Across the Margin: The Podcast

This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with Aaron Cohen, author of Move On Up: Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power. In Move On Up, Aaron tells the remarkable story of the explosion of soul music in Chicago. Together, soul music and black-owned businesses thrived and record producers and songwriters broadcasted optimism for black America’s future through their sophisticated, jazz-inspired productions. Soul music also accompanied the rise of African American advertisers and the campaign of Chicago’s first black mayor, Harold Washington, in 1983. This empowerment was set in stark relief by the social unrest roiling in Chicago and across the nation. As Chicago’s homegrown record labels produced rising stars singing songs of progress and freedom, Chicago’s black middle class faced limited economic opportunities and deep-seated segregation. Drawing on more than one hundred interviews and a music critic’s passion for the unmistakable Chicago soul sound, Cohen shows us how soul music became the voice of inspiration and change for a city in turmoil. In this episode, host Michael Shields and Cohen discuss the countless interviews he took on to bring Move On Up to vivid life, the diversity of sound and influences that defines Chicago soul music, the interconnectedness between music and politics highlighted in the book, the influence of the 1960’s psychedelic counterculture on Chicago’s soul music, the power radio wielded in engaging the community through music and community action, and so much more.Grab a Copy of Move On Up: Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power here! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with Sanya N'Kanta, the Jamaican born and Charlotte-based musician who has made a name for himself with his genre-blurring style, bringing together rock, reggae, hip-hop, house music, and electro-pop. Sanya’s latest release, an EP entitled These Are The Days, is an ode to his lifelong love rock n 'roll. Common themes throughout These Are The Days are growth, friendship, morality, the importance of time with family, and healing. While the songs on Sanya's rousing new EP are largely more optimistic and personal than his previous work, his recent singles “I.C.E. at the Door” and “The Lesser of Two Evils,” act as hard-hitting commentaries on the dark political realities of 2020 and America's fraught history. Sanya is a multi-faceted musician and storyteller, and these two songs are a great example of his commitment to incorporating socially conscious themes into his music. In this episode Sanya expounds upon immigrating to the United States and his early experiences in the country, his youthful infatuation with American rock n’ roll music, a recent brush with carbon monoxide poisoning that put his life at risk and changed the way he viewed life and creating art, the intricacies behind the crafting of These Are The Days, and much, much more.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast host Michael Shields explores an achievement in fiction writing, a tour de force of a novel heralded by critics as a “modern classic” and a “spectacular invention” entitled The Revisionaries. Penned by A.R. Moxon, who is featured in this episode, The Revisionaries is a wildly imaginative, masterfully rendered, and suspenseful tale that conjures the bold outlandish stylishness of Thomas Pynchon, Michael Chabon, Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, and Alan Moore — while being unlike anything that’s come before it. It is about a priest who may or may not be a priest trying to differentiate between reality and fantasy in order to find the source of his faith. Beyond his quest toward the spiritual, this priest — named Julius — is under pressure to save the world. Featuring a female acrobat with a luxurious beard, the peculiar followers of a religious cult, an enigmatic smoking figure who seems to know what’s going to happen just before it does, and an ancient hereditary evil hidden in the heart of Tennessee’s grandest tourist trap, Pigeon Forge, The Revisionaries is awe-inspiring in scope and delightfully all consuming. In this episode, Michael and A. R. discuss his collaboration with fellow writer Ben Colmery, the challenges he had in bringing to life a 400,000 word manuscript, the unique stylization choices he employed, the many weighty, thought-provoking themes found throughout the narrative, the influence of the band Phish on the book, and much, much more.Grab a copy of The Revisionaries here, subscribe to A.R Moxon’s newsletter here, and follow him on Twitter at @JuliusGoat! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This thought-provoking 100th episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with Oakland, California-based artist, writer, and educator, Jenny Odell. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, New York Magazine, The Paris Review, The Believer, McSweeney's, and Sierra Magazine. Her visual work has been exhibited internationally, including as a mural on the side of a Google data center in rural Oklahoma. Odell has been an artist in residence at the Internet Archive, the San Francisco Planning Department, and Recology SF (otherwise known as the dump) and is a lecturer in the Department of Art & Art History at Stanford University. This episode focuses on Odell’s bestselling book How To Do Nothing: Resisting The Attention Economy. In a world where addictive technology is designed to buy and sell our attention, and our value is determined by our 24/7 data productivity, it can seem impossible to escape. But in this inspiring “field guide” to dropping out of the attention economy, Odell teaches us how to win back our lives. Our attention is the most precious — and overdrawn — resource we have and Odell contests we must actively and continuously choose how we use it. We might not spend it on things that capitalism has deemed important...but once we can start paying a new kind of attention, she writes, we can undertake bolder forms of political action, reimagine humankind’s role in the environment, and arrive at more meaningful understandings of happiness and progress. Far from the simple anti-technology screed, or the back-to-nature meditation we read so often, How to do Nothing is an action plan for thinking outside of capitalist narratives of efficiency and techno-determinism. Provocative, timely, and utterly persuasive, Odell’s insightful book will change how you see your place in our world, and this episode acts as the perfect introduction to How To Do Nothing and the important ideas that it holds. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast presents an interview with Brooklyn-based filmmaker and activist Coffey. Formerly the fashion editor of the hip-hop magazine XXL and the founder of the Define New York Run Club, Coffey has risen to the times as one of the leaders behind the Running To Protest movement. Running to Protest is a campaign, founded with the help of activist Power Malu, that was born in response to what has been happening to Black people, People of Color, and Indigenous people in America. In the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Admaud Arbery (and far too many others), Coffey began organizing protest events and runs that brought together people who are passionate about change. What has arisen from Coffey’s efforts is an ongoing and growing organization that meets regularly to unite, protest, learn, and lay out pragmatic action plans to work towards racial justice and equity. Running parallel and in tandem to his work in activism are Coffey's talents as a filmmaker, writer, and actor. Recently he wrote the screenplay for, and acted in, the short film About The People. About The People is a narrative short film, born of actual events, that examines social injustice and racial inequity in the black and brown community. It is an ode to the power honest conversations about social justice, equity, and race have within these communities. The film centers around a group of concerned pillars of the African American community that hold court at a conference table to discuss how they can improve society for their kinfolk and compel change. They grapple with the political, financial, and educational power structures in America, how they fit inside them, and plans for their re-engineering. Their open dialogue looks to find answers to tough social issues with resolutions and ideas arriving through moments of volatile exchanges. About The People encourages all audience members to have an introspective conversation that sparks real change.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast, host Michael Shields interviews social psychologist, Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University, and the author of The Righteous Mind : Why Good People Are Divided By Politics and Religion, Jonathan Haidt. The Righteous Mind, a book The New York Times Book Review called “a landmark contribution to humanity’s understanding of itself,” examines how morality is shaped by emotion and intuition more than by reasoning, and why opposing political groups have different notions of right and wrong. Drawing on his twenty-five years of groundbreaking research on moral psychology, Haidt shows, in his books and in this episode, how moral judgments arise not from reason but from gut feelings and exhibits why liberals, conservatives, and libertarians have such different intuitions about right and wrong, and why each side is actually right about many of its central concerns.Throughout the conversation Haidt expounds upon the foundations of morality that help explain what drives humans and explores ideas of tribalism and “groupish-ness” and its role in guiding our actions. Haidt also lays out three core ideas that help one to understand exactly what moral psychology is while also spelling out the best way to go about changing another person’s mind (which doesn’t involve appealing to reason!). Ultimately, the discussion veers towards an inspiring culmination where the miracle of human cooperation, and the joy that awaits humans when they trade in anger for understanding, is celebratedLearn more about Jonathan Haidt’s work at RighteousMind.Com and at OpenMindPlatform.Org! