Dope Game Stupid, Quo Vadis, Aida? and Blues for Mister Charlie
Featuring a podcast episode with Leanna Keith.
Welcome to the forty-sixth installation of The Q : your one-stop weekly newsletter of culture recommendations.
Album
Dope Game Stupid by Bruiser Wolf
Nobody sounds like Bruiser Wolf, and his newest project Dope Game Stupid is one of the most jarring releases of the year. Every song sounds like a relic from another era, restored and placed in the middle of 2021 Detroit. The bars are hilarious, the flow is off the wall, but most importantly, Dope Game Stupid scratches an itch that you didn’t even know you had. Bruiser Wolf is Detroit’s cowboy: unpredictable and dangerous.
Film
Quo Vadis, Aida? directed by Jasmila Zbanic
When learning about some of history’s cruelest atrocities through textbooks or in school, it is often easy to disassociate from the tragedy — to see occurrences as just another piece of fabric woven into our dark past. But in Jasmila Zbanic’s Quo Vadis, Aida?, Zbanic makes it impossible to ignore the separation of innocent families, the senseless deaths of loved ones, and the loss of a generation of people in the 1995 Bosnia genocide.
Book
Blues for Mister Charlie by James Baldwin
There is no introduction to James Baldwin that could encapsulate the genius and brilliance of this man who redefined twentieth-century literature and fundamentally altered the perception of what it means to be Black in the United States. Blues for Mister Charlie, Baldwin’s third play and the first to make it to Broadway, is dedicated to the memory of Medgar Evers, an American civil rights activist assassinated in 1963 in Jackson, Mississippi, and was created “to the memory of the dead children of Birmingham.” It is largely however recognized as an allegory to the murder of Emmett Till.
Playlist
Fafa’s “;)” features Remi Wolf, BIA, and Ashnikko
Fafa’s favorite track: “Fitness” by Freddie
Description: End of the year bops ;)
Podcast
Episode #45: Cranberry Juice and an Interview with Leanna Keith
On this week's episode, Sam and Teresa interview Leanna Keith over a glass of cranberry juice. Leanna Keith is a freelance flutist, artist, improviser, and composer in the Seattle area, whose performance artworks focus on cultural connections and breaking audience and performer boundaries. Leanna was also a Teaching Artist with the Seattle Symphony from 2017-2018, and served as webmaster for the Seattle Flute Society from 2016-2018. Her most recent album, TAROT, was released on April 1 on Bandcamp. Leanna talks to Teresa and Sam about experimenting with the flute, pushing performance boundaries, and drawing tarot cards for her new album.