Stance Podcast with Chrystal Genesis

In this special summer episode, Stance features Deborah Colker, the legendary Brazilian choreographer and creative mind behind the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics. We speak to writer Kerry Hudson about her memoir, Low Born, that charts life growing up poor in 80's & 90's Britain. And Stance heads to Grange Park Opera to speak to Wasfi Kani, the woman bringing South Carolina's Porgy and Bess,...

Stance travels to Manchester to explore and celebrate its extraordinary LGBTQ+ history and why it's been consistently judged as one of the best places in the world to be LGBT. We catch up with Chicago born singer, songwriter and poet Jamila Woods to find out more about her album LEGACY! LEGACY! that celebrates 12 of her heroes and icons from the African diaspora, along with the cultural lineage th...

Stance meets award-winning writer Valeria Luiselli. We speak to her about her life and what influenced her new book The Lost Child Archive, which has been longlisted for the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction. We head to the East Bay, California, to learn about the disability rights movement for artists and we visit Creative Growth, the world's first and largest non-profit centre dedicated to artists...

Stance catches up with actor and director powerhouse Adjoa Andoh to find out more about her production of Shakespeare's Richard II showing at the Globe Theatre in London. It's the first UK show to be produced entirely by people of colour - front and backstage. Stance flew to Bergen in Norway to check out Borealis, an experimental music festival showcasing everything from music to performance art t...

In this episode, we catch up with London singer and producer NAO to hear about her acclaimed second album, Saturn. Plus, we explore the many faces of modern yoga - including the voices driving for greater representation in the wellness space, the people that call themselves 'yogis', the cult-like controversy surrounding the founder of Bikram yoga, LA's first instructor that teaches from a wheelcha...

In our Women + Islam feature - we examine the rise of US political figures like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib; have a discussion with women from the Arab Diaspora; we uncover the practice of Islam shrouded in mystery - Sufism; and we hear from one of the writers in a seminal new essay collection called It's Not About the Burqa . This month, we are in conversation with actor and rapper, Paigey Cakey...

This month, we kick off the new year with an exploration of language in our feature, "Way With Words". How do we preserve our most endangered languages? How does a dialect become a language? Do labels like "Womxn", "LGBTQIA", "people of color" and "Latinx" empower or hold people back? What happens when a command of written and verbal language no longer separates robots from humans? We'll dig into...

On Beauty - Stance explores its value in society, the ethics surrounding beauty ideals, the objects we treasure, and the beauty rules of Drag. Stance speaks with artist Naeem Mohaiemen, Turner Prize Nominee, to find out more about his work. And in our current affairs piece, we investigate how neuroscience is being used to promote greater wellbeing in cities, with a new generation of scientists, ar...

How can we re-imagine political power? What is the role of culture in the current political climate? These were the questions framing the YBCA 100 Summit in San Francisco - an event recognizing some of the most exciting people, organizations and movements changing society for the better. Stance caught up with this year's honorees Janet Mock; Tarana Burke; Nnedi Okorafor; Rafael Casal, as well as Y...

In our first ever podcast, as President Trump took office we talked about the rise of the demagogue. Nearly two years on, the bitter fight for control of Congress is playing out in front of our eyes. Stance looks at how global relationships with democratic participation has changed and is shifting in a period of rapid technological and political upheaval. We profile Sayaka Murata, a multi-award wi...

In this episode of Stance Takes - we celebrate Black History Month in the UK and hear whether new ideas around representation and diversity are challenging the old stale orthodoxy. Stance co-host Chrystal Genesis takes her son to the British Library's exhibition celebrating 70 years since the Empire Windrush. They share stories of their history against a backdrop of Marcus Garvey, Darcus Howe and...

This month, Stance explores what has been hailed as a new era in masculinity, a year on from the launch of the #metoo movement. Stance dissects society's idea of masculinity and how this is being challenged and reshaped, with voices including Emmy-winning filmmaker Deeyah Khan. Stance profiles the award-winning acclaimed poet, musician and writer Kate Tempest, and speak with Emmy award-winning dir...

