My guest for this episode is Anela Malik, who is a writer, speaker, food and travel enthusiast, and social media influencer. She is the author of the book American Soul: The Black History of Food in the United States and the host of the Black food and travel series Our Block.

We discuss the difference between online and real-life Black culture, the importance of maintaining integrity as a social media content creator against the backdrop of Black capitalist hustle culture, the thriving Black food scene in DC, and her experience traveling the world as a Black American woman.

• Anela Malik's website: anelamalik.com
• Her social media handle on multiple platforms is @theanelamalik
• the book: American Soul: The Black History of Food in the United States
• the Our Block tv series
• Full episode notes here: blacketcpod.com/episodes/019-anela-malik

My guest for this episode is Lamont Jack Pearley, Executive Director and founder of Jack Dappa Blues Heritage Preservation Foundation & the African American Folklorist Magazine. He is an applied folklorist, an African American music historian, a traditional country blues artist himself, and an inductee into the New York Blues Hall of Fame.

We discuss a host of topics, including the meaning of applied folklorist, the relationship between folklorists & archivists, and the reason he founded The African American Folklorist Magazine I also chat a great deal with Mr. Pearley about the blues: Why the genre is such a potent lens for Black culture, hip hop songs that function as blues songs, and how being a blues artist informs his scholarly work.

• Lamont Jack Pearley's website: lamontjackpearley.com
• Jack Dappa Blues Heritage Preservation Foundation: jackdappabluesradio.tv
• The African American Folklorist Magazine: theafricanamericanfolklorist.com
• Full episode notes here: blacketcpod.com/episodes/018-lamont-jack-pearley

My guest for this episode is Dr. Constance Bailey, Assistant Professor of African American Literature and Folklore at Georgia State University and Digital Media Editor at the American Folklore Society. She has multiple books in the works, including the upcoming Get It While It's Hot: Gas Station, Roadside, and Convenience Cuisine in the U.S. South and The No Limit Reader: Music, Place, and Space in the Gulf South.

Dr. Bailey and I discuss the distinctions between "soul food" and "Southern food," the persistence of gas station and roadside food spots in the South, Black memes, the importance of preserving Black digital culture, as well as the Black "folktastic", which she defines as the fantasy elements in Black folklore.

• Dr. Bailey's website: constancebailey.com
• Instagram account: @constancetheeakademic
• Full episode notes here: blacketcpod.com/episodes/017-constance-bailey