Ep. 39: On The Record; Dancer and Choreographer Akram Khan; Singer Songwriter Róisín Murphy; Writer Zalika Reid-Benta; Black Wall Street

We start the show by featuring the new documentary On The Record brought to you by award-winning duo Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering. On The Record is an expose of Russell Simmonds - the powerful boss of Def Jam Records - whose decades long sexual abuse plagued the music industry. We discuss the consequences for those women that came forward with their testimony and more, with author of Miseducation: A Woman’s Guide to Hip Hop Shanita Hubbard, Kierna Mayo, an exec at The Lena Horne Prize and former editor-in-chief of Ebony and The Source and feminist cultural critic, author and award-winning journalist Dr Joan Morgan.

The dancer and choreographer Akram Khan began dancing at three and trained in the classical South Asian dance form of Kathak. After a meteoric rise in 2000, he launched Akram Khan Dance Company alongside Farooq Chaudhry. Their company would go on to become one of the most respected and celebrated dance companies in the world. Throughout the last twenty years, Akram Khan has created, performed and choreographed a plethora of shows, including XENOS, Vertical Road, zero degrees, and most recently Giselle with the English National Ballet. We speak to Akram about family, movement and politics.

Róisín Murphy has been making electronic pop and disco for decades, once known as one half of 90s early 2000’s dance duo Moloko, she went on to have a brilliant solo career and her albums, which include Overpowered and Hairless Toys, reveal even more beautiful complexity to her music, songwriting and performance. Róisín Murphy discusses creativity and new music.

Zalika Reid - Benta is an exciting new writer whose debut short story collection ‘Frying Plantain’ is making waves across the Atlantic in the US and her home in Canada. The Torontonian Jamaican author discusses her hometown, intergenrational relationships and what’s next.

Finally Steph Simon - a Hip Hop Artist from Tulsa - takes us through his album Born on Black Wall Street which is a meditation on the legacy of a generation who died in the flames of the city’s racist massacre 100 years ago.

Stance Cultural Shoutouts:

TV:

I May Destroy You - BBC/HBO

Audio - Podcasts & Radio

The MONO BOX - The Mono Box

Am I Making You Uncomfortable - HuffPost

Music

Levanta Muertos - Nicola Cruz

Baby - Four Tet