PODCAST · arts
The Writers’ Block Podcast
by Jennifer Bush-Harris
The Writers' Block exists to be an encouragement and resource to all writers along their journey! Whether you write as a hobby, if you are a blogger, or you are on your way towards publication, we have something for everyone!Come see us every other Thursday and get your strength back to keep going! And as always, Happy Writing!
Episodes
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142. The Pieces We Are
In considering the Toni Morrison documentary, 'The Pieces I Am', it has me thinking about what it means to write, and write in a world where everything is curated. Writing is the only art you can give away, which may cost you eveything. It is a privilege to do this craft...and I never want to...
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141. Being The Living Memory
Writing is an intimate art powered by memory and honesty. In the age of lying for sport, every school of ISM, and AI? It is essential that the writers are being full participants in culture conversations and preservations--even when unpleasant. Click this link to The Atlantic article, 'The End of...
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140. What Will You Say?
Writing is a most demanding gift. In becoming a writer, in doing the things that writers do, we must recognize what we say can be influential or detrimental. So, what are we saying? And who is listening?
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138. The Fire Hydrant
The inner world of a writer is big and loud. The ideas come fast and furious sometimes! These ideas and worlds and invisible people are most demanding! And while that is incredible--it can be completely overwhelming.
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136. Occam's Razor Is A Pen
'Being a writer' is not as simple as some would think. When considering my own path and process, I cannot help but think about all the contributing factors which got me there so far. This type of examination is beyond the normal 4 questions of (1) how did you get started? (2) what keeps you...
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135. Fire Hydrants & Fire Extinguisher
In challenging times, writers have a unique stresses...and responsibilities. Times like this allow writers to (1) freak out, (2) analyze, and (3) record. Sometimes all at the same time...multiple times a day.
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134. The Cost Of The Ink
The world is on fire, and there has never been a time where writers can 'write in peace'. What must be said, what must be done, is to respect the gift. Honor the talent. Share the gift. Show up on the page. "Black people need witnesses in the world who thinks everything is White." -James Baldwin...
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133. Writing While Being Black
There is a power in representation. I am happy to be a Black writer...not just a writer who happens to be Black. Remember to follow your other favorite Black writer on: Substack: @thatjenngottapen TikTok: @whatjayesaid2.0 Threads: @authorjbharris Patreon: THE DESK OF JBHARRIS Blogs (all on...
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132. I Am The Record!
It's so good to be back! This episode starts SEASON NINE! I apologize for my absence as life and technology made things complicated. Yet, with all the upheaval in the world...I needed to remind myself that I'm not helpless. I'm a writer. A Black writer at that! Excuse the dust as I get everything...
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131. “Let Me Tell You A Story…”
With the cycle BOOK 7 of the Traditional Women Storytelling Project happening in September 2024, this prologue will be in the completed essay A WOMAN LIKE MY MOTHER (October 2024). Ruthless Flexing here: RUN THE NUMBERS- since 2021 1586 stories/videos 26 episodes 18 playlists 6 anthologies 3…
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130. The Work Of Representation Is On-Going ft. Jennifer L. Julian, ABD (Part 1)
What a way to end SEASON 8 of this platform than with a professor at Texas Southern University. Professor Jennifer Julian is a scholar, writer, and a visible Black woman. For our time together, we talk about why it is the work of representation is on-going and why we can’t get tired now. Works...
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129. The Impact of READING RAINBOW
Levar Burton will ALWAYS be part of THE CULTURE! Netflix has decided to have me in all my feelings and do a READING RAINBOW documentary…and I barely, BARELY, made it. Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that
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128. 1586
At the time of this show, there are 1,586 stories to TRADITIONAL WOMEN STORYTELLING PROJECT. While this platform is not dedicated to this project (I NEED THE VELMAS PODCAST is), I believe more than a little celebration is warranted. The link to BOOK 6 is here: Paperback: https://a.co/d/09R1er02…
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127. Finish Your Food
Sometimes the hardest thing is to focus. But — focus is a must and a muscle. Both have to be developed. Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that
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126. You Might Have To Say Something
bell hooks said, “People are hungry for descent.” Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why the writer, the artist, will never go away! We are needed… And necessary. Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that
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125 A. The Lands Where Other People Live
Writers are responsible for re-creating humanity in a world by which may not see our own. In the world of diversity equity inclusion that we are in, and fight to remain in… It is easy to be swept up in the argument of diversity versus representation. Note: If this title looks familiar, it is the...
