Food 4 Thot is everything a podcast should be. It has cheerful music, an upbeat cast of self-proclaimed ‘thots’, and best of all, it features literary discussions about sex, race and identity.
The team of podcasters are all independently fascinating, each with unique backgrounds and tastes in music, books, hobbies and guilty pleasures. The podcast was conceived from a discussion between four friends who wished to create a safe space to talk about diverse and sometimes difficult topics of love, sex, race and identity through the lens of a fun and non-judgemental environment.
The first season has nine episodes, which cover a plethora of topics from scientific astrology to Ariana Grande’s hair extensions. No topic is off limits, fuelling the engine for these four young podcasters and giving fire to their speech. They playfully link modern academic theory to their discussions on race and queer politics; something that is seldom accomplished or even attempted in non-academic spaces.
The concepts from many of the books they reference (and recommend) can sometimes become muddled in academic jargon, or intimidatingly uninviting, but these guys help to make it all seem less scary. They are all simultaneously hilarious and brilliant, keeping the listener active and engaged throughout each episode.
They argue that “literary and intellectual spaces” are often starkly separated from safe (sometimes goofy) spaces to talk about “nail polish, Mariah Carey’s Vine account” or their “absolutely filthiest hookup”, so this podcast serves as a platform to combine these type of conversations.
Not only is the podcast entertaining and informative, it is also a meaningful platform from which people who are often discarded as ‘non-academic’ can validate their scholarly positions. The show invites several different guests who cohesively add to the flow of the Food 4 Thot team.
Great thinkers such as Alexander Chee and Angel Nafis are literary geniuses but, because of their topics of interest, are not often considered intellectual or academic enough, and are thus shunned from typical literary panels such as National Public Radio (NPR) or academic podcasts.
Food 4 Thot rejects the notion that there is a singular way to think or one way to read certain texts. The hosts thrive on inclusion, never failing to embrace a new voice. In the post-Trump world filled with hate-based violence, it’s important to have people talking about what matters. Food 4 Thot reveals how queer-identified and multiracial people can use the power of thought to fight discrimination.
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