Ep. 141 - Dr. Todd Boyd - The Notorious PhD on Race, Sport and Popular Culture

Today, we have a fascinating conversation about race and popular culture, particularly around what's happened recently in the United States following the murder of George Floyd and the protests and uprisings that have followed. As you will hear, this event follows an unfortunate pattern and history that sadly, spans decades. I wanted to explore them within some historical and cultural context. So, I invited Dr. Todd Boyd, aka "The Notorious PhD" onto the podcast – and he graciously accepted. If you are new to Dr. Boyd, he is the Katherine and Frank Price Chair for the Study of Race and Popular Culture at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Dr. Boyd is an author, media commentator, producer and scholar. The has appeared in numerous documentaries, most recently in the popular Netflix series "The Last Dance" which was about Michael Jordan's last season with the Chicago Bulls. He wrote and produced the cult classic film "The Wood" and produced the Netflix documentary "At All Costs". Dr. Boyd's books include The Notorious PhD's Guide to the Super Fly 1970s, Young, Black, Rich and Famous, The New H.N.I.C. and Am I Black Enough For You? He has written articles for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and the Guardian, amongst others. Dr. Boyd is a pioneer. He developed a new field of study in the 1990s on Hip Hop culture. His work makes connections across sport, cinema, music, fashion, art and politics. This not just  a conversation about race in the USA – and by extension many other countries. It is also a conversation about the importance of popular culture and how culture does more than merely reflect society – it can help shape it in unseen and often uncertain ways. Show notes: Dr. Todd Boyd Dr. Boyd on Twitter Dr. Boyd on Instagram Recent piece by Dr. Boyd in the The Guardian on racism in Hollywood 1943 Detroit Race Riot 1967 Detroit Race Riot The Watts Riot / Watts Rebellion Rodney King Riot Ali – Liston II fight Yo! MTV Raps Colin Kaepernick and Roger Goodell 1968 Olympics Black Power Salute Jim Brown Craig Hodges Jackie Robinson Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf The Last Dance Isiah Thomas and the Dennis Rodman comments on Larry Bird The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 Stokely Carmichael Angela Davis Eryka Badu _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Like what you heard? Subscribe and/or leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts: http://apple.co/1PjLmK Subscribe on Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/all-things-risk/the-all-things-risk-podcast Subscribe on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ben-cattaneo Follow the podcast on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RiskThings Drop us a note: [email protected]  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Our free course module "How to Set Up Any Decision for Success" from our upcoming course How to Make Decisions With Calm and Confidence