Annanda Barclay and Keisha McKenzie
Annanda Barclay is an end of life planner, chaplain, and moral injury researcher in the Bay Area, California. Keisha McKenzie is a technical communicator and narrative strategist based in Maryland.
They are co-hosts of Moral Repair.
Fill in the blank: You will like Moral Repair if you like _______.
Cookouts, Kiki’s, Spilling the Tech Tea, Technology, Philosophy & Spirituality, Black Thought, Hip hop, Gil Scott Heron
If we haven’t listened yet, where should we start?
Annanda: Season 1 Episode 2 got us our AMBIE nominations, but I encourage a listener to start with an episode title they find interesting. We want you to be engaged so go for the low hanging fruit!
You are two-timed Ambies nominated, congratulations!! What a testimony to your amazing work. How did this recognition inform and motivate you?
Annanda: It was an invitation to continue to pursue the community education and empowerment project that is this podcast. I’m motivated by imagining new tangible futures with all people and technology, particularly from underrepresented perspectives and people.
How do your different personal and professional backgrounds complement each other?
Keisha: I was raised in the humanities so I think about tech through the lens of people and the stories we tell each other—film, especially. I learned to understand myself through the stories of others and I think I bring that sensibility to the show and to the stories guests tell us.
Annanda: As a clinically trained chaplain, my research and focus is on moral injury and repair in STEM students and professionals. As an End of Life Planner, my work centers on what it means for my clients to have a meaningful life all the way to the end, including how to care for loved ones after death. Both grapple with questions of moral distress, injury, and repair. I simply adore being in the outdoors and caring for the planet and others, this show is an offering of care.
Okay so you know a lot about tech, something that is keeping a lot of people….especially creative people…up at night. What keeps YOU up at night?
Annanda: Unregulated AI, end stage capitalism, and the amount of unhappiness in the world. Happiness, joy, is free, and can be as simple as smiling at a bird in the sky, or recalling a fond memory.
If you could make another podcast, don’t worry about the logistics or whether or not anyone will like it, what would it be? Your budget is $1M.
Annanda: This one. Life’s too short to not do what I want to do.
Moral Repair explores the intersection of technology and spirituality with a focus on showcasing practical wisdom from the African continent and diaspora. What is the motivation behind highlighting these connections?
Annanda: The motivation behind this is to shift the geography of reason from mainstream representation of wisdom and knowledge as it relates to technology. Too few voices from the African continent and diaspora are taken just as seriously as dominant tech voices, which have little to no representation of Black people. It makes no sense that a narrow representation of the human population can speak to the benefits or perils of technology for all people. We assume their words, guidance, and understanding is practically law. Why? They live such different lives from most people on the planet who come from such different cultures and life experiences.
What is one thing you learned from the first season and wanted to apply to the second season?
Annanda: 35 to 30 minute episodes are gold. Being able to connect our audience with a rich story is worth the hours upon hours on the backend for the 35 minutes for our listeners.
What’s a podcast you love that everyone already knows about?
Annanda: The Read. I rarely follow gossip and pop culture so it catches me up on everything while keeping me laughing, shocked, and just normalizing a full range of human emotions.
Keisha: I still listen to Ramit Sethi’s I Will Teach You To Be Rich. It’s so interesting to hear how other families use money to make the lives they want.
What’s a podcast you love that not enough people know about?
Keisha: I don’t know if enough people know about the Translash Podcast from Imara Jones? She’s an incredible journalist, storyteller, and advocate for trans people. Get into it!
Annanda: All My Relations. It’s a podcast about American Indian/Native American culture, celebration, and wisdom. Artist, show creator and host Matika Wilbur is laughing constantly and it brings me great joy to listen and laugh alongside her while I shut up and learn.
What brings you joy?
Annanda: Nature. The smiles on the faces of those I love and care about. Serving others. Learning. Receiving in a non-transactional way. Good food. Silence. Amazing live music. Honey Bees. Being alive… most days.
What do you do to take care of yourself?
Annanda: Sleep. Work outside in my backyard. Beekeep. Camp. Backpack. Hang with dear ones. I’m learning the power of a good affordable spa.
What do you wish someone told you about podcasting before you did it?
Annanda: How much time it actually takes to execute well.
Are there too many podcasts?
Keisha: No! But not everyone has the resources or community they might need to last in the industry. It takes a lot of work and deep support to make quality audio, and I’m so grateful for our production team and the folks at PRX for getting us started.
Annanda: There aren’t too many podcasts. The market is so saturated when it comes to finding a podcast of interest, or stand out as a podcast. I would love to be surprised to enjoy a podcast that I might not usually listen too, I think experience is a lost gem. There’s just so many choices and it’s hard to tell which podcast is worthy of my time and attention.
What should I have asked you but didn’t?
Annanda: The red or the blue pill and why?
Thanks, Annanda and Keisha!