CHILLY GRITS

S3E4 - Trouble Don't Last Always

Rev. Bowman and Dr. Francis dissect this phrase from the vantage point of grappling with today's disturbing political times. This discussion weaves in and out of past and present examples of how to process the inevitable troubles and storms of life whether the catastrophes are unnecessarily created by humans or acts of nature. This phrase--steeped in a scriptural tradition–is both realistic and somewhat comforting as a coping mechanism in overwhelming times.

S3E3 - I Might Have Been Born At Night, But Not Last Night

This idiom seems to be newer than some discussed by the hosts in the past. Popularized as a folksy way of saying “I'm not naive,” this is an important way of maintaining individual agency in a world that often discounts those considered the other. The hosts discuss times they've been dismissed and how they clawed back with dignity rooted in their confidence that they are nobody's fool.

S3E2 - Cussin’ and Fussin the Southern Way

EPISODE NOTES This episode considers “bad words” Southern style. How did you learn to express frustration?  What expletives did you hear as a child, if any?  Did your folks say “cuss” or “curse”? Yes, there's a big difference! This lively conversation delves into the relationship between foul language or colorful expressions deployed on the home front today and when the hosts were growing up.

S3E1 - Thoughts of Harlem and the Great Migrations

EPISODE NOTES What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore-- And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over-- like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? Published in 1951, Langston Hughes often recited the poem, Harlem asks what happens to a dream deferred, as grandchildren of those who chose not to leave the South when upwards of six million of their generational counterparts did. Our hosts consider their Northern migrations many decades later within the context of the Great Migration. Perhaps being among this remnant is what has kept the sayings and ways of the South ever present and alive in their households.

S2E14 - Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels

The advice of our grandparent’s generation often included this nostalgic saying as a parting phrase of caution and care. Tune in to learn how Depression Era banking practices gave rise to this saying, which then became a reminder to stay watchful and keep one’s wits about them. The conversation turns to insightfulninstances when the hosts unwittingly took wooden nickels in the workplace, and gave themselves space to gracefully recover.