This year’s Black History Month celebrations have included a variety of media dedicated to paying tribute to the work of Black trailblazers throughout time.
In honor of the month, here are five top podcasts by Black experts to tune into:
Questlove Supreme
Hosted by Award-winning musician and drummer of The Roots, Questlove, “Questlove Supreme” is a podcast that does a deep dive into the stories of artists that have shaped music history. Featuring guests such as Diamond D and Spike Lee, the episodes cover all types of genres, including hip hop, soul and pop.
All Music Is Black Music
Presented by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in collaboration with SiriusXM, the “All Music is Black Music” podcast looks at the impact Black artists have made on every genre. The podcast kicks off with a conversation with Kelly Rowland on girl groups. With each new episode, new artists join the hosts to discuss genres such as country with Ne-Yo, guitar greats with Vincent, dee-jaying with D-Nice and psychedelic with Nels Cline. Some episodes are also dedicated to discussing one musical icon alone with episodes about John Coltrane, Mahalia Jackson and Nina Simone available for streaming.
History is US
Created and narrated by the Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, Dr. Eddie S. Glaude, the six-part series details Black history in the U.S. from the Reconstruction Era to the modern times. Available on the Apple Podcasts website since June 2022, the podcast was developed alongside C13Originals, a studio that’s dedicated “to telling human stories” in documentary audio form. Historian Jon Meacham, a Pulitzer Prize winner for his craft, also contributed to the making of this project.
Code Switch
Created and released by NPR, “Code Switch” is a podcast dedicated solely to creating discussions about race and the way it interacts with each part of society. Led by BIPOC journalists, previous episodes in this continuing series have discussed topics such as the lack of diversity on the NFL’s coaching staffs, the Republicans’ move to limit Black voting power as well as the genres of Black science fiction and fantasy.
Black History Year
Produced by PushBlack, a Black-owned media company that’s known as the nation’s biggest, “Black History Year” focuses on shedding light on the people that are often not discussed in the history books. Still an ongoing series, each episode spans about three minutes and is available on Apple Podcasts. Previous topics that have been discussed on the show include the story of Benjamin Banneker, the Black roots of house music and the role of political activist Afeni Shakur in saving the Black Panther Members wrongly accused in the “Panther 21” trial.
