Truth Be Told: Time to Thrive

A live conversation in Pasadena, California at the LAist’s Crawford Theatre. Wise Ones: Jamilah Lemeiux, writer; Nancy Redd, award winning author and podcast host; Steven Canals, screenwriter, producer of FX’s Pose; Ayize Jama Everett, author & documentary filmmaker “A Table of Our Own.”

Happy Summer! We're stepping into your feed to share a conversation Tonya recently had with singer, songwriter, and producer Madison McFerrin. Madison has been on her own liberation journey the last few years, and it’s evident with her new album “I Hope You Can Forgive Me." Tonya had her music on loop while writing Season 5 of Truth Be Told about using psychedelics to heal racial trauma, so you kn...

We’ve explored the psychedelic renaissance with Black scientists, therapists and everyday people in search of healing. In this season closer, host Tonya Mosley finds her own path towards healing. Also, some parting words from our Wise Ones: Ernestine Mosley, Dr. Monnica Williams, Nicolas Powers, Undrea Wright, Camille Barton, Ayize Jama Everett.

The public's perception of drugs and drug use is changing. And with it, the decrim movement is in full swing. Soon the FDA is expected to approve psychedelic-assisted therapy. But are these steps enough for Black people in America? Enough to keep us safe in a world of racial bias and over-policing? There’s the potential for liberation but also for oppression. Episode 6 explores what could happen i...

We’re taking a break from our series to answer your questions about psychedelic-assisted therapy and the use of psychedelics to help alleviate depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

We explore the magic in magic mushrooms and the ancestral and Indigenous origins of using them to heal. What does ancestral knowledge mean for Black people disconnected from our lineage? Wise Ones: adrienne maree brown: author, activist. Undrea Wright, The Ancestor Project.

Decades after Richard Nixon declared the war on drugs, our evolved understanding of drug addiction has ushered in a new understanding of mental health and the flaws of the criminal justice system, and with it, a resurgence of an age-old medicine, once criminalized — now used as a form of healing. In Episode 3, we meet the children of the drug war and discover how they’re navigating this newfound e...

Psychedelics work by allowing us to have an experience with ourselves — To face our biggest traumas without being retraumatized. This episode explores what that experience is like. But first, Black people (rightfully skeptical of altered states) must trust enough to let go.

Tonya Mosley is on a journey to experience the depths of freedom and liberation and discovers new research that shows psychedelics as a promising treatment for all forms of PTSD, including racial trauma. Tonya sets out to try magic mushrooms and discovers the psychedelic renaissance is overwhelmingly white despite its Indigenous and African roots. Episode 1 kicks off this 6 part journey led by Ton...

If freedom is a birthright, host Tonya Mosley is on a journey to experience the depths of it. Season 5 explores emerging science that shows psychedelics like MDMA and psilocybin mushrooms can help to heal racial trauma, whether it’s diagnosed PTSD or the kind of trauma that comes from the pain of living as a Black person in a racist world. Join us on the journey, beginning April 13th.

Hey fam, Truth Be Told will be back for a new season this spring! In the meantime, enjoy this timely encore conversation about body autonomy with journalist and abortion activist Anoa Changa. If you haven't listened to seasons 3 and 4, get on it! Season 5 of Truth Be Told is coming in April. LINKS: deartbt.com Twitter: deartruthbetold Instagram: deartbt TikTok: tonyatbt Email: tonya@deartbt.com

We want to turn you on to a new show that you should consider adding to your podcast queue: History is US. It’s a 6-part documentary podcast from C13-Originals Studios and Jon Meacham — the team behind the 2021 Webby Award-Winning Best Podcast Series “It Was Said.“ It’s written and narrated by Dr. Eddie Glaude, who is a friend of Truth Be Told. You might remember him as a Wise One from Season 2. E...

Bad habits, toxic relationships, soul-sucking jobs — our inner voices tell us the truth, but are we listening? A moment of nakedness in the vastness of the ocean helped restaurant owner Kristi Brown slow down enough to hear what her inner voice was telling her. On this episode of Truth Be Told, we explore how listening to ourselves can lead us to joy and our ultimate purpose.

