In a candid, laughter-laced conversation, Tarriona "Tank" Ball pulls back the curtain on vulnerability as both artistic method and emotional necessity. Discussing her poetry collection The Thing About Falling, Ball distinguishes this work from her earlier book Vulnerable by one crucial shift: this time, the poems were not written for anyone else—not an ex, not an audience—but for herself. What emerges is an unguarded meditation on love after heartbreak, the danger of rushing healing, and the quiet education that happens in the “in-between” relationships. Falling, she explains, is never intentional, but survival depends on whether someone—or something—can catch you when it happens. Moving fluidly between humor, romance, self-reckoning, and performance, the conversation affirms writing as one of the most exposed art forms there is: just words, memory, and nerve. In Ball’s telling, poetry does not resolve longing or confusion—it names them, dignifies them, and reminds the listener they are not alone in feeling exactly this way.

Order Tarriona "Tank" Ball Books Here: https://bookshop.org/a/20190/9798881600211
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This episode is part of the ongoing conversations hosted by Baldwin & Co., a Black-owned bookstore, café, and cultural institution based in New Orleans. Baldwin & Co. exists at the intersection of literature, ideas, and community—creating space for rigorous dialogue, storytelling, and intellectual exchange.

Through author talks, podcasts, live events, and community programming, Baldwin & Co. amplifies voices shaping how we understand culture, history, politics, faith, and the future.

Stay connected with Baldwin & Co. across platforms:

Instagram: @baldwinandco
X (Twitter): @baldwinandco
Facebook: Baldwin & Co.
YouTube: Baldwin & Co.
Website: www.baldwinandcobooks.com

Visit us in New Orleans or online to support independent bookselling, discover powerful literature, and engage in conversations that matter.

#TankAndTheBangas #TankBall #SpokenWordPoetry #PoetryReading #PoetryTalk #Vulnerability #TheThingAboutFalling #BlackWomenPoets #LoveAndHealing #HeartbreakToHealing #WritingAsTherapy #ArtAndEmotion #PoetryCommunity #NewOrleansArtists #CreativeProcess #EmotionalHonesty #WomenInArt #PoetryIsPower

Bernice L. McFadden is an award-winning American novelist and memoirist whose work explores Black womanhood, ancestry, trauma, and survival through lyrical, historically grounded storytelling.

In a conversation that moves with the force of lived history, Bernice L. McFadden refuses the comfort of distance. Interviewed by Dr. Ebony Perro, Professor of Practice at Tulane University. Bernice's memoir, Firstborn Girls, emerges not as a private act of recollection but as a public reckoning—one that insists family stories and American history are inseparable. Written during the pandemic and the resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests, McFadden frames her life as an “auto-ethnography,” tracing cycles of violence, survival, rage, and resilience across generations of Black women. History, she reminds us, does not simply repeat; it rhymes. And in those rhymes—lynchings, domestic terror, state violence—she recognizes patterns that echo from her ancestors’ lives into the present moment.

Selected Popular Books by Bernice L. McFadden

• Firstborn Girls: A Memoir
• Sugar
• Glorious
• Gathering of Waters (New York Times Editors’ Choice)
• The Warmest December
• Praise Song for the Butterflies
• Nowhere Is a Place

What gives the conversation its gravity is McFadden’s refusal to sentimentalize. Motherhood is described as loving but brutal work. Rage is not pathology but fuel—necessary, clarifying, and dangerous only when it calcifies into bitterness. Her stories of formidable women, particularly Aunt Anna, unfold with dark humor and terrifying resolve, revealing how protection sometimes required ferocity. Writing becomes both purge and preservation: a way to honor the dead, confront the living, and free oneself from silence. By naming family members plainly, McFadden creates distance enough to tell the truth, even when that truth fractures family myths.

This episode is part of the ongoing conversations hosted by Baldwin & Co., a Black-owned bookstore, café, and cultural institution based in New Orleans. Baldwin & Co. exists at the intersection of literature, ideas, and community—creating space for rigorous dialogue, storytelling, and intellectual exchange.

Through author talks, podcasts, live events, and community programming, Baldwin & Co. amplifies voices shaping how we understand culture, history, politics, faith, and the future.

Stay connected with Baldwin & Co. across platforms:

Instagram: @baldwinandco
X (Twitter): @baldwinandco
Facebook: Baldwin & Co.
YouTube: Baldwin & Co.
Website: www.baldwinandcobooks.com

Visit us in New Orleans or online to support independent bookselling, discover powerful literature, and engage in conversations that matter.

