Hi Strong Reception fans! I’m back and I’m trying something different here - a very short-form solo episode under the heading “The Song Diary”. Since moving to London, I’ve had an urge to create quickly digestible episodes where I choose a song that’s speaking to me at the moment because of what’s going on in my life and in my head.

I hope you enjoy this reflective little dive into a little-known song called “Can’t Help Thinking About Me” from 1966, by an as-yet unknown songwriter named Davy Jones, who had only just changed his name to David Bowie. I think this brave little teenage song is so different for its time and gets at some very adult things - even if it didn’t mean to! What happens to our brains and our bodies when we suffer a serious blow? If you’re anything like me - it’s an instinctive momentary regression to childhood that can overtake us if we don’t go to work on it. But I also think it’s vital and totally okay to acknowledge that we feel like a friendless kid when the sh-t goes sideways! X

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"Summer of Soul" is a groundbreaking documentary that I want everyone on Planet Earth to see.

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson (founding member of The Roots and professional musical encyclopedia) made his directorial debut on a subject close to my heart: the all-but-forgotten Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969. This series of six Sunday concerts in New York's storied neighborhood of Harlem was unlike anything before or since. Performers at the free festival included Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Max Roach, the 5th Dimension, Mahalia Jackson, and so many more. Over 300,000 people showed up - almost exclusively from the neighborhood. More than 40 hours of beautifully shot video remained hidden from the public for 52 years, locked away in the videographer's vault — until now. In this episode, I speak to Rolling Stone journalist Jonathan Bernstein, whose tireless research on the long-lost festival first helped me understand its significance. His article for Rolling Stone, published in 2019, was (controversially) titled "This 1969 Music Fest Has Been Called ‘Black Woodstock.’ Why Doesn’t Anyone Remember?" Jonathan and I break down our reactions to "Summer of Soul" and delve into the history of the Harlem Cultural Festival itself, including what's known about the festival's charismatic, passionate founder, Tony Lawrence, who pretty much disappeared without a trace soon after the event was over.

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This week I am pleased to present my conversation with Chris Durosinmi, who is running to be the next City Council Member for the 37th District in Brooklyn. This episode is part of my series of interviews with the candidates in this all-important primary election, which takes place June 22 in New York City, along with the races for mayor, comptroller, public advocate, borough president and hundreds of City Council seats.

Chris Durosinmi is a Brooklyn native and community organizer who has held several staff jobs in city and state government, and currently works for the Wildlife Conservation Society. He and I discussed some of the most urgent issues facing the people of this underserved district, like the decline in trash pickup and sanitation resources, the need for greater support for those coming home from prison, and how New York's voting apparatus would benefit from greater transparency. (We get into New York's cryptic fusion voting system, for instance. Why are we the only state to do it?)

To find out more about this City Council race, check out my episodes with candidates Misba Abdin, Sandy Nurse and Rick Echevarria.

Subscribe to “Strong Reception” wherever you get your podcasts, and please leave a comment for the show on Twitter at @strongpod.

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