Working overnights takes a lot of stamina, as I’ve said in my previous post. Being able to stay awake while the world is dark can be rough, but listening to podcasts has become my go-to activity while I’m working.
I never listened to podcasts until I started my current job. The first few months I didn’t listen to anything, not even music because I was still trying to get used to being awake all night for work instead of fun. It wasn’t until I was about three months in when I came across a YouTube video of Crissle West, one of the hosts of The Read podcast, absolutely DRAGGING a white man about Sarah Silverman’s blackface bit (watch it here if you want to see this queen go off). I watched that video at least five times because she was so clear and concise with her read. That’s how I learned about her podcast, which she co-hosts with Kid Fury. Since then, The Read has become my favorite podcast for several reasons.
First, the show is HILARIOUS. Crissle and Kid Fury have made me laugh every week, and I mean laugh like a goddamn hyena. Before Covid, I would be at my desk, laughing hysterically while my coworkers watched, sometimes laughing with me. It was so hard to keep it in because the two of them are hysterical. Also, Crissle has a laugh that brings me so much JOY! I love women who have wild laughs (like Julia Roberts) and Crissle’s laugh is loud, obnoxious and so, so infectious. Some listeners don’t like it, but I don’t give a fuck because I have a wild laugh, too. And believe me, I let it ALL out when I find something funny.
Second, the show setup is so great and each segment brings a different element to my listening experience. Kid Fury starts with Black Excellence, putting a spotlight on Black people who break boundaries because they were thinking big, not small. Then it’s on to the Pop Culture Segment, which has a different title every week (this week’s segment is titled “Hot Tops, Bottom Hole, Attorney at Law”). Fury keeps us up-to-date on the latest hot gossip and news in music and entertainment, while giving listeners his commentary and humor. The next segment is Listener Letters, some of which have been the craziest I’ve ever heard. Most of the letters deal with relationships, asking Fury and Crissle for advice or suggestions. A lot of the letters I’ve heard made me extremely happy to be single. Fury and Crissle give advice to the best of their ability, usually with a whole lot of laughs. If we’re lucky, listeners are treated to Kid Fury’s Sports Shorts, a segment where Fury gives us his interpretation of important sports news and games. It is unreal how funny this segment is and I adore it so much. And the final segment is The Read, where the two choose people who’ve done or said some fuck shit to read for filth. But the reads aren’t just a bunch of cussing. No, these reads are thoughtful, compassionate and intelligent (and also a bunch of cussing). Crissle and Fury read people who deserve it (like that dickhead, Aries Spears) and say everything they need to say with their whole chests.
Third, The Read is the reason I finally went to therapy. I am Gen X and therapy was not something that we did or talked about. It was something “white people do” and was not for Black people. I had something very traumatic happen to me when I was 19 and although I went to therapy for a few weeks, I stopped because I felt like I should just get over it, not realizing the harm that decision would do to me for the years to come. Until I started listening to the podcast, I never even considered therapy. But Crissle and Fury talked (and still talk) openly about their own mental health struggles and how therapy literally saved their lives. They made therapy sound normal, not something to be ashamed of seeking out. Because of them, I finally found a therapist last year and I can honestly say that it also saved MY life. The anger and shame I had been carrying for so long has practically disappeared and I feel like a whole person again. I still have some things to get through, but for the first time in such a very long time, I feel lighter. Even with the world on fire like it is, I am finding real joy in it again. I think about the future with hope in my heart, not with thoughts of cutting it short.
I can’t express enough how much I love this podcast. Before Covid changed our world, I was lucky enough to see a live show at the Apollo Theater, which was the last live show I saw before the global shut down. It was my first and last time seeing Crissle and Kid Fury live and in the words of XD, I had a wang-dang-doodle (IYKYK). Whenever it’s finally safe enough for The Read to hit the road again, I will be there.
*Photo courtesy of The Read's website.