The Craft & Release Podcast

Cortney is a storyteller and maker, born and raised in Brooklyn. His story for Release 005: ENDINGS is about his grandmother, Sylvia, and what remains after someone you love is gone.

Javier is a writer and spoken word poet who turns the people and moments that move him into his art. His story for Release 005: ENDINGS is a reflection on friendship, loss, and what it means to keep going without someone who once felt essential.

Yael is an independent singer-songwriter based in Queens. Alongside her partner, Ariel Arellano, she helps build creative community at Grey Studios LIC through workshops and live events. Her story for Release 005: ENDINGS is about a friendship that crossed a line, became something more, and eventually became nothing at all.

Tiffany is a floral designer and hopeful romantic with an eye for beauty and a belief in fate. Her story for Release 005: ENDINGS reflects on the many chapters of a love she once believed was meant to be—and one unexpected collision.

Ashley is a writer, widow, and creator of Bad Brain, a weekly newsletter exploring grief, pop culture, and the internet. Her work has appeared in Jezebel, New York Magazine/Vulture, Essence, and Teen Vogue. Her story for Release 005: ENDINGS follows a trip to Montana to spread some of her late husband Rob’s ashes in Glacier National Park, and the strange intimacy of saying goodbye in a place he ch...

Jameer is a storyteller who has traveled the world telling true, first-person stories. He’s also a Video Director at Vanity Fair. His story for Release 005: ENDINGS is about covering Kamala Harris’s election night party and finding himself in an emotional powder keg he’ll never forget.

Glynn and Nneka kick off Release 005: ENDINGS with a conversation about letting go, moving on, and the endings that are harder to make sense of. Pulling from the themes in this season’s stories, they swap their own experiences with love, loss, friendship, and the people and places that can be hard to leave behind.

Julianne Nassi is an acute care nurse, cringey dog mom, and mezcal supremacist from Harlem. She describes her writing style as “manic episode” and has learned to lean into it—because sometimes creativity looks a little like madness. Her story for Release 004: REDEMPTION + REVENGE, involves a toxic ex, plastic surgery, and the particular satisfaction of getting the last word.

Ene is a creative and storyteller at heart whose creativity takes many forms, from cooking to writing, to floral design. Her story for Release 004: REDEMPTION + REVENGE is about a forbidden romance, a friendship put to the test, and what happens when desire complicates everything.

Gaëlle is Brooklyn-born, Philly-raised, and the daughter of Haitian parents. She’s a creative, a hustler, and a risk taker who would rather try something and be wrong than wonder what could have happened. Her story for Release 004: REDEMPTION + REVENGE is about revisiting the same situation one too many times—and what it takes to finally leave it alone for good.

Sumitra is an NYC-based writer, textile designer, and mother of two. Her story for Release 004: REDEMPTION + REVENGE follows the evolution of her relationship with her father and the difficult work of forgiveness when family bonds are tested.

E.M. Gallagher is a writer, New Yorker, former educator, and retired hellraiser. On her Substack, Ugh. Anyway., she writes about the ghosts of her dating past and rants about life at large. It took her eight years to write her story for Release 004: REDEMPTION + REVENGE. It’s about a breakup that blindsided her, what she couldn’t understand at the time, and what became clear years later.

Grace is a creator and comedian who knows that sometimes a good story starts with a little beef. Her story for Release 004: REDEMPTION + REVENGE is about a night out with friends, a stolen joint, and how she ended up beefing with Jay Electronica.

Glynn and Nneka kick off Release 004: REDEMPTION + REVENGE with a conversation about getting even, getting closure, and the blurry line between the two. Pulling from the themes in this season’s stories, they swap their own experiences with grudges, forgiveness, heartbreak, and the times revenge felt a little too sweet.

Kam is West African-born but grew up in Harlem. Finding it hard to express herself verbally growing up, she fell in love with the ability to share her inner thoughts and wild imagination with people without having to speak. But every now and then she gets a bit courageous and shares some of her writing. Kam shares two poems for Release 003: LOVE. The first is about accountability, the second is a...

Kristin is a writer because she writes. She is a lifelong student and educator. Her plants require her to read to them. She combats writer's block with a yoga flow or dancing. Her story for Release 003: LOVE is about the unconditional love between her and her father, now held in a container of grief.

Tiffany is a hopeful romantic and Brooklyn native currently working on her first memoir. Her story for Release 003 is a rendering of an unexpected encounter with a stranger in Paris and the echo of its impact.

Kat is a multidisciplinary creative known for introducing good people to the utmost experiences and communities. Kat’s story for Release 003: LOVE is about the unavoidable relationship between grief and love.

Ẹniafẹ Isis is a woman breaking into herself, a writer alchemizing emotion, and a journey-teller guiding herself and others in the narration of their own stories. Her story for Release 003: LOVE, Reflections In Her Eyes, is told through the lens of a woman breaking into herself, breaking down, breaking up, and breaking through.

Lauren is a storyteller, writer, stand-up comedian, and artist. Her story for Release 003: LOVE  explores the journey of self-love through the lens of body image and a chance encounter that blossoms into a romance spanning London, New York, and Paris.

Join the Founders of Craft & Release, Glynn Pogue and Nneka Julia, as they kick off Release 003 with a conversation about LOVE. 

Black, queer, and concerned with freedom, Solaris J. Capehart is a Liberian poet and abolitionist educator based in Bed-Stuy, they are the result of a divine experiment to combine the gay son and the thot daughter, this is not even their final form. They share two poems celebrating friendship as a sacred technology for survival. We hope you enjoy this episode, and make sure to stick around for the...

Katie Mack, Award Winning Director, Filmmaker & Writer shares a story about when saying less isn't enough, so you gotta say less. We hope you enjoy this episode, and make sure to stick around for the after-the-release craft interview.

Idinma is a Nigerian-born, Brooklyn-based creative with a flair for storytelling and community-building. Her story, "On Friendship," explores the lessons learned from navigating friendships both at home and abroad. We hope you enjoy this episode, and make sure to stick around for the after-the-release craft interview.

Ani Otiv is a humor and culture writer. "Where I Went" is about the time she found love on Anime Club Penguin. We hope you enjoy this episode from RELEASE 002: FRIENDSHIP, and make sure to stick around for the after-the-release craft interview.