Homegoings

Homegoings is a show that invites listeners to be a fly on the wall, privy to candid and genuine conversations about race. Host and musician Myra Flynn explores themes that fearlessly straddle that line between necessary and uncomfortable, as she speaks with artists, experts and regular folks all over the country about their literal skin in the game — of everyday life. Homegoings is storytelling —...

Rachel Anne Dolezal became infamous when, in 2015, while deep in her work as an activist for Black and civil rights, a local TV news crew interviewed her and asked: “Are you African American?” Rachel froze. Turned from the camera and walked away . At the same time, Rachel's parents, Larry and Ruth Dolezal, outed Rachel as being born biologically white. While Rachel acknowledged this was true, she...

Rachel Anne Dolezal became infamous when, in 2015, while deep in her work as an activist for Black and civil rights, a local TV news crew interviewed her and asked: “Are you African American?” Rachel froze. Turned from the camera and walked away . At the same time, Rachel's parents, Larry and Ruth Dolezal, outed Rachel as being born biologically white. While Rachel acknowledged this was true, she...

Sweeney Grabin wants to know how to maintain her family’s Indian and Jewish cultures for her 2-year-old daughter, Maya, while living in Vermont, a predominantly white state. This episode originally appeared on Vermont Public’s show Brave Little State – and now we’re sharing it here with you. Homegoings is a production of Vermont Public. Follow season 1 here . This episode was reported and mixed by...

***A heads up: This episode contains real conversations about suicide..*** G rief. It’s a word with certain acceptable adjectives attached. Words like: layered and complicated, hard and complex. Sad. But there are other words some might feel too scared to admit belong in the conversation describing grief. Words like: liberation, ease and even relief. In this episode, we speak with three Latina wom...

Powdered wigs, white men, aristocracy — these are just a handful of images and stereotypes historically associated with the world of classical music. But what if we’re wrong? In this episode, guest hosts James Stewart and Adiah Gholston talk with teenagers, composers and professors to unpack some of our assumptions around classical music: Where its roots really lie, who it’s made for, and where it...

***A heads up: This episode is gonna get real. There will be some unbleeped swearing, and conversations about mental health issues and suicide..*** Ash Diggs is funny. So funny in fact that one of his jobs is to make people laugh. He’s a stand-up comedian who grew up in the South, moved to Queens, New York in 2021 but hails from Vermont. We speak with Ash about the relationship between comedy, add...

Audra McDonald, singer, broadway and television star — is a household name. As well as being the winner of six Tony Awards, two Grammys and an Emmy, The 53-year-old is also a bit of a truth-teller, to say the least. Earlier this summer, we sat down with Audra for a conversation on life, activism and navigating an artistic career in traditionally white spaces. Homegoings is a production of Vermont...

***A heads up: This episode contains strong language and unbleeped swearing*** In America, birth is a business; a cultural, political and for-profit system. And currently that system, for Black women, is in crisis. In this episode, host Myra Flynn speaks with a midwife, a doula, and swaps birth stories with two Black women. Together they discuss the joy, the trauma and the needed reckoning to addr...

Host Myra Flynn sits down with artist Stephanie Wilson in her first interview since her double mastectomy and breast cancer diagnosis. Together they talk about her ongoing journey toward healing, and her work to break the generational cycle of secrets she believes made her sick in the first place. Homegoings is a production of Vermont Public. Follow season 1 here . Special thanks to Tim Heaghney,...

Host Myra Flynn talks with three couples about their love journeys, and how through hopes and dreams, the winds of change, and a heartbreaking history … nevertheless, Black love persists. Homegoings is a production of Vermont Public. Follow season 1 here . Special thanks to Brent Dixon and Tim Sonnefeld. Thanks to Elodie Reed, who is the graphic artist behind all of our Homegoings artist portraits...

***A heads up: This episode contains strong language and unbleeped swearing*** Host Myra Flynn unpacks one soul food recipe: collard greens, with local and world-renowned chefs, and even her own mother. Together they explore how the history of a once undesirable food mimics the resilience, innovation and perseverance of a once considered undesirable people. Homegoings is a production of Vermont Pu...

***A heads up: This episode is gonna get real. There will be some unbleeped swearing, and conversations about mental health issues and suicide. If your heart is feeling heavy today, you may want to sit this one out. And if you are in need of support, you can call, text, or chat: 988. They’re available 24/7.*** In this episode, host Myra Flynn combs the streets of southern California and even her o...

In this second episode, host Myra Flynn speaks with three women of color about their journey toward finding themselves beautiful in a world dominated by a Eurocentric beauty standard. Homegoings is a production of Vermont Public. Follow season 1 here . So, what’d you think? We’re an open book here. If you have any thoughts on the podcast, folks we should talk to, or subjects you feel super passion...

In this first episode, host Myra Flynn speaks with Reverend Arnold Isadore Thomas, the Pastor of the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Jericho, Vermont about what makes a home, a home? It may be a place, or a feeling, or maybe it’s a person you’ve been homesick for. Or a people. Find a video of Reverend Arnold Thomas singing an original song from his self-written musical at homegoings.co Homegoings...

Our first season is available right here in this feed. And haven’t you heard that sharing is caring?! That’s right … spread the word about Homegoings: a righteous space for art and race. This is Homegoings. Welcome home.