Black Girl Nerds

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds Podcast, we welcome multi-hyphenate Rodney Barnes and actor William Jackson Harper. Segment 1: Rodney Barnes is an award-winning writer, producer, and comic book creator whose vibrant and emphatic creative voice has established him as a Hollywood mainstay. From writing on Adult Swim’s The Boondocks, Everybody Hates Chris to Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga and HBO's Winning Time, Barnes has displayed versatility across a variety of genres in the industry’s largest and most influential programs. His newly founded Zombie Love Studios, a graphic novel production studio that will both adapt and create original graphic novels, beginning with the release of his latest graphic novel,  "Blacula: Return of The King". Host: Jamie and Ryanne Segment 2: William Jackson Harper, is an actor and playwright. He is best known for his role as Chidi Anagonye on the NBC comedy The Good Place, for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy. He currently can be seen in Peacock's The Resort and is starring as Quaz in Marvel Studios' Ant-Man and The Wasp Quantumania. Host: Jamie Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we welcome legendary actor of the stage and screen, Alfre Woodard. Alfre Woodard currently stars in the animated Disney series Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. She plays Mimi, the grandmother to superheroine Lunella Fayette aka Moon Girl. Woodard has received various accolades, including four Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as nominations for an Academy Award and two Grammy Awards.  She chats with BGN about her role on the Disney animated series and culture of the Oscars.  Host: Jamie Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds Podcast we interview actor Skyla I’Lece and tech entrepreneur DeJuan Strickland. Segment 1: Skyla’s will appear on the upcoming Disney+ basketball drama series, The Crossover. Poetry and basketball collide in this powerful new series about 14-year-old twin brothers who come of age on and off court, and this inspirational and emotional family drama is narrated through lyrical poetry. Skyla plays female lead ‘Alexis’ (known as ‘Miss Sweet Tea’ in the novel), a talented musician who has just moved back to the neighborhood and becomes intertwined with the twin brothers. NBA star LeBron James serves as an executive producer. The Crossover will debut on Disney Channel on April 4, 2023 then will drop the following day on Disney+. Host: Ryanne Segment 2: DeJuan Strickland is a 14-year old scholar who enjoys gaming, anime and comics. He has launched 2 comic books of his own called "Techboy" and "Science Girl". He is a member of the National Black Society of Engineers Junior Chapter. He's an advocate for anti-bullying and proceeds of his comic goes to the organization Therapy For Black Kids. Host: Jamie  Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we interview actor Kyla Pratt and comedian Vir Das.  Segment 1: Kyla Pratt reprises her role as Penny Proud in Disney+'s "The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder," the long-anticipated revival of the groundbreaking animated series "The Proud Family." Host: Ryanne Segment 2: Das’ latest offering Landing, his fourth Netflix special, is a show about the personal reflection and existential turmoil Vir unwittingly thrust himself into by giving that speech last year. It’s a show about freedom, foolishness, the west, the east, and what it means to be a citizen of one nation in a global world.  Host: Ryanne Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we welcome guest Travis Hopson of Punch Drink Critics to chat with us about the best and worst films out of Sundance 2023.  Now that the festival has wrapped, here's our takeaways of what films you should be looking for in 2023. Host: Jamie and Jeanine Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast we're celebrating the films coming out of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival!  Featured in this episode are filmmakers D. Smith of 'Kokomo City', Milisuthando Bongela of 'Milisuthando' and actor Travina Springer of 'To Live and Die and Live. The 2023 Festival is January 19–29, 2023, in person in Park City, Salt Lake City, and the Sundance Resort, along with a selection of films available online across the country January 24–29. Segment 1: D. Smith is the director of 'Kokomo City', a film about  four Black transgender sex workers explore the dichotomy between the Black community and themselves while confronting issues long avoided.  Host: Jamie Segment 2: Milisuthando Bongela is the director of 'Milisuthando'. This penetrating coming-of-age personal essay on love and what it means to become human in the context of race explores the memories and experiences of Milisuthando Bongela, who grew up within apartheid without knowing it was happening until it was over. Host: Jeanine Segment 3: Travina Springer stars in 'To Live and Die and Live' a story of a man who returns home to Detroit to bury his stepfather and is thrust into settling his accounts, but Muhammad’s struggles with depression and addiction may finish him before he finishes the task. Host: Jamie Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we interview Guslagie Malanga who stars in the French film Saint Omer directed by Alice Diop.  The film premiered at the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals and was entered for Best International Film for the 2023 Oscars. In Saint Omer, Rama is a novelist who attends the trial of Laurence Coly (Guslagie Malanga), a young woman accused of killing her 15-month-old daughter. Testimonies from witnesses and Coly's own words soon shake Rama's convictions. Host: Jamie Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we open up our comic books and do a deep dive in to issue #1 of Monica Rambeau in her first solo series as Photon.  The limited series is penned by author Eve L. Ewing and illustrated by Luca Maresca, Ivan Fiorelli, with color artist Carlos Lopez and letterer Clayton Cowles. If you're a fan of Monica Rambeau and comic books this is an episode you do not want to miss! Hosts: Ryanne and Jamie Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

In this week's episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we chat with director Kasi Lemmons and actor/author Terrence Terrell. Segment 1: Kasi Lemmons made her directorial debut with 1997's Eve's Bayou, followed by Dr. Hugo (1998), The Caveman's Valentine, Talk to Me, Black Nativity, and her highest-grossing film, 2019's Harriet, about abolitionist Harriet Tubman.  Her latest film, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody is a look at the life and career of cultural icon Whitney Houston. Host: Jamie Segment 2: Terrence Terrell is well known for his roles in Chuck Lorre’s comedy series B Positive (CBS), Will Packer-produced friendship sitcom Bigger (BET+), and the longest running Amazon original series Bosch. He stars in the upcoming Peacock TV series 'The Best Man: The Final Chapters'. Host: Ryanne Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

BGN dives into episodes 3 and 4 of the new FX series 'Kindred' currently streaming on Hulu. Adapted from the celebrated novel Kindred, by Hugo Award-winner Octavia E. Butler, the FX series centers on “Dana James” (Mallori Johnson), a young Black woman and aspiring writer who has uprooted her life of familial obligation and relocated to Los Angeles, ready to claim a future that, for once, feels all her own. But, before she can settle into her new home, she finds herself being violently pulled back and forth in time. She emerges at a nineteenth-century plantation, a place remarkably and intimately linked with Dana and her family. An interracial romance threads through Dana’s past and present, and the clock is ticking as she struggles to confront secrets she never knew ran through her blood, in this genre-breaking exploration of the ties that bind. Hosts: Jamie Broadnax, Angelica Monk and Ryanne Bennett Music by: Sammus Edited by: Jamie Broadnax