Jody Lulich, In the Company of Grace: A Veterinarian’s Memoir of Trauma and Healing

Host Lissa Jones and Author Jody Lulich with his memoir, recording at iDream.tv

"It's important to be your authentic self. If you're not you, the world doesn't know who to love." Jody Lulich Rising to accept a prestigious award, Jody Lulich wondered what to say. Explain how he’d been attracted to veterinary medicine? Describe how caring for helpless, voiceless animals in his own shame and pain provided a …

Keith Ellison, Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence

Author Keith Ellison with BMR Host Lissa Jones at Magers & Quinn Booksellers with books

"You know, friends, much has been made about whether George Floyd's heart was enlarged, whether it was too big. But the real question here, and the real fact, is that Derek Chauvin's heart was too small." Keith Ellison Lissa talks with MN Attorney General and author Keith Ellison about his experience with the trial of …

Sherrie Fernandez-Williams, Goddess of the Whole Self

"To tell the truth is to become beautiful, to begin to love yourself, value yourself. And that's political, in its most profound way." June Jordan In this episode, Lissa talks with writer Sherrie Fernandez-Williams about her latest work, Goddess of the Whole Self (In Line Press 2023), her inspirations, and her origin story. The Remembrance …

Davu Underwood Seru, Curator – The Archie Givens, Sr., Collection of African American Literature and Life

"My mind ain't sprightly like it used to be and heaps of things what went on when I was young, I forget and heaps of them what I want to forget, I can't." Calline Brown from the WPA ex-slave narratives, Coahoma County, MS in the collection of  Archie Givens Sr. Collection of African American Literature and Life …

From the Archives: Rachel Howzell Hall, They All Fall Down

In anticipation of the 5th Annual Wordplay Festival at the Loft in Minneapolis, MN. For fans of thrilling contemporary suspense, Rachel Howzell Hall’s brilliant stand-alone novel brings seven sinners to a private island for a reckoning that will leave you breathless. It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime. Danger lurks in the lush …

Santi Elijah Holley, An Amerikan Family: The Shakurs and the Nation They Created

"The family itself is a tribe of people who are committed, who've taken the name out of a loyalty, out of faith, out of unity. And they are all coming together as a family... Just because we're not all blood doesn't make us any less of a family." Santi Elijah Holley “An Amerikan Family is a …

Shaun M. Anderson, The Black Athlete Revolt: The Sport Justice Movement in the Age of #BlackLivesMatter 

"We just wanna live. We wanna go out and enjoy our lives. We don't wanna talk about this all the time. We gonna talk about it when it's happening,  but we are trying to build, we're trying to love, we're trying to have our families, we're trying to eat good. We're trying to travel the …

BONUS Episode: Dr. Clarence Lusane returns

Celebrating Black History Month, Lissa was invited by Books & Books in Miami to interview Dr. Clarence Lusane about his recent work, Twenty Dollars and Change: Harriet Tubman and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice and Democracy, (City Lights 2023). Join us for this in depth conversation linking past to present. https://givensbmr.libsyn.com/bonus-episode-dr-clarence-lusane-returns Link to purchase the …