • Roxane Gay on Criticism, Social Media, and Being Heard

    Roxane Gay on Criticism, Social Media, and Being Heard
    Jul 16 2024
    Acclaimed author Roxane Gay joins Deesha and Kiese for a wide-ranging conversation about her writing journey, bringing your whole self to the page, the pressures of social media, and the value of criticism. Gay talks about her forthcoming book on writing advice, How to Be Heard, and Deesha and Kiese ask about her current pop culture influences—what she’s watching and who she’s listening to—and Deesha gets another hint about Roxane Gay’s nemesis. Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned Ayiti (Roxane Gay) An Untamed State (Roxane Gay) Bad Feminist (Roxane Gay) Difficult Women (Roxane Gay) Hunger (Roxane Gay) Black Panther: World of Wakanda (Ta-Nehisi Coates, Roxane Gay, et. al) The Audacity Opinions (Roxane Gay) “Why People Are So Awful Online” (Roxane Gay, The New York Times 2021) Donna Tartt James Hadley Chase Tayari Jones “A Conversation with Kiese Laymon” (Roxane Gay, The Nation 2013) Roxane Gay Reviews On Goodreads “What Fullness Is” (Roxane Gay, Medium 2018) How to be Heard (Roxane Gay) Sonia Sanchez “Work Friend” column (Roxane Gay, The New York Times) Choire Sicha “i cannot stop thinking about true detective: cold lesbians” (Samantha Irby, bitches gotta eat! 2024) Watch List: ReesaTeesa on TikTok True Detective : Night Country Expats The Farewell Listening List: American Requiem (Beyoncé) The Roxane Gay Agenda podcast Brooks & Dunn More from Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon: The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw) Heavy (Kiese Laymon) Long Division (Kiese Laymon) How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: Essays (Kiese Laymon) Ursa Short Fiction podcast (Deesha Philyaw and Dawnie Walton) Produced by Ursa Story Company in partnership with Reckon. Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Kiese Laymon Show Producers: Dawnie Walton & Mark Armstrong Associate Producer: Marina Leigh Episode Editor: Kelly Araja Reckon Editor In Chief: R.L. Nave Reckon Deputy Editor: Michelle Zenarosa Audience Director: Katie Johnston Creative Strategist: Abbey Crain Sr. Social Producer: Sid Espinosa
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    48 mins
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