Tim Barnes chats with horror novelist and screenwriter Tananarive Due about balancing the worlds of screenwriting with prose writing, and taking the leap from journalism to fiction.

TANANARIVE DUE (tah-nah-nah-REEVE doo) is an award-winning author who teaches Black Horror and Afrofuturism at UCLA. She is an executive producer on Shudder's groundbreaking documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror. She and her husband/collaborator, Steven Barnes, wrote "A Small Town" for Season 2 of Jordan Peele’s "The Twilight Zone" on Paramount Plus, and two segments of Shudder’s anthology film Horror Noire. They also co-wrote their upcoming Black Horror graphic novel The Keeper, illustrated by Marco Finnegan. Due and Barnes co-host a podcast, "Lifewriting: Write for Your Life!"

A leading voice in Black speculative fiction for more than 20 years, Due has won an American Book Award, an NAACP Image Award, and a British Fantasy Award, and her writing has been included in best-of-the-year anthologies. Her books include Ghost Summer: Stories, My Soul to Keep, and The Good House. She and her late mother, civil rights activist Patricia Stephens Due, co-authored Freedom in the Family: A Mother-Daughter Memoir of the Fight for Civil Rights. She and her husband live with their son, Jason.

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Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.com

CREDITS:

Host: Tim Barnes

Guest: Tananarive Due

Theme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie Nunez

Music Engineer: Adam Smith

Podcast Art: Madhuri Shukla

Tim Barnes chats with filmmaker, writer, and The Daily Show segment director Chinisha Scott about the bumpy ride that media-focused millennials have had in the industry, constantly searching for the next great creative project, and the powerful impact of teachers who care.

Chinisha is an Emmy-nominated, award-winning, multi-hyphenate creator with nearly 20 years experience in Film, TV, and media production. She has been quite fortunate over the years to work on projects in direct alignment with many of her personal interests and values. From her sci-com writing on the Vox series The Future of… (Netflix) voiced by Jurnee Smollett, to her work as a producer on programs such as United Shades of America with W Kamau Bell (CNN), Chinisha’s sense of humor, storytelling, and wide range of production experience has landed her on some exciting and worthwhile productions. Currently, her handiwork can be seen as a Segment Director at The Daily Show (Comedy Central).

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Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.com

CREDITS:

Host: Tim Barnes

Guest: Chinisha Scott

Theme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie Nunez

Music Engineer: Adam Smith

Podcast Art: Madhuri Shukla

Tim Barnes chats with poet Dr. Mahogany L. Browne about falling in and out of love with poetry, and her path toward becoming genre-less in her craft as a writer and creator.

Mahogany L. Browne, a Kennedy Center's Next 50 fellow, is a writer, playwright, organizer, & educator. Browne’s books include Vinyl Moon, Chlorine Sky, Black Girl Magic, and banned books Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice and Woke Baby.Founder of the diverse lit initiative Woke Baby Book Fair, Browne holds an honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree awarded by Marymount Manhattan College and is the inaugural poet-in-residence at Lincoln Center.​

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Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.com

CREDITS:

Host: Tim Barnes

Guest: Dr. Mahogany L. Browne

Theme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie Nunez

Music Engineer: Adam Smith

Podcast Art: Madhuri Shukla

Tim Barnes chats with filmmaker Christopher Jason Bell about fusing his early love emo music and sketch comedy into his craft as a filmmaker who bridges fiction with reality.

Chris’ recent projects include…

Failed State — which follows a real-life NYC deliveryman named Dale having troubles from declining health, demanding work, pressure from his boss, and social life.

And Miss Me Yet — a look back at the presidency of George W. Bush and the impact he had on everyday life exclusively through the lens of archival footage.

In this conversation we talk extensively about his films Trammel and Boundaries which you can watch by clicking the titles (or bellow if you’re reading this in the newsletter):

Christopher Jason Bell is a New Jersey-based filmmaker and professor. Across a number of boldly experimental shorts and a pair of features, Bell has playfully wrestled with key moments in American history, turned a critical yet clear-eyed gaze at contemporary working class life, offered a stage for game performers to stretch the definition of ‘non-professional,’ and, best of all, blurred the lines between fact and fiction.

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Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.com

CREDITS:

Host: Tim Barnes

Guest: Christopher Jason Bell

Theme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie Nunez

Music Engineer: Adam Smith (@a_scug on Instagram)

Podcast Art: Madhuri Shukla

Tim Barnes chats with Chrissy Shackelford (Last Week Tonight, Wyatt Cenac’s Problem Areas) about how her childhood love of I Love Lucy re-runs influenced her evolving career as an actress, improvisor, and writer.

Chrissy wrote and stars in the hilarious web series Ghostwritten.

Chrissy Shackelford began her comedy career in 2012, studying at The Second City in Chicago and ColdTowne Theater in Austin, TX. Relocating to New York City in 2014, she quickly went through the improv and sketch program at the Upright Citizen's Brigade.

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Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.com

CREDITS:

Host: Tim Barnes

Guest: Chrissy Shackelford

Theme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie Nunez

Music Engineer: Adam Smith (@a_scug on Instagram)

Podcast Art: Madhuri Shukla

Tim Barnes chats with comedian/writer/artist Branson Reese about the creation of his Swan Boy web comic character, his love of horror, and his entry into the world of creativity.

Branson is a comedian and illustrator originally from Virginia. His first comics collection, HELL WAS FULL, is now out. You can (and should!) order it here.

He is the co-creator and host of the popular Fortunate Horse podcast Rude Tales of Magic.

Branson is the creator of the short animated show Swan Boy, which airs Fall 2021 on CAKE on FX. He also has contributed to "We Bare Bears" on Cartoon Network and his illustrations can be seen in The Neu Jorker, Snake Milk Magazine, and "How May We Hate You?" from Penguin Publishing.

His credits include Alternatino with Arturo Castro on Comedy Central, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Broadway Video’s 65th Man, The Special Without Brett Davis, and more. Die-hard fans of Brisk Iced Tea will remember him as the skinny lemon-headed man from the commercial.

Listen to episodes a week earlier than the rest by selecting a paid subscription to the newsletter!

Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.com

CREDITS:

* Host: Tim Barnes

* Guest: Branson Reese

* Theme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie Nunez

* Music Engineer: Adam Smith (@a_scug on Instagram)

* Podcast Art: Madhuri Shukla

Tim Barnes chats with culture writer Maggie Serota (SPIN Magazine, Salon, Esquire) about about what it means to be a “self-appointed trash scholar,” navigating the media world with a working class background, and how she learned to translate her voice onto the page.

Maggie also publishes the newsletter!

Listen to episodes a week earlier than the rest by selecting a paid subscription to the newsletter!

Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.com

CREDITS:

* Host: Tim Barnes

* Guest:

* Theme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie Nunez

* Music Engineer: Adam Smith (@a_scug on Instagram)

* Podcast Art: Madhuri Shukla