Fighting Words Podcast Premieres: Fighting Back Against Fear & Intolerance

Here's the good news and the bad news. First, the bad news is that we have yet another interview podcast. It's like adding another jellybean into the "guess how many jellybeans are in this jar" jar. There are tens of thousands of these interview podcasts because they are easy to set up and cheap to record. 

Here's the good news. This new interview podcast is a good one with an admirable goal.

Earlier this week, iHeartMedia announced Fighting Words a new podcast hosted by critically acclaimed author George M. Johnson on its Outspoken Podcast Network. Fans can hear the first two episodes of Fighting Words, with new episodes releasing every Tuesday.

According to iHeart, "Fighting Words is Johnson’s chance to bring listeners into the ring with some of today’s most talented, outspoken, courageous creative people, who are ready, willing and able to use their words to fight back against intolerance, fear, censorship and marginalization."

George M. Johnson is an award-winning Black Non-Binary writer, author, and executive producer headquartered in the Los Angeles area. They are the author of the New York Times Bestselling Young Adult memoir, All Boys Aren’t Blue (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, April 2020), which employs a series of powerful essays to chronicle their growing up as a Black Queer boy in New Jersey.

In 2019 he was awarded the Salute to Excellence Award by the National Association of Black Journalists for their article “When Racism Anchors your Health” in Vice Magazine. He was listed on The Root 100 Most Influential African Americans in 2020; the Out 100 Most Influential LGBTQ People in 2021, and in 2022 was honored as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Next Most Influential People in the World. Their second memoir We Are Not Broken (Little Brown, September 2021) received the Carter G. Woodson Award recognizing books that accurately and sensitively depict the experience of one or more historically marginalized racial/ethnic groups in the United States. 

In 2021, Johnson wrote and executive produced the Dramatic Reading of All Boys Aren’t Blue starring Jenifer Lewis and Dyllon Burnside which received a 2022 Special Recognition Award from GLAAD. In 2023, they received a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Daytime Special. 

iHeart continues: "Each week, Johnson will take on the topics others seem afraid to talk about. They will share timeless wisdom and shine a light on new music and some of today’s rising stars. In the first episode, Johnson sits down with journalist and producer Keith Boykin to talk about quitting the White House to write a memoir about being Black and gay, and the ways in which history is repeating itself right before our eyes. Additional guests will include Gabrielle Union, Erika Alexander, comedian Franchesca Ramsey, actress and transgender rights advocate Angelica Ross, actress Dominique Jackson and others."

 Fighting Words with George M. Johnson was created by George M. Johnson in conjunction with Best Case Studios, Tea No Shade Productions and iHeartMedia’s Outspoken Podcast Network.

 All shows on the Outspoken Podcast Network are distributed by iHeartPodcasts. The network aims to amplify, elevate and reflect the diversity, richness and humanity of the voices throughout the LGBTQ+ community. See the current Outspoken Podcast Network lineup of shows, here. 

Check out Fighting Words. George Johnson is not afraid to stand up against intolerance, fear, censorship and marginalization.