#MeToo founder Tarana Burke is known as a truth-teller. In this episode of Truth Be Told she goes even deeper, revealing for the first time the depths of despair she’s felt over the last few months, and the ways during these dark times she’s chasing joy and renewal.  And grab your notebook! Mental health counselor Rian Roberson steps in to give us our own mini-therapy session. 

What are the words - when there are no words? In the face of so much violence, death, and heartbreak, minister and writer Danté Stewart joins us to talk about what he calls “little experiments of liberation.” GUESTS: Danté Stewart, minister, writer and author of Shoutin’ Into The Fire: An American Epistle.  TW: @stewartdantec LINKS: deartbt.com Twitter: deartruthbetold Instagram: deartbt TikTok: t...

Our nation’s obsession with thinness refuses to acknowledge that the ideal, at its core, is racist. How do we get beyond the belief that bigger Black bodies are a problem? And instead, allow ourselves, no matter what size, to take up space? GUESTS: Sabring Strings, Ph. D., scholar, and author of Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia Carvell Wallace, author, and memoirist Mozell...

As Black Americans, we’ve had to fight to get grocery stores into our neighborhoods, while fast-food chains were encouraged to thrive thereby federal policy. It feels like the opposite of a fully liberated life...one where access to nourishing food would be easier than the smoothest drive-thru. How can we build a future where we're closer to the source of our food? We digest that history and envis...

What do body autonomy and reproductive health look like in a post Roe vs. Wade world? The stress of racism and barriers to care–including abortion care–are part of a downward spiral in reproductive justice. Too often, those stressors play out in our wombs as fibroids and cancers. We talk about seeking justice and liberation with our guests. GUESTS: Anoa Changa, journalist and writer of “What’s Nex...

How do we move out of survival mode and into a place where our bodies are strong? Trauma therapist Resmaa Menakem kicks off Season 4 exploring what nourishment means outside of white notions of what our Black bodies should be. GUESTS: Chef Kristi Brown, co-owner of Communion Resmaa Menakem, somatic therapist, author of the new book The Quaking of America LINKS: deartbt.com Twitter: deartruthbetold...

In season four, we explore what nourishment means for us outside of diet culture and white notions of what our Black bodies should be. 2022 WEBBY WINNER: BEST ADVICE PODCAST  Twitter: deartruthbetold Instagram: deartbt Email: tonya@deartbt.com

Bonus Episode: Comedian Kevin Fredericks aka KevOnStage joins Tonya to talk about family, faith, and what liberation truly looks like in the midst of social media fame. 2022 WEBBY WINNER: BEST ADVICE PODCAST  Twitter: deartruthbetold Instagram: deartbt Email: tonya@deartbt.com

Bonus Episode: This week, we talk to acclaimed journalist and host of the Black Girl Songbook podcast, Danyel Smith about her new book Shine Bright: A Personal History of Black Women in Pop, including the wise words of Rihanna and the lasting power of Donna Summer. 2022 WEBBY WINNER: BEST ADVICE PODCAST  Twitter: deartruthbetold Instagram: deartbt Email: tonya@deartbt.com

Bonus Episode: This week, we talk to musician Anthony Hamilton about his new tour, Black love, and what he learned from the pandemic. 2022 WEBBY WINNER: BEST ADVICE PODCAST  Twitter: deartruthbetold Instagram: deartbt Email: tonya@deartbt.com

We’ve heard of burnout and “zoom fatigue,” but what are practices we can take to let ourselves pause and not be made to feel guilty about it? This week we talk to the founder of the Nap Ministry, Tricia Hersey about how to treat our bodies, not as hustle machines, but as living, divine beings that need rest. And what does that even look like? 2022 WEBBY WINNER: BEST ADVICE PODCAST  Twitter: deartr...

They say honesty is the best policy, but what does it really take to be radically honest with ourselves for the benefit of our relationships? This week we’re joined by sex educator Ericka Hart and her partner and manager Ebony P. Donnley, as they share how a relationship founded on honesty can be a pathway to our collective liberation. From open relationships to body image, nothing is off the tabl...