“Stuck with Damon Young,” Podcast Premieres In Late March

 Interview podcasts are often the simplest to develop and produce because the format is so straightforward and familiar. A successful interview podcast needs a host who can ask questions that provoke thought, reflection, and, at times, conflict. The show also requires guests who have something of substance to say, other than oversharing about their social media life or daily activities. 

Thankfully for the listener, the new interview podcast, “Stuck with Damon Young,” amply fulfills those requirements. Young is no lightweight. He is the co-founder of the website Very Smart Brothas. Young released his first book, What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker, in 2019 with HarperCollins.

Author, critic and satirist Damon Young

  He is also a columnist for GQ, and a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. In February 2022 Young joined The Washington Post Magazine as a contributing columnist with a weekly column.

This Spotify show from Gimlet and Crooked Media begins in late March. In the debut episode, Damon Young speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the monumental 1619 Project, about the trials and triumphs of parenting, especially as a Black woman. What kind of educational settings and institutions will allow their children to thrive educationally and culturally as Black students? Damon’s father weighs in as well, discussing his experience growing up in a predominantly-white neighborhood, then attending college at a HBCU. With his typical candor, Damon confronts these complex issues head on in a relatable, personal way

According to Spotify, the podcast has lined up an impressive array of guests who are known to speak their mind. Stuck With Damon Young promises listeners lively conversations each week with guests including Samantha Irby, Roy Wood Jr, Jemele Hill, and Jason Reynolds.

I recommend this show. Young seems to have a peripatetic mind view and an insatiable curiosity for how and why things are and how they can be better.