Parev fam! Sister Sledge said it best: we are fam-ily! Today, we are meditating on the term “elastic kinship”—literally! Episode 6 offers a guided meditation, a potential outlet for listeners to connect with us, chosen kin, and ancestors during a tear-filled vulnerable hour. How do we choose our family? And what does the history of photography have to do with this complex question? The answer lies within YOU…and this episode! In the words of Saidiya Hartman, “Flexible and elastic kinship were not a ‘plantation holdover,’ but a resource of black survival, a practice that documented the generosity and mutuality of the poor” (91). Before we give you the TL;DR of Hartman’s book Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals, we share the story of Papa Renty, an enslaved African man photographed in 1850 by Louis Agassiz at Harvard—nude, violated, and exposed. Today, his descendant Tamara Lanier is fighting for her ancestor’s justice, reparations, and the return of his image. #FreeRenty!As always, we close out with our half-baked thoughts— the segment where we share ideas that we haven't fully fleshed out but stand fully behind. You'll just have to listen to the episode to hear those. Thanks for listening! Please rate and review the podcast on Spotify and Apple Music, follow us @nameitpod, and share the episode with a friend!Where we know from:“An Inter/Racial Love History,” We Are All Armenian: Voices from the Diaspora. University of Texas Press, 2023, 37-53.Hartman, Saidiya. Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women, and Queer Radicals. W. W. Norton, 2020. “Inheritance,” Journal of the Society for Armenian Studies, 29: 1 (2022), 128.Tamara Lanier et al.. Free Renty: Lanier V Harvard Gravitas Ventures, 2022.

Hey, friends! In this episode, we’re diving into the world of psychic knowledge. What exactly does “psychic” mean? What makes some knowledge psychic and other knowledge… well, not so psychic? And was anyone else forced to experience Spotify’s “song psychic” feature, in the same way that Apple forced us to download that random U2 album? Before we give you the tl;dr of Yvonne Chireau’s Black Magic: Religion in the African American Conjuring Tradition and LaShawn Harris’ Sex Workers, Psychics, and Numbers Runners: Black Women in New York City's Underground Economy, Iman has Kohar ask a question to Spotify’s Magic8Ball-coded “song psychic” feature. Why? Because we’re curious about how a corporation, recently tapping into the spiritual trend with astrology-based playlists and features, defines the term “psychic.”But Iman, deep in her religion-nerd bag, isn’t convinced by this corporatized definition. Instead, we turn to the readings for a definition of psychic knowledge that has, for centuries, been a part of Black women’s religious history. The term is also personal for us, and Kohar shares how a psychic dream inspired her family’s immigration to the States.As always, we close out with our half-baked thoughts—the segment where we share ideas that we haven't fully fleshed out but stand fully behind. You’ll just have to listen to the episode to hear those.Thanks for listening! Please rate and review the podcast on Spotify and Apple Music, follow us @nameitpod, and share the episode with a friend!Where We Know From:Spotify. "Spotify’s Song Psychic Is Ready to Answer Your Burning Questions." Spotify Newsroom, February 29, 2024. https://newsroom.spotify.com/2024-02-29/spotifys-song-psychic-is-ready-to-answer-your-burning-questions/.LaShawn Harris, Sex Workers, Psychics, and Numbers Runners: Black Women in New York City’s Underground Economy (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2016).Yvonne P. Chireau, Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003).

Ah, preservation…what is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear this word? Perhaps you thought of paintings like the eminent Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, pristinely preserved since 1503. Perhaps you thought of the ever-growing collection of ancient Indigenous artifacts neatly stored behind glass at your local museum. Or maybe you even remembered the family stories told and the canned peaches preserved in your grandmother’s kitchen. In episode 4, we build a bridge between two sacred sites: the persisting presence of a 17th-century Nipmuc dugout canoe (carbon dated to 1640-1680 AD), sitting at the bottom of Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA today and Aghtamar Cathedral, a monastery-turned-museum and the 9th-century sacred Armenian spiritual haven of Lake Van, brought to life in a short film by Talin Avakian, Kohar's sister and a talented filmmaker, storyteller, and documentarian. As always, we close out with our half-baked thoughts—the segment where we share ideas that we haven't fully fleshed out but stand fully behind. You’ll just have to listen to the episode to hear those. Thanks for listening! Please rate and review the podcast on Spotify and Apple Music, follow us @nameitpod, and share the episode with a friend! Where we know from: Avakian, Kohar. "Introduction to the Exhibitions." In Boundless: Native American Abundance in Art and Literature, edited by Lisa A. Crossman and Heid E. Erdrich, Amherst College Press, 2025. (Forthcoming May 13, 2025 & still in revision). Citable link:https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.14513702Talin Avakian, dir., Time of the Gulls. 2014. The ARF Eastern Region Centennial Committee, 2014. Online film. Vimeo link here: https://vimeo.com/112526569

