BA Parker was a film professor in his twenties and had to rush students out of the hall to talk to Ira Glass. She was interviewing for fellowship with his NPR show “This American Life.”
“They hired me to tell a story for them, and I wanted to be a black woman, David Sedalis,” she said. “It hasn’t happened completely yet, but there is hope.”
That’s why she co-sponsored and co-sponsored the New York Magazine’s “The Cut” podcast for several years.Himbo cultureLife at a historic black college. This month, Baltimore natives who first moved to New York to attend Columbia University’s film school will host the NPR podcast Code Switch on the race of American society.
“Holding my voice and participating in podcasts has always been to share my position with everyone and torment them through it,” she joked. “It’s about talking about really serious things that scare and anger people, and with my stupid smile, say we’re overcoming it together.”
In a video call from Bed-Stuy’s apartment, she looked up a list of various necessities that reflected the comfort of Brooklyn’s podcaster creatures. These are edited excerpts from our conversation.
1. Take a nap I feel like I completely underestimate the nap as an adult. I think we’ll all be better if we just take a nap for 20 minutes every day. This telecommuting was a bit easier — I know this is a privilege I have — but since 2020 it’s been so exhausted and I’m still working on all of this self-care , And I’m down for 2 Afternoon nap. You are supposed to do either 20 minutes or 50 minutes, and I’m a 50 minute napper. I think 20 minutes isn’t enough, but it doesn’t matter. Anyway, I’m tired and I’m going to wake up.
2.K drama I think they are the closest to modern Jane Austen. The “startup” I’ve seen recently is where the girl who holds a man’s hand for the first time in her bus wipes tears from her eyes and turns her back. And the man is 32 years old. It’s very chaste, adorable and cathartic, and by episode 8 you just sob. All of these shows, their hearts are wide open. I think it will be very calm. Obviously, the drama is clever, but you just want to hug everyone.
3. Collection of spices from friends On my birthday this year, a friend of mine sent me this collection of spices from the location of Berbere, Za’atar, and Greenwich Village, where all these Moroccan spices are located. I’m trying to expand my cooking. When I work from home, I get tired of trying to cook myself. And do you get into these bad habits of working until 8 pm and then trying to fix your diet? I do not think so. Now I’m paying attention to that and thinking about how to make lamb meatballs. I took a picture of what I made to send to her and her husband and it became like “I’m trying”.
4. Donnie Hathaway I feel his voice is true. I have this soulful longing that makes me want to stir something up and feel it. He has a great live version of The Beatles “Yesterday” and all the old blacks at the venue really dug it up and screamed together. He usually cooks and plays his live album, which makes him a little more mature. You can feel the moment everyone just feels when he’s in his pocket, and you’ll hear lots of black women screaming. What a mess! “
5. “Fearless” Jeff Bridges I’ve been in love with Jeff Bridges since I was nine and my dad showed me a “white storm”. “Fearless” is a 1993 film about a fairly privileged man who survives a terrible plane crash, feels invincible, and begins testing those limits. So it’s trying to understand what it means for Bridges and Rosie Perez to be sad and survivors. In July 2020, I revisited it when all of us were injured and tried to deal with many losses and deal with them. It was a movie that came back to question the meaning of survival.
6. Read like 15 years old again Did you know that when you were 15 years old, you just felt like sitting on the couch of people all over the world and reading a lot? I have a job, but I decided to do it this summer. I always like to have the freedom to read. Especially in this work, what you have to read is an interview, which makes you feel interesting. So I bought a lot of theater and essay collections for myself by Bellhooks and Audre Lorde. I’m still emphasizing the line because there’s something really interesting and enlightening, but I’d like to go back to reading without being aware of the question.
7. Baltimore dishes such as Otter Vines cookies and crab cream Otter Vines are local Baltimore cookies that you order when you become homesick. They are thin and taste different. Everyone always talks about burger cookies from Baltimore, but don’t get lost.
When trying to explain the cream of crab soup, it tells people that it’s not lobster bisque. It’s much richer. Maybe eat twice a year or something. Don’t try to have more as it is as rich as hell. One of the things that makes me really homesick is living here. Pierogi is everywhere, but this soup is elusive.
8. The third row of the movie theater I’m nearsighted. But I still have this childhood idea. When I’m near the screen, I can shoot movies faster than the people behind me. And no one wants to sit there. I had just watched “Marcel in the Shell in Shoes” and didn’t know that the movie would be like that when it was shown at the Alamo Drafthouse at 11pm. I laughed and cried. The theater people didn’t even know it would be sad, so I heard this one woman say “Oh no …” from behind me.
9. Her grandmother’s prayer book Many years ago, my grandmother gave me this little blue book with a little stapler. She got it at the funeral hall in the 1980s. There are prayers for success, prayers for fear, prayers for mourning, and so on. I basically grew up in a protected area and had a village behind me, so when I first moved to New York, I read it and encouraged me to raise my hand first in class or something. rice field. It is this totem that I cherish and gives me some comfort. I’m pretty religious, but not an anti-scientific method. I believe in climate change and gay rights, and I have a choice. A normal human thing you know.
10. Let’s be gentler As you get older, you will need to make efforts to be kind to yourself and others. In a job like me, it’s easy to see people as stories, not as people. So I’m trying to be conscientious about how I can help or hurt the world. This happened a few years ago when I saw the unreleased movie “Cane River,” which was produced at BAM in the early 80’s. [in the United States] Just after Director Horace B. Jenkins had a heart attack, as it was four years ago. The movie is just an atmosphere. It’s a black man holding hands in the field and being kind to each other. If I had seen my aunt and uncle have such affection and tenderness at the time, it would have changed the direction of what Black Cinema would look like.