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast, host Michael Shields interviews Dr. Lynda Ulrich, the author of the book Happiness is an Option: Thriving (Instead of Surviving) In the Era of the Internet. Dr. Lynda Ulrich is the founder of Ever Widening Circles (EWC), a website whose aim is to prove that the world is a beautiful place, full of wonderment, discovery, and compassion. Within Ever Widening Circles, one will find articles about remarkable insights and innovations that have gone uncelebrated, and thousands of links to prominent thought leaders who are striving to make the world a better place for humankind. Dr. Ulrich’s aim — which is entirely inspiring — is to offer an alternative to all the negativity found in the news and on social media, negativity that is there not because the world is a negative place, but because it drives ratings, or cultivates clicks. Happiness is an Option, the book that lies at the heart of this episode, is brimming with useful insights to obtaining more joy, less fear, and a brighter future in the age of the internet. This episode features an in-depth conversation about Ever Widening Circles and its dynamic and thought-provoking content, four shifts Dr. Ulrich recommends for better navigating and breaking free from the grip of negativity on the internet, the benefits of being “kinder than you need to be,” the inspiring concept that is the “Conspiracy of Goodness,” and so much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Across The Margin : The Podcast serves as an introduction to Roots and Tings, the San Francisco Bay Area-based Revolutionary Culture Music collective. Roots and Tings comprises Quannum and Solesides co-founder, Grammy nominated MC, Lateef the Truth Speaker, acclaimed DJ and producer Jah Yzer, and the multi-talented musician and reggae artist Winstrong. Together, these dynamic artists have created a unique sound fusing elements of dancehall and hip-hop into a stunning reggae tapestry featuring catchy grooves overlaid with subversive lyricism. Roots and Tings music isn’t simply infectious and head nod inducing reggae flecked with hard-hitting hip-hop, it is often politically charged, rife with weighty themes concerning those all too often disenfranchised. In this episode, host Michael Shields is joined by the accomplished Roots and Tings trio, and together they delve deeply into the origins of the band, their prolific output over the last two years, and the song they crafted in anticipation of “Election Day.” They also discuss the tremendous guest features on their recently released album All of This (including Gift of Gab and Lyrics Born), what’s next for Roots And Tings, and so much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Across The Margin: The Podcast, host Michael Shields interviews Dr. Wolfgang Mack, who shares his vivid memories of living through one of the worst dictatorships in modern history. Dr. Wolfgang Mack knows what causes a country to slide into complete authoritarian control and chaos, and how legitimately elected leaders are able to grab power and gain control. A young boy when the Nazi Party took over Germany, Mack’s lifelong interest in autocratic leadership and dictatorship led to a career that found his business enterprises in several countries under dictatorship rule and he began to dive deeply into the underlying cause of politicians’ abuse of power — the rights and wrongs in the politics of nations — and basic human morality. In his book Parallels in Autocracy: How Nations Lose Their Liberty, which is the focus of this episode, Mack combines his personal journey and political analysis to assess the terrible damage autocracy does to civil society, and provides an overview of our current political systems and present, disconcerting trends in national leadership. Mack couples his recollections with political commentary that assesses the terrible damage that autocracy does to civil society, and how an elected demagogue can nullify the very same democratic mechanism that ushered him into power. Throughout the episode, Mack recounts what it is like growing up under a state controlled by a dictator, discusses several modern day dictators in the western world, and ultimately examines the disquieting trends in America that are veering away from the ideals of Democratic governmentship. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kareem Tabsch is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who believes in the power of film to enrich and change lives. His filmmaking focuses on documenting the oft-ignored parts of society, that which isn't always conventionally beautiful, widely accepted, or deemed normal. As a documentary filmmaker, Tabsch’s works have been official selections of Sundance, SXSW, True/False, Full Frame, HotDocs, Slamdance, AFI Docs, DocNYC, Rooftop Films, and LA Film Fest. His 2015 film Dolphin Lover won the Best Short Documentary Prize at LA Film Fest, and his latest film, Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (Netflix), a documentary film about the life and career of Walter Mercado, one of the most influential and important astrologists in Latin America and the world, has received wide critical acclaim (and 100% certified fresh from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, 97% audience score). In this episode Kareem and host Michael Shields discuss his unique upbringing in Miami and how he was inspired to be a storyteller, his filling of an art house theater void in Miami by founding O Cinema (a theater dedicated to first-run independent, foreign, art films), the controversy behind his documentary Dolphin Lover, and above all else, the tremendously fascinating life, career, and the cultural phenomenon of Walter Mercado. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.