Protecting Potential: Black Athletes and the Guardians Who Guide Them With Tracie Canada

Host Marina Franklin has an insightful conversation with Professor Tracie Canada and Ashima Franklin on the experiences of black college football players and their moms. Listen to our latest episode to understand the untold stories behind the sport. 

Tracie Canada: Tracie Canada is the Andrew W. Mellon Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Duke University. She is the author of Tackling the Everyday: Race and Nation in Big-Time College Football (University of California Press, 2025) and the founder and director of the HEARTS (Health, Ethnography, and Race through Sports) Lab. Her work has also been featured in public venues and outlets such as the Museum of Modern Art, TIME, The Guardian, and Scientific American.

Ashima Franklin: Ashima Franklin is a comedian, writer and actor, born and raised in Mobile, AL. Recently, she was selected as one of the inaugural 2024 NETFLIX IS A JOKE… Introducing (New Faces) comedians. In addition, she was also selected “Best of Fest” at Moontower Comedy Festival in Austin. She also performed in comedy festivals like Flyover Comedy Fest, Laughing Skull and New York Comedy Festival. Previously, she toured the country for 5 years with Katt Williams on the Priceless, The Katt Pack and Katapocolypse tours. . As an actor, she also appeared in the movie THE AFTERPARTY on Netflix. Ashima recently appeared on the ALLBLK Network on the Kendall Kyndall show with Drew Sadora, as well as Season 2 of OWN’s READY TO LOVE. In addition, she appeared on Kountry Wayne’s COMEDY SHIT (Youtube), in which she is currently a recurring cast member. Ashima also headlined the Vivica Fox Funny by Nature Tour. Ashima was selected to be a part of the 2022 & 2023 New York Comedy Festival.

Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), TBS's The Last O.G, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf. Writer for HBO's 'Divorce' and the new Tracy Morgan show on Paramount Plus: 'Crutch'.