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ITS OUR ANNIVERSARY!
In May 2019, I started this podcast with my adopted brother, the Anchor app, a pink notebook, and 45 minutes before work at a rehabilitation hospital. This is STILL cause for celebration. Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that
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125. The Selfish Pursuit
If I wasn’t a writer, what would I be? Writing is what I do. I can’t imagine doing anything else. Can you? Link to LEARNING TO BREATHE FIRE: Learning To Breathe Fire: The Collected Works During 30 Days Of Jaye 2019-2023 https://a.co/d/12Noxh5. AMERICAN MASTERS - ROD SERLING:...
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124. Things Left On The Desk
TW: death and dying. Writers are mortal. But sometimes we can take the rest with us. How does one come to grips (or at peace!) with that? To review see Episode 90: THE WRITER’S WILL. Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that
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123. Allow Me To (Re)Introduce Myself…
“Men brag, and women hide.” Shonda Rhimes said this at an ELLE event. And when she said it, I couldn’t shake that she was right— and I refuse to hide ANYMORE. Give up my pen (or light) for what? Get your copy of BLACK LIKE THAT: https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/68721080/black-like-that
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122. Author Math & SH!T Writers Say #3
Writers are strange creatures…and I am proud to be one.
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121. The Art Of The Show Up
Sometimes the hardest thing you can do is an artist is believing yourself… The second hardest thing is showing up for yourself. This show will have a SEND FOR A POET segment with my work “A POEM WITH NO TRANSLATION.”
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120. Let ‘Er Rip!
Creativity is a demanding mistress— and in constant need of attention and tending to. We have merch now! Get some! https://Seewhatjayesaid.threadless.com/designs/the-writers-block-podcast-merch
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119. “I talk in writer…”
Being inside, a writer head is a loud and complicated place! Sometimes the language doesn’t always make sense, and sometimes we repeat that. And yet, it is needed and necessary. We have merch now! Get some! https://Seewhatjayesaid.threadless.com/designs/the-writers-block-podcast-merch
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118. “EWW, GIRLS!”
Sometimes being a female fan of something that has protagonist, and heroes that are male is beyond complicated. We have merch now! Get some! https://Seewhatjayesaid.threadless.com/designs/the-writers-block-podcast-merch
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117. What’s In The Cache?
Welcome to Season 8! With all things being immediate, sometimes we as artists have to let things…simmer! A Cache is different from the Draft Drawer we spoke about way back in Season 1. But it’s just as needed, trust me!
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END OF THE YEAR LETTER - 2023
You’re doing better than you think you are. Onward to 2024!
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116. 200 EPISODES! Pens Up!
It took us 5 years to get to this point, and we are going to celebrate LOUDLY! Come and celebrate with us!
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115. Writing In A Time Of Upheaval: Shouts To Roxanne Gay
Writers are witnesses, agitators, and truth-tellers! The work we do is needed and necessary! Write like your life depends on it! Works mentioned: The Source of Self-Regard (T. Morrison), Bad Feminist (R. Gay) and WRITING IN A TIME OF SOCIAL CHANGE (MasterClass taught by R. Gay). SEND FOR A POET...
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114. Until They Need Us - Part 2
“Black people need witnesses in a world that thinks everything is White.” -James Baldwin
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113. Until They Need Us - Part 1
The work of the writer can be thankless…but we do it anyway.
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112. Here They Come Again
There is a White woman on TikTok who believes the LORD told her to “sanctify” Iniko’s song Jericho—to make it sound more Christian and less “demonic.” Where have I/We/Us heard that before?
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111. The Slide
The most glorious moment in fiction writing is when the characters take over. The scariest thing is fiction writing is when the characters take over! For this episode, we’ll examine how great this is…and how scary that just might be.
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110A: Closing Thoughts On Back To Writing Month
Whew! And just like that then month of September is hours from being over. Let’s take time to reflect on September, which is BACK TO WRITING MONTH, and the proceeding 9. Onward to 2024!
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110. NAS Did 6 Albums In 3 Years
At the time of this recording, recording artists/rapper/emcee/aka ESCO, NAS has released his 6th album in 3 years. For this episode, we are going to explore just how powerful (and needed) creative energy is. Note: listen to the end of this episode for a special announcement for February 2024...
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109A. Bonus: VENGEANCE IS THE BODY (LIVE READING)
VENGEANCE IS THE BODY is available on Amazon/Kindle. This reading was done on Saturday, September 23, 2023.
