Mixed Up

The one where we discuss the pressure to become skinny at any cost Emma and Nicole speak with Charisse Kenion, beauty and culture journalist, writer, photographer and podcaster. In her work she digs deep into beauty standards, cultural narratives and personal stories across identity lines over the past 15 years and has contributed to the likes of Dazed Beauty and British Vogue. We speak about the...

The one where you’re asked to choose a flag Emma and Nicole speak with mixed British-Japanese artist and counsellor, Denise Devenish. She works primarily with musicians and creatives having grown up in a family steeped in the music industry.  She is the daughter of Kishi Yamamoto and Adrian Sherwood of On-U Sound fame and was surrounded by around iconic artists including Lee Scratch Perry, Ari Up...

The one where we call our white boy bredrins to tell them to use their privilege for their wives at the hospital Emma and Nicole speak to Nehanda Truscott-Reid, a maternal wellness coach and founder Soul Mama Journey, which supports women of colour through the transition of motherhood to healing from maternal burnout. She also hosts The Soul Mama Podcast and runs The Soul Mama Retreat, a sacred sp...

The one where sit down with South London’s worst kept secret 🤫 Emma and Nicole sit down with Sara Assad-Mannings, co-owner and founder of Bunhead Bakery. We talk about her lockdown journey of bringing Palestinian flavours across South London from stalls and pop-ups to a viral bricks and mortar bakery, growing up “ambiguous” but staunchly proud and intentional in sharing her Palestinian heritage a...

The one with the mutual fan girling and a Land Rover to North Yorkshire. This week Emma and Nicole sit down with singer songwriter and beautiful soul Beka Prance. She is a master of the art of blending heart wrenching words and melodies and recently wrote the soundtrack for Apple TV show Trying. They talk about weaving life experiences of being mixed into the music, adoption, having two mixed pare...

The one where we talk about the book. Emma and Nicole are joined by Isabella Silvers, journalist and founder of Mixed Messages to discuss the release of their book, The Half of It. This time, Izzy interviews Emma and Nicole on how they got started, the book writing process, and themes from the book - history of mixed people from across the globe, understanding the root of mixed race stereotypes, c...

The one where we collect markers to flag our identities. Nicole is solo this week speaking with Becky White, creator and co-host of The Halfie Project, a platform and community that explores mixed Korean subcultures and identity. The Halfie Project kindly contributed to our book, The Half of It. They discuss their relationship with language, the history of mixed Koreans and the diaspora, how we ar...

The one where we find the language to talk about our experience. Emma and Nicole speak to Farzana Nayani, author of Raising Multiracial Children: Tools for Nurturing Identity in a Racialized World. Farzana is Filipina-Pakistani and is a diversity, equity and inclusion specialist in race, unconscious bias, culture and identity. She has been working with schools and within corporate environments for...

The one where we talk about tackling the climate crisis with an awareness of social injustice Emma and Nicole speak to Mikaela Loach, climate justice activist, campaigner and author about coming from two cultures that have a very different responsibility around the climate crisis. They discuss atmospheric colonialism, the moment she took the government to court and how we can look to our ancestors...

The one where the cream rises to the top Emma and Nicole speak to Michael Caines, is a two-Michelin star awarded chefs and one of six Black Michelin star chefs in the world. Born in Exeter, Michael was adopted into a white family at a young age and his love of cooking lead him to apprentice under Raymond Blanc, and at the age of 25 a car accident lead to him losing his right arm. He discusses grow...

The one where they expect you to play Britney Spears because they think you're a white girl  Emma and Nicole speak to Becca Dudley, a DJ and TV presenter who has been in the music industry for over a decade. Becca has Jamaican, British and German heritage, and set up the platform Deadly to showcase the best of reggae, dancehall and grime, and to shine a light up-and-coming artists. They discuss be...

Emma and Nicole speak to Hanako Footman, actor and author of her debut novel, Mongrel, following the lives of three women, Mei, Yuki and Haruka "revealing a tangled web of desire, isolation, belonging and ultimately, hope." Hanako is British-Japanese and has appeared in ITV's The Town, BBC Two's Defending the Guilty, and Netflix's The Crown. They discuss growing up in predominantly white environme...

