The BIG We

In this episode we sit down with Natalie Baszile the writer of Queen Sugar and talk about her book and the release of her upcoming book. We discuss her upbringing and the inspiration behind her writings. The theme behind her writings are centered around Black Farmers and connecting to our agricultural roots in the South.  Find out more at the thebigwe.com

On this episode Anasa shares what has been keeping her busy during the pandemic and what she has learned about herself during these time. Anasa talks about the election and of course shares her Pop 3 to start of the season! Anasa discusses the legacy and legend left behind by Cecily Tyson, how she has been enjoying Sundance Film Festival virtually, and the release of Judas and the Black Messiah. &...

We're coming back for Season 3! In our first episode of 2020 Anasa and Calvin WENT LIVE on Facebook to catch up and talk adjusting to life during a pandemic. We get into Bill Withers, discuss Cardi B's political musings and talk about what freedom really looks like. We're also are joined by a very special surprise guest!  Tell us what y'all think at @thebigwepodcast & check out the show n...

Anasa and Calvin are joined by activist, musician and preacher Rev. Sekou on this special episode of The Big We. The trio gets into America’s acknowledgment of Juneteenth, share honest opinions on Beyonce’s latest release and explore what abolition and protection really look like. They also talk Dave Chappelle’s 8:46 and discuss the possibilities of the future under new suns. Tell us what y'all th...

This is a bonus episode to start off Season 3. Anasa and Calvin attempt to make sense of what's happening in the world right now. They get into what defunding the police really means, tackling unique issues in the workplace and what to tell all those nice folks asking how they can help. They also talk John Boyega's fiery Hyde Park speech, Problem Areas with Wyatt Cenac, and the transformational We...

 Anasa and Calvin dive into Harriet, the new Harriet Tubman biopic directed by Kasi Lemmons starring Cynthia Erivo. We explore Harriet as a freedom fighter, prophet, mystic, and military leader and what it’s like to engage with her legacy during this Year of Return. Tell us what y'all think at @thebigwepodcast & check out the show notes at thebigwepodcast.com

We talk to our favorite comedian Kevin Avery about the new blaxploitation throwback film, Dolemite is My Name starring Eddie Murphy. Kevin Avery is a brilliant comedian, producer, and writer—he’s written on shows like HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, and Comedy Central's The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn & Open Mike Eagle. We talk to Kevin about the...

In this special Indigenous People’s Day edition of the Big We, we talk to our friends Kevin Killer and Sarah Eagle Heart who recently returned from a trip to Ghana as part of a truth and healing project to commemorate the 400 year anniversary since 1619, the year the first ship with enslaved Africans arrived in Virginia. They share their perspectives on what their travels from Oglala to Oguaa taug...

Afrofuturism is everywhere!  Allow Calvin and Anasa to be your guides to the Renaissance of Black storytellers who are accessing their imaginations to liberate the past, present and future… Nerd out with us on Beyonce’s return to the Continent, Black identity and storytelling at the Emmy’s, the nuanced magic of David Makes Man, Ta Nehisi Coates’ brilliant new Afrosurrealist novel, and more! D...

Anasa and Calvin are feeling sad about Dave Chappelle...  What do we do when people we want to root for disappoint us? How do we hold courageous conversations on important issues that call people IN rather than cancel them, allow space for growth and learning, and still center the dignity and humanity of those who have been harmed? Tell us what you think! Plus: a new feminist hip hop album not to...

Anasa has been thinking a lot about money—specifically, how race impacts class and one's ability to "manifest abundance." What happens when "All you need is LOVE"  is just not true? How do Black folks heal their personal relationships to abundance while asserting a need for repair from the structures that systematically kept them from it on a material level? Join the conversation and tell us...

“The most powerful thing we can do in this time is to be our most free selves. Imagine who you would be if you were FREE!” -Anasa Troutman The BIG We is back! In this episode Anasa and Calvin talk about the history and magic of #BlackAugust and why sustaining Black JOY is the most powerful, radical, healing, freeing thing they can do in this #YearofReturn. Plus: thoughts on #ToniMorrison #Ablackla...

This 4th of July, Calvin raises a red black and green cup in honor of Frederick Douglass. What does freedom really look like, sound like, taste like to you? What is a celebration of freedom that connects to a Bigger We? Tell us how you're reinventing this colonizer holiday @wethebigwe! 

In our finale episode of this season, Calvin and Anasa share their thoughts, heartbreaks, and meaning making of the #GameofThrones Finale. Plus: ancestral storytelling through food,  #afrosurrealist  back to the future, and a surprise ancestry reveal from Calvin!  Tweet us @wethebigwe - What’s a food that tells the story of your ancestors? & Email us your alternate Game of...

Calvin makes a BIG Announcement and Anasa publicly apologizes to Beyoncé... Tune in and find out how you can practice transformative love in public in this era of Thanos and BBQ Beckies. Plus: lessons from the songbook of Stevie Wonder, #Moechella vs. Gentrification, transformative Black Queer #MetGala fashion, and exclusive #GameofThrones Pro-wrestling conspiracy theories - all brought to yo...

What does Avengers: Endgame have to teach us about humanity in this #YearofReturn??? Calvin and Anasa break it all the way down and nerd allllll the way out, guiding us through the superhero film's secret BIG We agenda... Plus:  Homecoming, Guava island, Black power naps, and our can't-miss culture recommendations for your watchlists! If YOU had the infinity gauntlet, how you would you transf...

In this episode, Anasa gets schooled on love by her civil rights hero Dr. James Lawson & Calvin has a landmark birthday that teaches him about the magic of unexpected returns. Join them as they dish on everything from difficult love to the new Octavia Butler tv adaptations, Jordan Peele’s Us, and Game of Thrones!  

Calvin and Anasa take the Year of Return to Hawaii with special guests Zen Master Norma Wong and filmmaker Na’alehu Anthony, exploring the powerful Native Hawaiian movement that's reclaiming indigenous language as a pathway to the future—and sailing Polynesian canoes around the world! Norma Wong is a Zen teacher and strategy practitioner. In earlier years, Wong served as a Hawai‘i state legislator...

Calvin and Anasa weren’t expecting a visit to a former plantation in North Carolina to change their lives, but sometimes we need to go back to the past to heal the future. Hear their tales of return to Southern land, to  joy beyond justice, to the songs of Lauryn Hill, to the trauma of R.Kelly. Find out how and why they’re claiming 2019 as the Year of Return and join them in their journey!&nb...

Welcome to The BIG We! A new podcast that dives into the messiness, heartache, power, humor, love, and brilliance of people who are transforming a world gone wack into a world grounded in love and regeneration, leaving behind the nasty power relations we all deal with every day. In this pre-episode, Co-Host Anasa Troutman tells us how she turned "Thanksgiving" into a real-life Family Fantasy Extra...