5 Podcasts That Teach Us How to Build a Strong Community💪

Mind Your Own with Lupita Nyong'o

The Sound of Home

Mind Your Own is a collection of stories about belonging from an African perspective, and it captures the richness and beauty of African life not often showcased in mainstream media.

It’s beautiful and the sounds float in my mind like happy clouds. Lupita starts by telling her story of trying to “lose her accent" while casting for acting roles. This episode tells the story of a Ghanaian man navigating immigration, life, and balancing family while pursuing his music career. It's such a triumphant story of long-term persistence, community, overcoming, faith, and family.

—Simone

Movement With Meklit

"We make the boom bap" ft. Ana Tijoux

One of the many joys of talking to the elders of North Nashville has been hearing how important a sense of place was to their upbringing. But it was also a place filled with love, with a vibrant community of people — and that is what made it such a magical part of the city.

I love how beautifully this episode (featuring the amazing transnational hip-hop artist Ana Tijoux) asks a related question: What if home is not only a place?

The answer, or part of it, is "the sweetness" — what we carry in us that makes beloved community possible.

—Steve

Code Switch

Remembering and unremembering, from Kigali to Nashville

It was great to hear Nashville represented in one of the best podcasts going, and as ever, the Code Switch squad did what they do best: put together a nuanced show with deep historical context.

In this case, it's a portrait that complicates the image of the city, and the South — by talking about the experiences of Black immigrants. Claude Gatebuke's story of coming from Rwanda in the wake of the genocide there and for years "hiding from my story," as he puts it, is incredibly moving. This episode also features Dr. Learotha Williams Jr., a TSU professor and historian who has done extensive research on North Nashville, where Claude lived when he first came to the U.S.

—Steve

Cultivating H.E.R. Space: Uplifting Conversations for the Black Woman

S26E2: Why We Need Community More Than Ever and How to Start Building One

Loneliness and feeling alone are on the rise. But in this episode, Dr. Dom, a professor and psychologist, and Terri Lomax, a techie and motivational speaker, show us how cultivating a strong diverse community can combat that. They run through ways you can foster that community by finding a group that enjoys what you enjoy, and trying new things with new people.

The Cultivating H.E.R. Space podcast uplifts conversations for Black women specifically, who on the whole need more safe spaces to just be.

—Andrea

Listen To Crew Collective

Crew Collective podcast travels into space through the lens of creators that make content about the stars. Artists, musicians, filmmakers share their creative practice with the Crew Collective audience. If you love creating content and love space, this a podcast for you!

Pitch Party

Discover the next great podcast pilots with Pitch Party! From RESONATE Podcast Festival and Tink Media, each episode of Pitch Party will feature a different podcast pilot from an independent producer. Audio lovers and production company reps alike can tune in to learn about forthcoming shows, as well as the process of making narrative audio with conversations with the creators of each pilot.