#BerniceMcFadden #FirstbornGirls #BlackWomenWriters #LiteraryConversation #Memoir #BlackLiterature #AncestralMemory #GenerationalTrauma #BlackWomanhood #AmericanHistory #RageAndResilience #StorytellingAsResistance #AutoEthnography #LiteraryGenealogy #WritingTheTruth #BlackFeministThought #BooksThatMatter #AuthorsInConversation #LiteraryCulture #HistoryThatRhymes

What happens when four of the most influential forces in entrepreneurship, media, and culture sit down for a raw, unfiltered conversation at one of the country’s most disruptive Black-owned bookstore? You get a conversation that flips the script on success, reveals the ugly truths behind wealth-building, and shows you how to break generational curses in real-time. In this explosive dialogue moderated by David Shands at Baldwin & Co., Earn Your Leisure co-founders Troy Millings and Rashad Bilal sit alongside hospitality mogul Larry Morrow to break down how they went from kitchen tables and iPhones to multi-million-dollar brands—and why belief in self had to come before the checks ever did. They talk imposter syndrome, the lies we tell ourselves about “failure,” and how cultural capital can become financial power if you’re willing to bet on your own genius. If you've ever doubted your purpose or felt like you're building alone—this conversation will make you feel seen, charged up, and ready to pivot like a boss.

Larry Morrow is a New Orleans–based hospitality mogul, entrepreneur, and community builder known for creating some of the city’s most successful restaurants and nightlife experiences.

Rashad Bilal is the co-founder of Earn Your Leisure and a financial educator whose work breaks down wealth-building for everyday people.

Troy Millings is the co-founder of Earn Your Leisure and a former educator turned media entrepreneur dedicated to making financial literacy accessible and culturally relevant.

David Shands is an entrepreneur, author, and host of the Social Proof Podcast, known for spotlighting real stories of business success and practical lessons from top creators and founders.

This episode is part of the ongoing conversations hosted by Baldwin & Co., a Black-owned bookstore, café, and cultural institution based in New Orleans. Baldwin & Co. exists at the intersection of literature, ideas, and community—creating space for rigorous dialogue, storytelling, and intellectual exchange.

Through author talks, podcasts, live events, and community programming, Baldwin & Co. amplifies voices shaping how we understand culture, history, politics, faith, and the future.

Stay connected with Baldwin & Co. across platforms:

Instagram: @baldwinandco
X (Twitter): @baldwinandco
Facebook: Baldwin & Co.
YouTube: Baldwin & Co.
Website: www.baldwinandcobooks.com

Visit us in New Orleans or online to support independent bookselling, discover powerful literature, and engage in conversations that matter.

#EarnYourLeisure #LarryMorrow #DavidShands #BaldwinAndCo #BlackEntrepreneurs #BlackWealth #CulturalCapital #BuildYourOwn #EntrepreneurMindset #OwnershipMentality #GenerationalWealth #BusinessCulture #CreativeEconomy #FromTheGroundUp #SelfBelief #FinancialLiteracy #BlackOwnedBusinesses #PurposeDriven #SocialProof #HustleWithIntent

Grammy-nominated vocalist Tonya Boyd-Cannon and celebrated visual artist Charly Palmer engage in a riveting, soul-baring conversation that moves between art, ancestry, mental health, and creative purpose. With disarming honesty, they explore how grief, trauma, and generational memory shape their work—and why Black artists must create from spirit, not ego. From Palmer’s reflections on using flowers as both beauty and protection, to Boyd-Cannon’s revelation of how roses became emotional triggers, the two uncover how creation becomes a sacred act of survival and healing. The conversation crescendos into a powerful meditation on legacy, water as a spiritual medium, the sacredness of altars, and Blackness as a universal, unshakable force. What emerges is a profound testimony: art is not decoration—its declaration, remembrance, and resistance.

This episode is part of the ongoing conversations hosted by Baldwin & Co., a Black-owned bookstore, café, and cultural institution based in New Orleans. Baldwin & Co. exists at the intersection of literature, ideas, and community—creating space for rigorous dialogue, storytelling, and intellectual exchange.

Through author talks, podcasts, live events, and community programming, Baldwin & Co. amplifies voices shaping how we understand culture, history, politics, faith, and the future.

Stay connected with Baldwin & Co. across platforms:

Instagram: @baldwinandco
X (Twitter): @baldwinandco
Facebook: Baldwin & Co.
YouTube: Baldwin & Co.
Website: www.baldwinandcobooks.com

Visit us in New Orleans or online to support independent bookselling, discover powerful literature, and engage in conversations that matter.

