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That Time Aretha Asked Celine If She Knew Jesus Aug 30, 2021

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Glamour. Sass. Unadulterated talent. What makes a diva? Podcast divas of the universe Tracy and Josh go deep in their diva bags and unpack the origins and evolution of divas as well as the politics around diva-dom. They invite Wayne Isaak, former Executive Vice President of Music Programming and Talent for VH1 and Co-Producer of VH1’s Divas Live ’98 and ’99 to explain all things diva, and he gives the tea on what really happened behind the scenes between the ultimate diva/divo acts like Tina Turner, Elton John, Whitney Houston, and Aretha Franklin. Is a diva still a female version of a hustler or has it been reinvented?

That Time We Sat There And Ate Our Food Aug 23, 2021

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Grab your sporks and your doggy bags! This week, Josh and Tracy dig in and dig deep about their mutual love of food and its way of connecting people, places, and stories. Joining them is founder of Herb ‘N’ Cooking and Food Network's "Chopped" finalist Chef Mustapha Abdul-Rahiim. He breaks down food’s ability to socialize us and its inherent connection to memory.

That Time We Did It For the '99s and '00s Aug 16, 2021

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Music has a way of scoring life’s big and small moments, and this week, Josh and Tracy team up to create the ultimate mixtape that ushers in all the feels. They discuss their musical influences, test their knowledge on R&B and pop groups we thought we remembered, and maybe—just maybe, reveal that one of them is secretly a recording artist. Together, we are reminded why music makes us lose control, and why sometimes, that’s just what we need.

That Time The Internet Wasn’t A Hellscape Aug 10, 2021

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Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to pay tribute to this thing called Beyoncé’s internet. No, not today’s digital hellscape, but the one we first fell in love with way back in ye olde days of AOL, Napster, and LiveJournal. *dial up bings and gurgles* This week, Josh and Tracy reminisce on how being online once had the potential to affirm us. How did we go from that to *gestures at the entire World Wide Web* whatever mess this is? And how can we imagine and create a better cyber world for us, by us? To help answer these questions, we’ll be joined by two people we would definitely rank in our Myspace Top 8, Bridget Todd (digital activist and host of “There Are No Girls On The Internet”) and Naj Austin (founder of Ethel’s Club and Somewhere Good).

That Time It Wasn’t Right Or OK Aug 02, 2021

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This week, Josh and Tracy put together a mixtape of love to unpack Whitney Houston’s career and legacy -- from her gospel beginnings and becoming America’s princess, to that infamous Wendy Williams interview and Being Bobby Brown. What can Whitney’s life teach us about the tension between mental health and success? And how can we learn from what she went through to do better? P.S. If any of your relatives were in the Soul Train Awards audience that booed our Queen of the Night, have them call us on our Back Issue hotline: (678) 74-ISSUE. We’d like a word.

That Time We Gave You Five Jul 26, 2021

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Now that the world is opening and closing...and opening, we’ve been thinking a lot about touch. This week, Tracy and Josh explore all the ways we greet each other – high fives! low fives! secret handshakes! – and what they say about us. They also get into a battle over whose hometown invented the high five. 🍿 And Barry White Jr. – no, not the crooner, but the teacher who went viral for memorizing individualized handshakes for 80+ students – joins us to help us understand the power a greeting can have.

Back Issue Season 2: Back In The Habit Jul 19, 2021

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Your summer just got a lot hotter, 'cause Back Issue is back in the habit! 🔥Season 2 is about to serve even more joy and pop culture nostalgia than before. We’re honoring Whitney THEE Houston, giving the folks who *actually* invented the internet their flowers, and fighting over whose hometown dreamt up the high five. All along the way, we continue to take the advice of our patron saint Tyra “Move Ya Body” Banks and 🗣LEARN SOMETHING FROM THIS! Oh, and one of our hosts kind of transforms into a cyber-loving ghost, nbd. 👻Season premiere drops Monday, July 26th! Wow, what a moment you will never forget.

Remember When We Found Ourselves? (Feat. Jill Scott and Perry Fair) Dec 07, 2020

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Before We Bid Season 1 Adieu, Did You Know Tracy Almost Got An Ankh Tattoo?

This week, Josh and Tracy close out Back Issue's first season with one last trip, all the way back to the heyday of Neo Soul, from how the genre shaped them to their faves. They talk to Perry Fair, one of the creatives behind Coke’s iconic Nu Classic Soul ad. Then, they sit down with THEE Jill Scott (AHHHH!!!) to talk about her music, her legacy, and remembering our favorite parts of ourselves.

Additional Material By: Motown/Control Freaq Records, Coca Cola, Smithsonian Institute, Hidden Beach, MCA, Blisslife, Virgin/EMI, Atlantic Records, Dreamworks Records, Motown/Universal, LaFace, CW/Warner Bros.

Production Music courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com. For transcriptions, please visit our website at https://pineapple.fm/back-issue.

Remember Backing That Azz Up? (Feat. Dr. Joy Harden Bradford and Mariah Moore) Nov 30, 2020

Show notes

Without A Doubt, I Miss The Cookout

This week, take a break from your solitary quarantine as Josh and Tracy take you waaay back to some of the baddest, Blackest functions of all time, like ATL's Freaknik and the Kentucky Derby. Then, travel back in time with Josh and organizer Mariah Moore (of The Transgender Law Center, House of Tulip) to the celebration of life and death that was Aretha Franklin's second line in New Orleans. And because we all could use some therapy, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford of 'Therapy For Black Girls' drops in to offer some (non-medical!) guidance on how to get through this time of separation.

Additional Material By: ViacomCBS, Warner Bros., Los Angeles Times, New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, Atlantic/Warner Bros., CW/Warner Bros.

Production Music courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com. For transcriptions, please visit our website at https://pineapple.fm/back-issue.

Remember When We Caught The Spirit? (feat. Pastor Shirley Caesar and Ashon Crawley) Nov 23, 2020

Show notes

Can You Hear It? I Know You Caught The Spirit

This week, Josh and Tracy are taking you to church. First, they talk about their time in the pews, from the ways they've had to reconcile their faiths and identities to the music that has stuck with them. They hear about the deep, poetic roots of Gospel in Black identity from writer and professor Ashon Crawley. And they sit down with pastor and legend Shirley Caesar to talk about her reverence for the music, her unforgettable “greens, beans, potatoes, tomatoes” meme, and the importance of finding joy right now.

Additional Material By: Arista Records, 20th Century Fox/Disney, Warner Bros Televison, Interscope Records/Universal, Universal Music Group, Malaco Music Group, SoSouth Music Distribution, Savoy Records/Univeral Music Group, Keep Cool/RCA, Light Records/Entertainment One, Columbia Records, eOne, ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks, Urban One, Cameron J/Sony Entertainment, KevOnStage, TuneCore, The Orchard Enterprises, Christina Marie/Interscrope/Universal, B-Rite/Interscope Records, Columbia Records/Sony Music, Sony Legacy, Sony Music Entertainment, Paramount Domestic Television, Word Records, CW/Warner Bros, Parkwood Entertainment/Sony , TDE/Aftermath/Interscope, Priority Records/Universal, Dirty 3 Records

Gospel Remix Provided by Donwill and 6th Sense. Production Music courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com. For transcriptions, please visit our website at https://pineapple.fm/back-issue.

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