The Ink Is Black Podcast

I picked this one for the nostalgia. Late nineties, early two thousands, hip hop magazine world, what could be more fun? Instead, I got pulled into something a lot heavier than a summer read, and we're talking through all of it today. SPOILER ALERT!: My episodes contain spoilers, so if you haven't read the book yet, come back when you're ready. "If I Ruled the World" follows Nikki Rose from a youn...

In this episode of The Ink is Black, host Tiffani Staten digs into Tolani Akinola's debut novel, Leave Your Mess at Home: a Nigerian-American family drama about four adult siblings, a decade of buried secrets, and one very consequential Thanksgiving. This episode contains full spoilers and discusses heavy themes including SA, emotional and physical abuse, and the sudden death of a loved one. Tiffa...

Two girls. Same wound. Completely different fates. In Tayari Jones' Kin, it's not just motherlessness that shapes Niecy and Annie. It's what Honeysuckle, Louisiana decides each girl's loss is worth. This episode digs into respectability politics, the mothers who showed up flawed and anyway, and what it costs a community when it decides some girls don't deserve grace. Spoilers included. Trigger war...

This month, we're celebrating Women's History Month with a read that hit differently. "With Love from Harlem" by ReShonda Tate is the story of Hazel Scott: jazz prodigy, film star, civil rights warrior, and one of the most famous Black women in America. A woman who made history as the first Black person to host her own national television show. A woman who was brilliant, bold, and completely on fi...

She's a full-figured Dominican doctor in Victorian England. He's a newly titled Duke with something to prove. And together, they are absolutely not playing around. This month on The Ink is Black, we're diving into Adriana Herrera's A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke, book four in the Las Leonas series, and honey, this one has layers. Yes, there's a love story. Yes, it's a good one. But underneath all...

Season 2 kicks off with Edwina Findley Dickerson's The World Is Waiting for You: part memoir, part spiritual guide, all about stepping into the life you were called to live. Host Tiffani Staten unpacks Edwina's journey from poverty to purpose, the power of strategic faith moves, and why your calling is bigger than just you. It's about lineage, service, and legacy. If you're setting intentions for...

Host Tiffani Staten digs into People Person by Candice Carty-Williams, a wild and heartfelt story about five half-siblings who are forced together after a violent incident and must decide what family truly means. Through humor, chaos, and painful honesty, the siblings confront their absent father, grow into chosen roles, and learn that being a "people person" is about presence and acceptance, not...

Host Tiffani Staten reviews Cebo Campbell’s Sky Full of Elephants, a speculative novel that explores a post‑racial dystopia after an event causes white people to drown themselves. The episode addresses heavy themes, including suicide, generational trauma, identity, and the damage of internalized racism. Staten reflects on characters’ journeys toward self‑actualization, the novel’s vision of a thri...

On this episode of The Ink Is Black, host Tiffani Staten dives into Blood Moon by Britney S. Lewis — a haunting exploration of family secrets, inherited pain, and the supernatural threads that bind them. Through the story of Mira Owens’s search for truth, from her mother’s mysterious disappearance to a hidden world of vampires and werewolves, Tiffani unpacks how silence, shame, and sacrifice pass...

Host Tiffani Staten reviews Khalia Moreau’s He Burns by the River, exploring its vivid Trinidadian setting, lyrical voice, and themes of identity, family, spirituality, and the symbolism of river and fire across the African diaspora. Staten shares a personal connection from a writers’ conference, praises the book’s honest portrayal of Caribbean life, and highly recommends it—teasing next month’s p...

In this bonus episode, host Tiffani Staten reflects on Tina Knowles' memoir Matriarch, exploring how Knowles transformed personal struggle into collective empowerment. From witnessing her professional friends being disrespected at salons to needing an escape route from an unfaithful marriage, Tina built Headliners as both survival strategy and sanctuary for Black women. The conversation covers ind...

In the debut episode of The Ink is Black, host Tiffani Staten dives deep into Esi Edugyan's "Washington Black" alongside Hulu's stunning new adaptation starring Sterling K. Brown. From the brutal cane fields of Barbados to the frozen Arctic and beyond, Tiffani traces Wash's complex journey to freedom while examining his complicated bond with Titch—mentor, savior, or something more troubling? With...

Welcome to "Ink is Black," where host Tiffani Staten shares her passion for books by Black authors. Join this monthly book club with a soulful twist, exploring stories by Black writers from all over the world. Discover the tales that resonate, from memoirs that tug at your heartstrings to page-turners that keep you reading late into the night. Dive into the cultural richness of Black storytelling...