Hey friends! In this episode, we're diving into intimacy. Is knowing the “type” of person someone is really the same as knowing them? And does adding your Myers-Briggs letters to your dating app profile actually lead to better matches? 🤔This week, we're on a mission to find a definition of intimacy that's deeper than the usual, and we found one in Jennifer Nash’s Black Feminism Reimagined (2018). But before we give you the TL;DR of Nash’s work, we take a fun detour into the history of the Myers-Briggs test. Did you know the test was originally designed to match people with the "right" jobs? Now it’s popping up on dating apps like Tinder to help users find the "right" people. Kinda weird, right? Maybe you think so too, or maybe you’ve made MB your own, and hey, we love that for you!Taking a step beyond MB, we explore Nash’s idea of a Black feminist love politics, which offers us a different way to think about intimacy. What if intimacy wasn’t about fitting someone into a type, but about an ethic of witnessing—seeing the world as someone else sees it? And what if vulnerability wasn’t about the power to hurt someone, but the ability to be undone and remade through your encounters with others? As always, we wrap up with our half-baked thoughts—where we share ideas we haven’t fully worked through yet, but we totally stand behind. You’ll just have to tune in to hear them!Thanks for listening! Don’t forget to rate and review the podcast on Spotify and Apple Music, follow us @nameitpod, and share the episode with a friend! ✨---Where We Know From:Jennifer Nash, Black feminism reimagined: After intersectionality. Duke University Press, 2018.Gillian Brockell, "Katharine Briggs and Isabel Myers: The Women Behind the Personality Test You Can’t Avoid." The New York Times, October 14, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/14/obituaries/katharine-briggs-and-isabel-myers-overlooked.htmlDavid Stovall, "The Racist Beginnings of Standardized Testing." NEA Today, September 27, 2021. https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/racist-beginnings-standardized-testingTake the Myers-Briggs test! https://www.16personalities.com/

In episode 2, we deconstruct the notion of expertise once and for all. We know what you’re thinking…since when did you two become experts on expertise?! After all, who gets to be called an expert anyway? The truth is, we all make history, every single day. We learn this lesson by going back in time, thanks to two Indigenous scholars and experts in their field: the 17th-century Nipmuc scholar Wawaus (also known as James Printer) of Harvard Indian College and the 21st-century Ojibwe historian Jean O’Brien. Before we give you the tl;dr of O’Brien’s Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians Out of Existence in New England (2010), Kohar shares a nugget of wisdom: when learning history, always pay attention to someone with many names. As always, we close out with our half-baked thoughts—the segment where we share ideas that we haven't fully fleshed out but stand fully behind. You’ll just have to listen to the episode to hear those.Thanks for listening! Please rate and review the podcast on Spotify and Apple Music, follow us @nameitpod, and share the episode with a friend!Where we know from: Brooks, Lisa. Our Beloved Kin: A New History of King Philip’s War. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2018.DeLucia, Christine M. Memory Lands: King Philip’s War and the Place of Violence in the Northeast. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2018. O’Brien, Jean. Firsting and Lasting: Writing Indians out of Existence in New England. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010. nameitpod.com

Welcome back for Season 2, friends! In this episode, we’re diving into spirituality. Does the word spirituality refer to just one thing, or does it mean anything at all? And are you among the growing number of people identifying as “spiritual, but not religious”?Before we give you the tl;dr of Jeremy Carrette and Richard King’s Selling Spirituality: The Silent Takeover of Religion, we discuss Big Zodiac and the increasing profitability of astrology apps and products. Who knew venture capitalists were investing in apps like Co-star?!Iman shares why she finds the phrase “spiritual but not religious” confusing and ick-inducing, while Kohar talks about what truly makes someone a real spiritual baddie (and it’s not just their TikTok feed). We explore the relationship between modern spirituality and capitalism, and the distinction between capitalist spirituality and an anti-capitalist / revolutionary one, as defined by Carrette, King, and the traditions we come from.As always, we close out with our half-baked thoughts—the segment where we share ideas that we haven't fully fleshed out but stand fully behind. You’ll just have to listen to the episode to hear those.Thanks for listening! Please rate and review the podcast on Spotify and Apple Music, follow us @nameitpod, and share the episode with a friend!

