Maladjusted Life James Murray

I chat with University of Utah education professor Dr. William A. Smith about his concept of "Racial Battle Fatigue." This psychosocial phenomenon reveals itself in the lives of many African Americans in the form of adverse health effects (e.g. hypertension). We discuss how the phenomenon manifests differently among men and women, shpecifically how health effects are exacerbated for black men as a subordinated male group (listeners should explore the subordinate male threat hypothesis). Overall, we explore the general health consequences of being continually armored against in an anti-black society.

I chat with Associate Professor of Political Science at Philander Smith College, Dr. Joseph Jones. Dr. Jones recently released a collection of essays titled Purgatory of Consciousness: Black Politics in the Age of Obama in which he analyzes and critiques black America's response to the policies and personality of former President, Barack Obama. Disagreements and many allusions to pop culture ensue, particularly, Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks!

I chat with renowned philosopher Dr. Lewis Gordon on the understanding of black life in modernity and reflecting on the 400th anniversary of the first enslaved Africans reaching what would become the United States through a black existentialist frame. Themes of invisibility to racial inferiority complexes are abound in this much needed conversation.

I chat with genealogist Antoinette Harrell about her research on family histories of African-Americans (descendants of American chattel slavery) and the unique challenges that arise for this specific group when doing the legwork. We also discuss what the advent of DNA means in the quest for self-knowledge and the increasing need of families to record, question and to take interest in their lineage in a time where escapism through screens runs amok overshadowing the desire to take notice of their own stories from the past.

I chat with Brandeis sociology professor and author of The Hidden Cost of Being African American and Toxic Inequality: How America's Wealth Gap Destroys Mobility, Deepens the Racial Divide, and Threatens Our Future, Dr. Thomas Shapiro. Shapiro delves into the myth of meritocracy in American life, the country's aversion to reparations to the descendants of American slaves (ADOS) and discuss economic trends further perpetuating the racial wealth gap.

I chat with the 2019 Andrew Carnegie Award winner for Non-Fiction, Kiese Laymon about his memoir, Heavy. Laymon talks about his formative years in Mississippi and how it influenced his writing. We also go back and forth about our experiences as young black opinion page editors for our respective Southern liberal arts colleges' (Millsaps and Hendrix)student newspapers. Heavy is a memoir that not only tells the story of its author, but serves as a writ large example of America. The weight of lies, abuse and the struggle for ideals is a massive and cumbersome burden for not only one man, but also the nation.