Today’s issue of the Anti-Racism Daily email was called “Broaden your bookshelves.”

The invitation was to look at your bookshelves and see if the authors are as diverse as you think they are. Then to look and see if the books by the authors of color are on broader topics than just “issues” or trauma. Then either the series editor Nicole Cardoza or today’s email author Jami Nakamura Lin, ask:

Are all the books you read for fun or pleasure all by white writers?

Broaden Your Podcast Shelves

I’d suggest this applies to all media. For example, if you’re a podcast listener, look over your subscriptions. Do the creators and hosts reflect the diversity you like to think you value?

As we continue in Black History Month, I thought I’d share some of the podcasts I find myself regularly listening too.

Diversity in Podcast Listening

I’m in a season of listening to many podcasts each day. (Truth be told, this particular “season” has lasted many years!)

I regularly listen to news shows like NPR’s UpFirst, New York Times’ The Daily, and BBC’s Global News. I also listen to three Swedish podcasts both to keep up my familiarity with the language and to get a non-USA perspective: Radio Sweden’s På Lätt Svenska, Svenska Dagbladets Dagens Story, and Svenska Dagbladets Tech brief.

There are more I regularly listen to. But for this Black History Month post, I’ll move on to the black podcasters.
All the podcasts I list here are ones I regularly listen to. But their publishing schedule is varied. So I’ll attempt to sort them by how frequently they show up in my feed.

Daily & Weekly podcasts

Here are the podcasts in my subscription list that seem to show up daily and weekly:

• Focus on Africa

  The podcast that comes every day is BBC’s Focus on Africa. I listen to this to get a non-USA perspective on world news and to learn about the events happening in the countries on the African continent.

• Popcorn Finance

  A couple times in the week, Popcorn Finance podcast host Chris Browning gives me finance discussions in about the time it takes to make a bag of popcorn. Ranging from student loans and medical insurance to interest rates and budgeting, he and his guests help make finance and debt reduction approachable.

• Whisky, Jazz & Leadership

  Each week, I also get to hear insightful leadership conversations in Galen Bingham’s Whiskey, Jazz & Leadership podcast. These conversations are so rich and varied that he splits them into three sections: two for the free podcast, a third for the members of his Patreon community. I’ve listened to these conversations for years. And I was honored to be a guest of this season of the show.

• Design Your Life & Business

  Another weekly regular is Jevon Wooden’s Design Your Life & Business podcast. His guests and conversation topics are great at the podcasts mission of giving you the tools to become the architect of not just your business, but your life too.

These are regular influencers of my thought, practice, and life. If you we’re connected on Threads, you’ll see me regularly promoting individual episodes!

Seasonal podcasts

Podcasting is a wonderful medium. Hosts can record when it fits their schedules and goals. Here are some podcasts that I’m delighted show up in my feed off-and-on throughout the year.

• Marketing for the Culture

  In the African-American Marketing Association’s podcast, Marketing for the Culture, Michelle Ngome interviews marketing leaders on the latest insights and best practices in the industry. I love how she interviews solopreneurs to enterprise players. (And I’ve been honored to be a guest on the show in the past.)

• BOSS Talk

  In her BOSS Talk podcast, La’Vista Jones uses her signature BOSS™ framework of “Battling Overwhelm with Systems and Self-Care” to assist leaders in building businesses that nourish them instead of ones that deplete them and lead to burnout. I love the authenticity and vulnerability they are brave enough to share.

• Access & Opportunity

  On Access & Opportunity, host Carla Harris, Senior Client Advisor at Morgan Stanley, explores the lived experiences of the people who face systemic inequities and talks with a wide array of founders, investors, developers, activists, and educators. I’ve learned so much about funding businesses and the additional complexity non-majority and indigenous businesses face.

• [REDACTED] History

  Andre White’s [REDACTED] History podcast is amazingly helpful in telling the stories of history that weren’t included in the education I had growing up. I’m enjoying learning about amazing people and having the record corrected.

• The Black Fundraisers’ Podcast

  Another podcast I’m delighted to see pop into my podcast feed, is Kia Croom’s The Black Fundraisers Podcast. In this podcast, guests explore professional careers, systemic inequity, and succeeding in the nonprofit fundraising sector.

• Sway Them in Color

  I’ve long loved Christina Blacken’s Sway Them In Color podcast. Her guests and her own willingness to share her story help leaders. She explores acts of personal and professional courage and the leadership lessons gained from unconventional leaders who have gone against the status-quo to share new ideas and creations.

• ManageMint Made Easy

  Kishshana Palmer’s “Let’s Take it Offline” was a great podcast with interviews across a wide array of leadership and life. Politics, adoption, authenticity, strengths, and so many other topics were included. Recently rebranded as ManageMint Made Easy, I’m hopeful we’ll be hearing more of this!

Stalwarts & Trailblazers

A couple more that regularly reach my earbuds are amazingly helpful podcasts from NPR. These include:

• • Code Switch

  • Throughline

I find the stories they share and the perspectives they bring help broaden my understanding of history and life today.

Broaden Your Inputs

Having a narrow array of inputs is like walking a tightrope. The broader your information sources, the more sure-footed your path can be. Things that throw you off may have already been experienced by others – over generations.

Here are podcasts in my feed. What podcasts would you add to this list?