Hey, friends! In this episode we're talking about Sara Ahmed's term: complaint!  An idea that names how we learn about power from those who dare to complain about it.​Before we give you the tl;dr (too long; didn't read) of Ahmed's Complaint, Iman shares her own experience of becoming the problem when she complained about a problem. We discuss the inevitably of encountering weirdos when you're a part of capitalist institutions, the vulnerability it takes to speak up, the importance of whisper networks, and our love for the people who create safe harbors for us in stormy weather.As always, we close out with our half-baked thoughts. The segment where we share ideas we haven't fleshed out, but stand fully behind. You'll just have to listen to the episode to hear those. Where we Know From:Sara Ahmed, Complaint, Duke University Press, 2021.

Hey, friends! In this episode we're talking about hair. We draw on Ayana Byrd and Lori Tharp's Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America and an interview with Dr. Tanya Mears.​Before we give you the tl;dr (too long; didn't read), we phone -a-friend as our case study! We invited our friend Asha to discuss her "hair release ceremony," and Kohar and Iman reflect on being a part of such a special moment. We discuss how much we love Byrd and Tharp's description of black hair as a subculture, complete with its own rituals and language. Kohar describes herself as coming from a long line of hairy people and has some choice words for her middle school bullies. Iman shares that doing friends' hair is how she shows them love and care.​As always, we close out with our half-baked thoughts. The segment where we share ideas we haven't fleshed out, but stand fully behind. You'll just have to listen to the episode to hear those. Where We Know From:Ayana Byrd and Lori Tharp, Hair Story: Unlocking the Roots of Black Hair in America, St. Martin's Press, 2001.Veer Mudambi, "Untangling the politics of hair: WSU professor to give presentation for Historical Museum, Worcester Magazine, March 14, 2022.

Hey, friends! In this episode we're talking about Patricia Hill Collin's definition of Black Feminist Thought.Before we give you the tl;dr (too long; didn't read) of Collin's Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment, we discuss the Combahee River Collective's landmark statement published in 1977. The statement coined the terms interlocking oppression, identity politics, the notion that when black women get free, we all get free.We discuss the statement's radicalism, the misconception that black feminism is about representation, Collins and the CRC's distinction between separatism and autonomy, and the evolving nature of black feminist thought over the decades.As always, we close out with our half-baked thoughts. The segment where we share ideas we haven't fleshed out, but stand fully behind. You'll just have to listen to the episode to hear those. Where we Know From:Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment, Routledge, 2002.The Combahee River Collective Statement, 1977. Marian Jones, “If Black Women Were Free”: An Oral History of the Combahee River Collective, The Nation, October 29, 2021.

Hey, friends! In this episode we're talking about Christina Sharpe's term: the wake. A multi-meaning metaphor that names how the slave ship structures contemporary society, despite the formal "end" of slavery.Before we give you the tl;dr (too long; didn't read) of Sharpe's The Wake: On Blackness and Being, we discuss the "discovery" of the Clotilda in 2019 as our case study. The Clotilda was the last known slave ship to bring enslaved peoples from West Africa to Mobile, Alabama in 1869, despite the passing of the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves in1807. Slavers sunk the ship in the Mobile River to cover up their crime. After Emancipation Proclamation, those brought over on the Clotilda established Africatown, a settlement with its own chief, schools, and legal system. Africatown still stands today. Despite formal discovery of the Clotilda in the 2019, the ship's location at the bottom of the Mobile River was well known amongst Africatown residents through their own family histories and archival work. We discuss Africatown residents efforts to preserve the legacy of their ancestors as exemplifying "wake work." Kohar and Iman discuss their own family histories in the South, and Kohar shares the work she's been doing with her tribe to honor sunken mishoons (canoes) in Worcester, MA.​As always, we close out with our half-baked thoughts. The segment where we share ideas we haven't fleshed out, but stand fully behind. You'll just have to listen to the episode to hear those. Where we Know From:Christina Sharpe, In the Wake: On Blackness and Being, Duke University Press, 2016.The Clotilda Descendants Association (Donate to support their work!)Joel K. Bourne, Jr., "Their ancestors survived slavery. Can their descendants save the town they built?," National Geographic, 2019.​Alison Keyes, "The ‘Clotilda,’ the Last Known Slave Ship to Arrive in the U.S., Is Found," Smithsonian Magazine, May 22, 2019. ​Descendant (Documentary on the Clotilda and Africatown streaming on Netflix). 

