Stax: Jamila Wignot on Stax Records, Soul Music, and the Threat of Black Business Success

Dying for Sex: Liz Meriwether, Kim Rosenstock, and Emily Nagoski on Cancer, Caregiving, and Women's Sexuality

Join us as we get hot and bothered for women’s autonomy through the Peabody Award-winning series Dying for Sex. In this episode, We Disrupt This Broadcast’s own resident expert, media scholar, professor, and Executive Director of Center for Media & Social Impact Caty Borum speaks with the creators, producers, and showrunners of the 9x Emmy Award-nominated series, Kim Rosenstock and Liz Meriwether. Together, they unpack the ways Dying for Sex breaks every taboo around sex, death, cancer, caregiving, intimacy and women’s pleasure. After their conversation, Caty breaks down the radical depictions of women’s pleasure in this pathbreaking series with Emily Nagoski, sex researcher, educator, and bestselling author of the groundbreaking book Come as You Are. Content information: The second half of this episode contains discussion of sexual abuse and trauma.  For survivor resources please visit RAINN [https://rainn.org/help-and-healing/hotline/].

Jury Duty: Lee Eisenberg and Nicholas Hatton on Reality TV, Gentle Humanity, and Everyday Heroes

In this episode, we’re playing with reality as we explore what’s going on behind the scenes of the Peabody Award-winning reality TV comedy, Jury Duty. In our interview with creator Lee Eisenberg and executive producer Nicholas Hatton, we discuss this highly staged reality series where only one person, the “hero,” is their authentic self. Everyone else is an actor, and all of the interactions are scripted and planned in service of telling a unique and uplifting story of one person determined to do the right thing. In the first season, the creators and writers took us into a courtroom to explore citizens in the jury system. The second season takes place at a company retreat, and again, a new hero shows us that authentic goodness in humans does actually exist, perhaps more than we think. Later, we examine the world of reality TV with Hunter Hargraves, author of Uncomfortable Television, and get his thoughts on how Jury Duty is shaking up reality TV.

In Living Color: Keenen Ivory Wayans on Fearless Comedy, Working with Family, and Letting Go of Ego

In this episode, the first of our Legendary Disruptors series, we celebrate ‘90s comedy icon Keenen Ivory Wayans and the legacy of In Living Color, the revolutionary sketch series on FOX, how it centered the Black American experience, and its impact on comedy and culture. We dig into how Wayans hired the writers and performers who would become legends, the way he used satire to upend stereotypes, and his refusal to water down the show for white audiences and skittish network executives. Wayans reflects on what it’s like working with his family and how they made their way into comedy, as well as how comedy has and hasn’t changed in the 21st century. We are then joined by writer and director Felicia Pride to discuss the legacy of In Living Color, the 90s golden era of Black sitcoms, and her own upcoming reboot of A Different World for Netflix.

Stax: Jamila Wignot on Stax Records, Soul Music, and the Threat of Black Business Success

In this episode, we examine the four-part Peabody Award-winning HBO documentary series Stax: Soulsville USA through a conversation with the film’s director, Jamila Wignot. The series chronicles the incredible rise and fall, and rise and fall again, of Stax Records, the Memphis soul record label that brought us incredible artists such as Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Sam & Dave, and Booker T. & the MGs. Wignot explores how the history of Stax Records is interwoven with the history of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, gave rise to the birth of soul music, and was built on a racially integrated musical community. We also discuss the business acumen of Stax leader Al Bell, and the ultimate threat of Black economic success. Following that conversation, host Gabe González speaks with radio and media personality Dyana Williams about the still-unfolding legacy of Stax Records.

The Pitt: John Wells on the Pressure and Peril of the U.S. Healthcare System

This episode, we’re getting to the heart of what drives producer, writer, and showrunner John Wells. Wells is the legend behind such Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series as The West Wing, ER, and now the breakout hit The Pitt. Exploring the challenges facing ER doctors and the American healthcare system, each season of The Pitt takes place over the course of a single 24-hour shift. Wells’ dedication to accuracy and our shared humanity allows viewers to connect to healthcare professionals and patients in a revolutionary, visceral way. After, host Gabe Gonzalez sits down with We Disrupt This Broadcast’s own resident expert, media scholar, professor, and Executive Director of Center for Media & Social Impact Caty Borum, to discuss the real-world, life-changing impact of shows like The Pitt that use entertainment to portray medical challenges and the social determinants of health.