‘It took me 20 years to write this book…because it took that long to live’ – Author Desiree Cooper on her award-winning flash-fiction collection

*Originally released March 2018 Desiree Cooper, author of the award-winning short fiction collection Know the Mother (Wayne State University Press, 2016) talks with host Lissa Jones about the complexities of motherhood and the ways that motherhood interacts, and at times conflicts, with the many other roles that women take on. We reached Desiree Cooper by phone at …

Cave Canem poet Mary Moore Easter on her new collection ‘The Body of the World’

*Originally released March 2018 What if the ancestors spoke to you and it came out as poetry?  In this episode, Lissa Jones talks with writer and educator Mary Moore Easter about history, family, poetry, and her newly published poetry collection titled The Body of the World (Mad Hat Press). They also discuss the Cave Canem Foundation, an …

Musician, educator, and historian Dr. Damani Phillips on Black culture and jazz education

* Originally released January 2018 Host Lissa Jones sits down with Dr. Damani Phillips. Dr. Phillips is an active performer, educator and composer. He currently serves as associate professor of jazz Studies and African-American studies at the University of Iowa, where he teaches applied jazz saxophone, directs jazz combos and teaches courses in African-American music, …

Joy Dolo, founding member of Blackout Comedy

*Originally released January 2018 In this episode, Lissa Jones speaks with Twin Cites based actress, comedian, and educator Joy Dolo of Blackout Improv. Dolo is a founding member of Blackout, Minnesota’s first and only all-Black improv ensemble whose performances use sketch comedy, improv, and stand-up to tackle current events, race, and social justice issues. Listen: …

Former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page on optimism, legacy and writing for children

*Originally released December 2017 In the season three premier, host Lissa Jones sits down with retired Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page to discuss his children's books, advocacy work, and optimism. Listen: http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/6014004 Justice Alan Page is widely recognized for his groundbreaking legal career, as well as for his time in the NFL. Page played …

Race and Policing with Duchess Harris, JD, PhD

*Originally released August 2017 Author and Historian Duchess Harris returns to Black Market Reads, this time to speak with host Lissa Jones about her newest book Race and Policing, as well as a newly announced multi-book Duchess Harris Collection from Abdo Publishing. Duchess and Lissa discuss the complex history of race, policing, and force in america. …

Author Erica Armstrong Dunbar: ‘I don’t think there’s a better moment to have a story about a 22 year old black woman defying the President of the United States’

  *Originally released July 2017 Listen: http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/5580944 In this episode, host Lissa Jones speaks with Erica Armstrong Dunbar about her recent work, Never Caught: The Washington's Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave Ona Judge. We reached her by phone in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dunbar is an author and historian focusing on the experiences of African American women in the context …

The Good Lord Bird with James Mcbride

*Originally released July 2017 Listen: http://directory.libsyn.com/episode/index/id/5531123 In this episode, host Lissa Jones talks with author/musician James McBride at Minneapolis' Ivy Hotel. McBride is the author of five books including Miracle at St. Anna, which McBride adapted for the Spike Lee-directed film of the same name released in 2008. His most recent novel, The Good Lord …