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109. The Need Of The Artist
There will never be a time where the artist is not needed! And for the cards, for this noble guild, we do what we must. Artist are truth, tellers, soothsayers, and a type of magician. It is through our work, and weaving, for the force of our own imaginations, that we prove to the world that we…
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108: NIKKI GIOVANNI IS 80.
The Black writers who shaped my life, who I quote and study—are either aging or dead. When Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr. (Nikki Giovanni) turned 80 this past June, this was driven home to me. My Foremothers…are leaving. Leaving! Where do we go from here?
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107. You Are The Story
Sometimes you have to encourage yourself and other people. In listening to BlackFluidPoet (podcast is the same name—listen to the episode titled “THE FOREST”), I want to answer the question of “Who is even listening?” The answer is this: the people who need to hear. Artists are a different type…
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106. Black Writers In White People’s Faces
For this episode, we are going to focus on what is currently happening in the Houston. Independent school district. Libraries are being closed for lack of a better word in order to make room for detention centers within schools that are being created under the guise of helping children to learn…
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105. The Album (Or Cemetery) Of Social Media
Tweeting. Facebooking. Instagramming, Duets. Stitching. Going Live. All these verbs are now part of our writing reality. Yet as technology changes, and these things are changed, improved, or even lost… How do we as writers manage that? Follow me on TT: @whatjayesaid2.0/shesgottapen2.0; IG:...
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104. Writer Success (Part II)
There are certain things that feel like wins and like losses as a writer—which is individual to the writer who experiences them. And yet…we keep going… in spite of.
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103. Writer Success (Part I)
If you ask a writer, what successes… They may not have a easy answer for you. Success is as individual as the writer whom you ask. In this two-part show explore what that means, what success really is, and what success actually means to me. Also! Listen all the way to the end of the show to hear...
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102. Check The Cache
There is something to be said for checking the work you abandoned, and what you got distracted from getting back to. For this episode, let it me a reminder to go back and look again—you might be surprised at what you find!
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101 A. WGA STRONG
At the time of this recording, the Writers Guild of America is still on strike. So often, this profession, this art, is not honored. And it’s time that we start doing that. Without a writer nothing moves.
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101. AI vs. “WHO AM I?”
With all that’s going on in the world AI, it’s just the newest innovation of what writers have faced for centuries. With every new invention that seeks to replace human creativity, it must be kept in proper perspective. For this particular show, I give my opinion on just how, I think AI can be...
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100. OUR 100th SHOW!
As of this show, we are nine days from our fourth year anniversary of podcasting. It is amazing just how far this platform has come, and how much further it Hass to go. There is an exuberance on the show, and energy on this show, that only a black woman can bring. Come and share this joy… A Black...
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99A. “Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Never Imaginary Sources…”
The adage is that history is written by the winners. Yet, I pose you this question: is history really with written by the winner or is it written by the people who survived? And are still surviving? Being a primary resource, you have to understand that it is your responsibility to record what is...
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99. The Writer’s Resume
Every Writer needs a résumé! A document that can be given out. We need a necessary that tracks and celebrates all of your accomplishments. The thing that is so amazing about your write a résumé is it is built by you. I can also be neglected by you. Make time to update it every so often, and...
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98. Read The Releases
One of the things most crucial in your writing journey is the management and control of your intellectual property. While there are many reputable places for you to submit your work (and you should!) there are also places that will take your work. It is essential for you as your own advocate, the...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The Writers' Block exists to be an encouragement and resource to all writers along their journey! Whether you write as a hobby, if you are a blogger, or you are on your way towards publication, we have something for everyone!Come see us every other Thursday and get your strength back to keep going! And as always, Happy Writing!
HOSTED BY
Jennifer Bush-Harris
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Writers’ Block Podcast have?
The Writers’ Block Podcast currently has 228 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Writers’ Block Podcast about?
The Writers' Block exists to be an encouragement and resource to all writers along their journey! Whether you write as a hobby, if you are a blogger, or you are on your way towards publication, we have something for everyone!Come see us every other Thursday and get your strength back to keep going!...
How often does The Writers’ Block Podcast release new episodes?
The Writers’ Block Podcast publishes regularly with 228 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to The Writers’ Block Podcast?
You can listen to The Writers’ Block Podcast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Writers’ Block Podcast?
The Writers’ Block Podcast is created and hosted by Jennifer Bush-Harris.
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