About Race

Podcast, 2018, 9 episodes

Premise - Reni Eddo-Lodge follows up her bestselling novel Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race to do exactly what she says in the novel she is committed to doing - talking about race. Historically she picks up where the book left off and tells the history of Blackness in the UK from the 2000's onward, into the anti-racist renaissance of post-modern society.

Review - Like 1619 that I had just written about, this podcast was a part of the "Our Shared Podcast" playlist curated by Emma Watson. However, because it was presented in its entirety, I am taking the time to write its own review. Reni Eddo-Lodge has a long history with "Our Shared Shelf," having been the author of one of the book club's picks. The beginning of "Our Shared Playlist" is an interview between her and Emma Watson, followed by an extract from her book read by Emma.

I think Reni Eddo-Lodge is a joy to hear speak. I love her sense of humor and her laugh. So I am thoroughly disappointed with how poorly this podcast was put together in comparison to my expectations. The audio editing was all over the place. Perhaps I would have understood if she had scrambled to produce it quickly and release it in the wake of George Floyd and our present civil rights movement. But no, this was released back in 2018. So why the poor audio quality? This opinion was coming straight off of "1619," which was produced by the New York Times and presumably had a larger budget. But it's audio quality was just SO much better! Maybe there's a lot about the money that goes into production of a podcast that I just don't know.

It was hard to not be taken out of the moment for the consistently poor sound editing. I found it more difficult to focus on the content, which was good. I very much enjoyed Reni's book, Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race, for an introduction to systemic racism. I thought at the time I appreciated its uniquely British focus as well. However, listening to this podcast I was less enthused about its emphasis on Britain. Perhaps being hit back to back with American history, I still have so much American historical knowledge yet unsatisfied, and I wasn't in the mood to hear about Britain. I am American after all - so I have a bias.

Reni Eddo-Lodge has always been fantastically wise to me, and yet acknowledges her own limitations as a human being. Her rhetoric is all about finding your own lane. She is a writer, so that's what she does - write. But people can find whatever their lane is - she doesn't know all of them! She has a whole episode at the end about action, that horrific "What can I do?" question that she of course has no answer for. We have to answer that ourselves. (74/100)

Quote - "Shout Out Miss Beep" !!!

What to listen for - In reference to the quotes above, "Shout Out Miss Beep" was the title of two back-to-back episodes in which Reni took the hotseat. She talks about how, typically, she reports as a historian rather than in a solopsistic manner. However, in these episodes she shares her own stories which was a welcome treat. Miss Beep was a particular teacher of hers for which she still held a grudge, and it was a hilarious segment.

If you liked this podcast, I'd recommend 1619!

Narrated and produced by Reni Eddo-Lodge