The one where we trace pepper across the globe  In this week's live episode, Emma and Nicole speak to writer, journalist, poet and academic, Dr Anna Sulan Masing. Her work centres around identity, race and gender and looks to decolonise the cultural spaces we live in, particularly within food. They discuss the relationship between food and searching for 'home', how identity changes when location c...

The one where we finally sit down as Black and mixed race women to talk about our hair This week Emma and Nicole sit down with Paige Lewin (host of Texture Talks) and multihyphanete creative, Oneness Sankara, to decide if it's time to scrap the hair texture chart. They find out how we can talk to each other properly as Black and mixed women about our hair knowing that the struggles are different,...

The one where Hinge needs to drop their location Emma and Nicole speak to Apryl Williams, an assistant professor of communication and digital studies at the University of Michigan, senior fellow in Trustworthy AI at the Mozilla Foundation, and faculty associate at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. She’s the author of Not My Type: Automating Sexual Racism in Online D...

The one where we meet an actual Spice Girl Emma and Nicole are joined by Mel B to discuss her deeply open and vulnerable memoir, Brutally Honest. She shares with how emotional abuse is something that we are all closely linked to as women. She speaks candidly on motherhood, surviving abuse and PTSD, and recovery through to finding joy. Thank you to art'otel London Battersea Power Station for hostin...

The one where people need to accept that if Tyla says she’s coloured, it is what it is Emma and Nicole speak to authors of Coloured: How Classification Became Culture, Tessa Dooms and Lynsey Chutel, as well as digital creator Zeena Edwards and presenter Carissa Cupido. They discuss South Africa's history of apartheid and classifcation, its impact on the country, language and its evolution, and the...

The one where we talk weird food rules Emma and Nicole sit down at a live recording at Soho House with chef, best-selling author and sustainability champion Melissa Hemlsey to discuss how the industry shapes how our attitudes towards certain foods, food and cookery trends, her feel good food philosophy.  Melissa is the author of five best-selling cookbooks including Feel Good, Eat Happy and Eat Gr...

The one where 'our judgment of other women is a reflection of the harshness with which we treat ourselves' Emma and Nicole speak with Sunday Times best-selling author, academic and broadcaster Emma Dabiri on her new book, Disobedient Bodies: Reclaim Your Unruly Beauty. They discuss the history of beauty, convention and beauty constructs and its links to control, patriarchy and capitalism.  Emma Da...

The one where  *Note:  this episode was recorded in June before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes were announced* Emma and Nicole speak to Tom Verica, the director of Queen Charlotte, one of the most popular Netflix shows to date. He is currently the head of creative production for Shondaland and has an extensive career on stage and screen as actor, director and executive producer.  We dive into the s...

The one where there is a fundamental need for a Black Curriculum The theme for this year's Black History Month is Saluting Your Sisters, and this week Emma and Nicole are joined Lavinya Stennett is a writer, author, educator and CEO of The Black Curriculum, which is a social enterprise whose mission is to deliver Black British history in schools throughout the UK and empower young Black students t...

The one where you put the key in the door and you're home The theme for this year's Black History Month is Salute Your Sisters, and this week Emma and Nicole are joined by the highly celebrated Kit de Waal for Mixed Up Book Club. Kit's critically acclaimed novel, My Name is Leon, about a mixed-race, nine-year-old boy who ends up in care in the 1980s was recently adapted for screen. Her memoir, Wit...

The one where it looks like everybody has 'Allychip' fatigue The theme for this year's Black History Month is Salute Your Sisters, and this week Emma and Nicole can't help but salute the original babygirl, Kelechi Okafor - author, actress and public speaker. Her debut book Edge of Here aims to bring Black women a sense of hope and permission to yearn. We discuss the themes in the book including ‘a...

The one where we talk to a Black British icon born of a Black British icon REPLAY: This Black History Month, Emma and Nicole speak to actress Lenora Crichlow - a Black British icon herself and daughter of Black British icon Frank Crichlow, owner of the Mangrove and one of the Mangrove 9. You may have recently connected with Frank’s story via Steve McQueen Small Axe series.   Lenora spoke about gro...

The one where you're descendant from escaped enslaved Africans who joined forces with the Seminoles in the 1700s Emma and Nicole speak to Caitlin Bellah, a photographer and artist who shares the story of her linage and how she was inspired to investigate it by this very podcast. She is a descendant of the Freedmen who are mostly blood descendants of the Seminole people, free Africans, and escaped...