Beyond The Table

January has not always been about reinvention. In the Black South, New Year traditions were shaped by history, uncertainty, and care. Long before resolutions and goal lists, the New Year was a moment of preparation—marked by food that sustained, homes put in order, and communities entering the year together. In this episode of Beyond the Table , explores the origins and meaning of New Year traditi...

Hello, I'm Amanda. Welcome to Beyond the Table stories of culture, memory, and meaning. In this short episode, I wanted to pause and say thank you. Beyond the Table launched in October, and this moment is an opportunity to acknowledge the listeners who showed up quietly, consistently, and with care. This episode reflects on what it has meant to build this show, the importance of attention and list...

In this Christmas episode, we explore Christmas in the Black South a tradition shaped by food, faith, memory, and the enduring pull of home. Looking beyond commercial narratives, this episode traces how Christmas became a moment of rest, gathering, and continuity in Black Southern life. From the historical roots of holiday pauses during slavery to the lasting significance of Watch Night services,...

In December 1993, three people were murdered in Humboldt, Nebraska: Brandon Teena, Lisa Lambert, and Philip DeVine. While Brandon Teena's story became nationally known, Philip DeVine a twenty-two-year-old Black man was nearly erased from public memory. This episode centers Philip DeVine's life, presence, and death, and examines how race, media framing, and popular culture shaped which victims were...

In this episode, we explore the rise and fall of the Black mall one of the most important and overlooked cultural spaces in late twentieth-century America. From segregation-era restrictions to the emergence of malls as Black social hubs in the 1980s and 1990s, this episode traces how Black consumers reshaped retail, identity, and community across generations. We take you through the history of res...

In May 2003, fifteen-year-old Sakia Gunn, a Black lesbian girl from Newark, was murdered in an act of homophobic violence that most of the nation never heard about. This true crime episode centers her humanity, her courage, and the community that refused to let her story disappear. In this victim-centered true crime episode, we explore: • Newark's queer youth culture in the early 2000s • Who Sakia...

Echoes of the Feast: A Thanksgiving History of Food, Culture, and Tradition is a cinematic, time-traveling journey through the real story of the American Thanksgiving meal. This episode moves across centuries to reveal how each dish on the table came to be — shaped by Indigenous agricultural knowledge, colonial hardship, national mythmaking, Black culinary traditions, migration, and modern reinven...

To mark the film's 25th anniversary, this episode revisits  What's Cooking? (2000)  a groundbreaking multicultural Thanksgiving film directed by Gurinder Chadha. Four families. Four kitchens. One holiday lived through Black, Latin, Vietnamese, and Jewish identities including one of the earliest and most tender portrayals of queer family truth in early 2000s cinema. Amanda explores why this film wa...

In this bonus episode of  Beyond the Table , we explore the power, defiance, and cultural impact of Living Colour the groundbreaking Black rock band that reshaped the sound and politics of late-20th-century rock. From Cult of Personaility to Desperate People to Funny Vibe and Which Way to America , we examine how their music confronted racism, capitalism, and identity while redefining what Black a...

Before there was an American Thanksgiving, there was gratitude spoken in every language under the sun. In this immersive episode, Beyond the Table travels across continents and centuries to explore how people around the world give thanks through food, ritual, and community. From the yam festivals of West Africa to Caribbean Harvest Sundays, Indigenous harvest ceremonies, and modern diaspora feasts...

This November,  Beyond the Table explores stories of gratitude and belonging where culture, memory, and meaning come together in sound. Hosted and produced by Amanda Clemons , this special preview invites you to pull up a seat for a month of reflection, creativity, and connection. New stories every Tuesday.

In the 1950s, you could find them between the canned goods and the cigarettes paperbacks with neon covers and whispered stories of women who loved women. Before Pride marches or queer bookstores, there was pulp: printed on thin paper, sold for a quarter, and hidden in plain sight. In this cinematic episode, Amanda explores the rise of lesbian pulp fiction the grocery store paperbacks that became l...

Halloween Feature: In the Black South, the supernatural isn't a story told just for scares it's a history of faith, protection, and remembrance. In this cinematic Halloween bonus, Amanda explores: African spiritual traditions that shaped hoodoo and rootwork. The legends of haints, boo hags, and night doctors and the real histories behind them. How the church merged ancestral belief with the Holy G...

In Episode 3 of Beyond the Table, Amanda and her pit bull Priscilla dive into  "Heart of the Matter," which aired on July 12, 2000. Directed by Kevin Hooks and written by Patricia Green, this episode asks what happens when we stop performing strength and start facing the truth. Amanda explores themes of perception, honesty, and control as the Joseph family begins to unravel and rebuild in unexpect...

In Episode 2 of Beyond the Table, Amanda joined again by her pit bull Priscilla dives into Season 1 Episode 2 od Soul Food The Series: "The More Things Stay the Same," which aired on July 5, 2000. This episode digs deeper into the Joseph family's secrets and the cost of keeping them. Amanda connects those cultural shifts to the reality of Black business ownership about 1.2 million Black-owned firm...

In the debut episode of Beyond the Table, Amanda  joined by her pit bull Priscilla begins the rewatch journey through Soul Food: The Series. We start with "The More Things Change" the pilot episode that aired June 28, 2000. Directed by Eriq La Salle and written by Felicia D. Henderson, it reintroduces us to the Joseph sisters Maxine, Teri, and Bird as they try to hold their family together after B...

Beyond the Table is a cinematic storytelling podcast exploring Black culture, queerness, history, music, film, food, and true crime through immersive sound and narrative reflection. What began as a Soul Food rewatch has evolved into a cultural magazine featuring ten-minute weekly episodes that move through cultural history, music deep dives, contextual true crime, holiday storytelling, and seriali...