Introducing Stance Takes: an experimental mini episode outside of Stance's regular format, covering entertainment, in-depth interviews and the ideas framing co-founders, Chrystal Genesis and Heta Fell's conversations. The first Stance Takes will explore the cultural significance of award-winning surrealist TV drama comedy, "Atlanta" by FX. Donald Glover has been described as a "one of Hollywood's...

Stance explores the notion of Coming of Age, what it means to young people, how it's expressed and celebrated across many cultures and depicted through film and felt through music. We speak to award-winning playwright and poet Inua Ellams about his critically acclaimed play Barber Shop Chronicles which is now touring internationally. And, lastly we catch up with Eno Williams, the lead singer of Af...

Stance explores the great British obsession, class, with an in-depth report focusing on class and culture. We interview Mercury-nominated singer and songwriter Jessie Ware and we catch up with star of the dance world, Hofesh Shechter, ahead of his mammoth community-led project set in the Tower of London. Stance is an award-winning independent arts, culture and current affairs podcast, exploring di...

Stance explores PTSD and how people living in violent neighborhoods are developing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at rates as high, if not higher, than veterans who served on the frontline in Iraq. With alarmingly high rates of violent crime in the UK capital, Stance wanted get to the heart of this issue and find out what needs to change. We also explore intergenerational trauma and how, if left u...

Stance visits India with a cultural trip that takes us beyond the National Geographic lens, to meet street educators, young LGBTQ activists and visual artists that are all changing the face of modern Mumbai. Stance meets Grammy Award-winning musician, Zakir Hussain, and visionary choreographer, Alonzo King, at the world premiere of their new co-creation, Sutra . They discuss the importance of arti...

Stance looks at the changing face of drugs, including a special report from California on LSD and the reality of the legalization of cannabis. Plus, we hear about Iboga, from Gabon, known as one of the strongest psychedelic drugs on the planet, but also believed to be a cure for opioid addiction. We meet with award-winning choreographer and director Holly Blakey, ahead of her London show with Osca...

Stance returns with its Alternative Realities  series investigating the perception of Witches and what it means to be a be a witch in the UK, the US and India. Stance profiles the author Kamila Shamsie, whose most recent novel, Home Fire was Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Finally, we catch up with critically acclaimed DJ and Producer, Kaytranada. Stance is an independent arts, culture and cu...

Stance met up with elusive French artist, JR, known for creating huge black-and-white photographic images as murals in public places all over the world. We spoke to the exciting new award-winning director, Maysaloun Hamoud, to find out more about her first feature film, In Between, set in Israel telling the story of three Palestinian women. Lastly, we explore the future of centrism. What hope is t...

We start the new year by exploring our complex and glorious relationship to Food with writer and Great British Bake Off finalist, Ruby Tandoh, plus, the former Young Poet Laureate for London, Selina Nwulu; and other important voices. We cover food fads, in relation to class and body image; we analyse the language and labels we hear around food, and we ask whether politicising food is all too much....

In the 12th episode of Stance - Heta Fell and Chrystal Genesis explore four distinct takes on Home, covering the Grenfell fire six months on; the Rohingya crisis; Venezuela; and Homelessness among the LGBTQ community in San Francisco. They speak to Mehereta Baruch-Ron, the Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv. An Ethiopian-born Jew who went from illiterate child refugee to heart of the Israeli political elite...

We cover Sport and Revolution with Women's NBA player, Kelsey Bone; writer and journalist, Musa Okwonga; and they go for a run with Goodgym founder, Ivo Gormley. They speak exclusively to Four Tet. Hailed as one of the 21st-century's finest electronic musicians, he speaks to Stance in his first and only interview about his album, New Energy. They also discuss the sea with Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE and...

Stance Podcast explores diverse perspectives in arts, culture and current affairs. This month, we speak to Gina Miller, the woman who successfully took on the British government with regards to Brexit, in one of her most personal interviews to date. We explore the often overlooked political and racial aspects of the work of the late artist, Basquiat. And we discuss sex with five women who in diffe...

In this episode, Stance hears about the epidemic of sexual harassment facing the tech world, with a female entrepreneur who shares her alleged experience of sexual harassment at the hands of a renowned investor. Heta and Chrystal explore the tech industry at large looking at what needs to change with regards to representation in gender and race, and why it is critical to the future of tech. They p...