Author Talk with Brendan Slocumb and Story J

Author, Brendan Slocumb has found his voice and says what he wants in his second novel, the music thriller, “Symphony of Secrets!" Imagine that the single most influential piece of modern American music — a tour de force that spans classical, opera, Indigenous, Latin, folk, jazz and blues — was not, as claimed, the work of a White man but stolen from a homeless Black woman with a mental disability. Such a theft, and the public deletion of its true creator, would be a powerful illustration of the exploitation of marginalized artists. A contemporary classical-music scholar gradually discovers the long-hidden truth inside a cryptic archive. Slocumb subtly weaves an important message about racial erasure in American music history in his fast-paced, music-thriller detective adventure. ⁠Story J⁠ (Jason Williams) is the Host & Creator of “The Storytime Show” and our featured guest in "We See You!" He tells us how creating a story time class for kids, during the Covid pandemic, saved his life and lead to “The Storytime Show!” We also talk about child development, the importance of representation, if he would ever have Drag Queens reading to children, the evolution of masculinity, and the reasons behind the efforts to eradicate public education. Alvin, Bobby, and Vash recognize National Teacher Appreciate Week, National Nurses Week, and in honor of Mother's Day, pay tribute to their own moms: Margaret V. King, Mary Edwards, and Edith Smith.