Tracy Clayton finds it very weird to be a co-host of a successful podcast. She herself does not listen to podcasts, and she doesn’t consider herself a very eloquent person when speaking. Even before beginning her career as a writer, Clayton felt best understood and in control in written form.
Despite these possible setbacks, the Buzzfeed podcast Another Round with Heben and Tracy, now has more than 11,000 likes on Facebook and more than 28,000 followers on Twitter.
Bold founder Carrie Sheffield recently interviewed Clayton, whose podcasts and blogs provide a unique voice in the media marketplace. Clayton says that while the process of creating a podcast is hard work, it is easy to sit down and talk with her co-host Heben Nigatu for 45 minutes.
Clayton shares her most recent favorite episode, which featured Marley Dias — an 11-year-old girl who decided that she was tired of reading books about white boys and their dogs — as well as their interview with Hillary Clinton.
“It is not very often people get interviewed by two black women just being very themselves,” Clayton said.
With their much-needed voices in U.S. media, Nigatu and Clayton offer lesser-heard perspectives. Clayton recently stated that Black History Month shouldn’t have to exist. She believes something as huge and important as the history of African-Americans should be shared and studied all year rather than reduced to 28, or occasionally 29, days.
“Oppression is still there, it just looks different,” Clayton said.
For her, criticism has caused her to develop pretty thick skin. One of her favorite ways to respond to haters is not to block them, so they know she has seen their comments and is choosing to ignore them. This way they know even though they tried to antagonize her, they haven’t made her angry enough to respond.
Watch the full interview below.