Hey, friends! In this episode we're talking about Toni Morrison's term, safe harbors. An idea that names the sense of safety fostered through intimate relationships. Who feels like a safe harbor for you?Before we give you the tl;dr (too long; didn't read) of Morrison's Sula, we invited our million siblings to share what sisterhood means to them. Just kidding, we don't have a million siblings... just a thousand. Iman and Kohar talk about how being a sister has taught them to lead with love in all their relationships. And we're joined in the studio by Amara, Iman's youngest sister, who gives us a Gen Z take on being a ship in search of safe harbors.We discuss that families aren't guaranteed safe harbors, needing more than one, and moments when your dock is full. ​As always, we close out with our half-baked thoughts. The segment where we share ideas we haven't fleshed out, but stand fully behind. You'll just have to listen to the episode to hear those. Where we Know From:Toni Morrison, Sula, Knopf, 1973. ​Constance Rae Custer Schomburg, " Safe harbor and Ship": The Evolution of Self in the Novels of Toni Morrison, Dissertation, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 1990.Chan-Malik, Sylvia. Being Muslim: A Cultural History of Women of Color in American Islam. NYU Press, 2018.

Hey, friends! In this episode we're talking about Simone Browne's term: Dark Matters. An idea that names blackness as a "key site through which surveillance is practiced, narrated, and enacted," (9).Before we give you the tl;dr (too long; didn't read) of Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness, we discuss the FBI's Counter Intelligence Program, known as COINTELPRO. A program designed to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize the activities of the Black nationalists" and other organizations they deemed a threat to U.S. interests, including the Social Workers Party and the American Indian Movement. Iman is hyped because this is one of her favorite topics as a Muzlim, and Kohar shares stories of her own surveillance experiences at airports, on road trips, and on Twitter.As always, we close out with our half-baked thoughts. The segment where we share ideas we haven't fleshed out, but stand fully behind. You'll just have to listen to the episode to hear those. Where We Know From:Simone Browne, Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness. Duke University Press, 2015.US Senate, Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities ("Church Committee"), Final Report - Book III: Supplementary Detailed Staff Reports on Intelligence Activities and the Rights of Americans, April 23, 1976. Ula Yvette Taylor, The Promise of Patriarchy: Women and the Nation of Islam. UNC Press Books, 2017.Paul Gilroy, "Driving while black." In Car Cultures, Routledge Press, 2020.​Barbara ​Fields and Karen E. Fields, Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life, Verso Books, 2022.Bukhari, Safiya. The War Before: The True Life Story of Becoming a Black Panther, Keeping the Faith in Prison & fFghting for those Left Behind. The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2010.

Hey, friends! In this episode we're talking about Audre Lorde's term: the erotic. An idea that names the knowledge, power, and sense of satisfaction encapsulated by the phrase, "this feels right to me." Lorde coins the term to speak back to the European-American male tradition that teaches one to “separate the erotic demand from the most vital areas of our lives other than sex.” What is a life lived erotically?​Before we give you the tl;dr (too long; didn't read) of Lorde's "The Erotic as Power," we discuss how hard it is to actually hear and listen to yourself. As our case study, we get v vulnerable by answering a recent self-connection survey created by psychologists. We discuss gaps in the study and how hard it is to know and accept yourself when inhabiting spaces founded on the exclusion of you and yours.​Iman and Kohar share the moments and spaces that make them feel the most aligned with Lorde's sense of the erotic.As always, we close out with our half-baked thoughts. The segment where we share ideas we haven't fleshed out, but stand fully behind. You'll just have to listen to the episode to hear those.