#CharlyPalmer #TonyaBoydCannon #BlackArtMatters #ArtAsResistance #CreateFromSpirit #BlackCreatives #HealingThroughArt #GriefAndCreation #SacredNotSafe #BaldwinAndCo #BlackArtistsUnite #ArtAndAncestry #VisualHealing #EmotionalArtistry #AncestralLegacy #CanvasOfTruth #WaterAsWisdom #AltarsInArt #TriggeredByBeauty #ArtForThePeople #BlackStorytellers #CulturalMemory #ExpressionWithoutPermission #VoiceAndVision #SpiritLedArt #kwamealexander #howsweetthesound

In a wide-ranging, unguarded conversation, Malcolm Gladwell and former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu use the city itself as a lens to examine America’s deeper fractures. What begins as a meditation on why New Orleans remains stubbornly, almost defiantly distinctive—resisting the cultural flattening seen in cities like Austin and Nashville—quickly expands into a larger argument: culture, not capital, is what holds societies together. Music, food, sport, and place are not luxuries, they argue, but the glue that sustains democracy when institutions falter. In New Orleans, joy and pain live side by side, producing a civic soul that cannot be replicated or scaled without losing its truth.

From there, the conversation turns darker and more urgent. Landrieu warns that the United States is living through one of the most dangerous moments in its history—not because of disagreement, but because of a growing comfort with autocracy and a collapsing ability to talk across difference. Gladwell probes whether America’s aging population, economic anxiety, and nostalgia for an imagined past are fueling fear rather than curiosity about the future. Together, they trace how trauma—from Katrina to 9/11 to economic precarity—has eroded trust, and why art, culture, and local community may be the last remaining pathways back to common ground. The message is unsettling but clear: democracies do not collapse all at once; they wither when people stop listening to one another, and when culture is treated as expendable rather than essential.

This episode is part of the ongoing conversations hosted by Baldwin & Co., a Black-owned bookstore, café, and cultural institution based in New Orleans. Baldwin & Co. exists at the intersection of literature, ideas, and community—creating space for rigorous dialogue, storytelling, and intellectual exchange.

Through author talks, podcasts, live events, and community programming, Baldwin & Co. amplifies voices shaping how we understand culture, history, politics, faith, and the future.

Stay connected with Baldwin & Co. across platforms:

Instagram: @baldwinandco
X (Twitter): @baldwinandco
Facebook: Baldwin & Co.
YouTube: Baldwin & Co.

Website: www.baldwinandcobooks.com

Visit us in New Orleans or online to support independent bookselling, discover powerful literature, and engage in conversations that matter.

#MalcolmGladwell #MitchLandrieu #AmericasDangerousMoment #DemocracyInCrisis #CultureMatters #TheSoulOfAmerica #NewOrleans #CivicLife #ArtAndDemocracy #CulturalResilience #PoliticalDialogue #ListeningAcrossDifference #AmericanDemocracy #PublicIntellectuals #IdeasThatMatter #HardConversations #DemocracyAndCulture #AmericanFuture #CulturalIdentity #ThinkingOutLoud

Dr. Daniel Black and Avery Young" "This conversation is a masterclass in Black language, music, spirituality, and survival. Dr. Daniel Black and Avery Young explore how Black people have always communicated with more than words—through rhythm, silence, gesture, melody, and the body itself. From church songs and blues traditions to humming, repetition, and coded speech, they break down how Black expression became a form of protection, resistance, and joy when speech alone wasn’t safe. Moving between personal stories, theology, music, and history, they reveal how gospel and blues are really the same language spoken in different places, and how Black idiomatic expression carries memory, meaning, and power that English alone can’t hold. At its core, the conversation is about survival and freedom—the idea that the real assignment in life is to walk fully as yourself, bring your whole body into the room, and trust that collective rhythm can carry you across even the deepest waters.

Dr. Daniel Black is an award-winning novelist and professor whose work excavates Black memory, masculinity, spirituality, and survival with surgical honesty and poetic force. Some of his most notable books are, Perfect Peace, Don't Cry For Me, Isaac's Song, The Coming, Black on Black and The Sacred Place.

Avery Young is a poet, the first Chicago poet laureate, he is a composer, and cultural worker whose artistry fuses music, movement, and ancestral knowledge to reveal how Black expression has always carried meaning beyond words.

#DanielBlack #AveryYoung #BlackArt #BlackLiterature #BlackPoetry #CreativeDialogue #CulturalMemory #HealingThroughArt #StorytellingAsResistance #BlackIntellectualTradition #ArtAndLiberation #BlackThought #SpokenWord #LiteraryConversations #CulturalWorkers #BaldwinAndCo #BlackCreativity #RadicalImagination

Robert F. Smith is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners and one of the most influential investors and philanthropists in technology and education today.

Dr. Monique Guillory is an educator, cultural scholar, and university president known for her leadership in higher education and her work at the intersection of Black studies, innovation, and institutional transformation.

This wide-ranging conversation brings together history, technology, education, and moral leadership to confront a single reality: the world is changing faster than our institutions are willing to admit. Robert Smith—in conversation with the President of Dillard University, Dr. Monique Guillory—reflects on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., emphasizing that economic justice—not just civil rights—was always central to King’s vision, and that younger generations are still willing to put their bodies on the line when injustice is clear.

From there, the discussion pivots to the present and future, where artificial intelligence and software are rapidly reshaping labor, wealth, and opportunity. Smith argues that higher education—especially HBCUs—faces an existential crisis if it does not radically rethink how it prepares students for an economy driven by AI, automation, and data. The old promise of “get a degree, get a job” no longer holds.

Drawing from his own journey—leaving a prestigious career to take calculated risks—Smith makes the case that understanding systems, capital, and arbitrage is now essential for survival. The core message is both urgent and hopeful: those who learn how the new economy works, lean into innovation, and act boldly can shape the future rather than be erased by it. Sitting still, he warns, is the greatest risk of all.

Order Robert F. Smith Book Here: https://bookshop.org/a/20190/9781400244102
Order Baldwin & Co. Merch Here: https://shop.baldwinandcobooks.com
Learn more about Baldwin & Co. Foundation: https://bcofoundation.org

This podcast is your front-row seat to the world of books, ideas, and thought-provoking conversations with some of the most brilliant minds and celebrated authors of our time.

At Baldwin & Co., we believe that stories have the power to inspire, connect, and transform. Through this podcast, we bring the pages of bestselling novels, memoirs, and groundbreaking works of nonfiction to life. Whether you’re an avid reader, aspiring writer, or simply someone who enjoys meaningful discussions, Baldwin & Co. Author Dialogues is here to ignite your curiosity and enrich your understanding of the world.

What to Expect:
Author Talks and Exclusive Interviews
Join us as we sit down with internationally acclaimed authors, rising literary stars, and thought leaders across genres. Discover the stories behind the stories—their creative processes, challenges, and inspirations—and gain insights into the craft of writing.

Spotlight on Book Events
The Baldwin & Co. Author Dialogues goes behind the scenes of our renowned book events and signings, giving you an intimate glimpse into conversations that define literary culture.

#LeadBoldly #FutureOfWork #AIRevolution #EducationReimagined #EconomicJustice #MLKLegacy #HBCUs #HigherEducationCrisis #ArtificialIntelligence #TechAndSociety #HumanCenteredWork #CapitalAndLabor #RiskAndInnovation #NextIndustrialRevolution #DigitalTransformation #EquityAndOpportunity #GenerationalChange #BlackInnovation #CommunityLeadership #SystemicChange #RobertSmith #RobertFSmith #billionaire #richestmanintheworld #richestblack

This conversation traces a sweeping and urgent history of Black women as architects of the global human rights movement, long before the language of “human rights” became mainstream. Historian Keisha N. Blain explains how her book Without Fear uncovers the forgotten women—activists, writers, missionaries, and organizers—who refused to limit their demands to U.S. civil rights and instead framed Black freedom as a universal human claim.

Moving from the 19th century to the present, the discussion highlights figures like Ida B. Wells, Madam C.J. Walker, Maria Stewart, Margaret Cartwright, and Katie Diallo, revealing how these women forged international alliances, challenged imperialism, and exposed state violence as a human rights abuse—often without access to power, funding, or formal political spaces. Their work crossed borders, languages, and movements, linking Black struggles in the United States to anti-colonial fights across the globe.

Blain also reflects on the emotional and ethical challenges of archival research—deciding what to reveal, what to protect, and how to honor lives lived under constant risk. The throughline is clear: Black women have always been thinking globally, acting strategically, and organizing without fear and hesitancy, even when history refused to remember them. The conversation is both a recovery of the past and a call to action for the present.

Keisha N. Blain is an award-winning historian and bestselling author whose work centers on Black women, human rights, and global freedom movements. Author of "Without Fear: Black Women and the Making of Human Rights." Co-author of "Four Hundred Souls."

Kathe Hambrick is the Executive Director of the Amistad Research Center, a cultural preservationist, and a public historian known for her work documenting Black history in Louisiana and beyond.

Order Keisha N. Blain Books Here: https://bookshop.org/a/20190/9780393882292
Order Baldwin & Co. Merch Here: https://shop.baldwinandcobooks.com
Learn more about Baldwin & Co. Foundation: https://bcofoundation.org

#keishanblain #keisha #keishablain #blain #withourfearbook #withoutfear #democracy #blackwomen #fannielouhamer #marybethune #madamcjwalker #humanrights