Myra Flynn

Myra Flynn is the Host and Executive Producer of Homegoings, a podcast that invites listeners to be a fly on the wall, privy to candid and genuine conversations about race.

How would you describe Homegoings in 10 words or less?
Homegoings is a show that takes a humanizing and often artistic dive into the messy world of racial identity. 

What inspired you to create it?
Homegoings was created after the one-year anniversary of Geroge Floyd's murder, during a time when folks were scratching their heads as to what to do next. Like there was this mythological set of instructions out there as to how to solve a problem that's been embedded so deeply into our society. But there are no instructions. There are no conclusions and there are no immediate answers. But there are stories. And Homegoings can be a place to normalize and share those. 

You're also a musician. Can you tell us a bit about your career in music and why you made the jump to podcasting?
I don't think songwriting and journalism are all that different. Both are working to take these huge emotional and thought-provoking subjects and squeeze them into palatable stanzas or audio. So, in a lot of ways, it felt really natural. Plus, I've always held two degrees: one in music and one in journalism. Over time, I've gone between the two often. 

You cover a lot of ground on Homegoings. Some episodes seem like they would be lighter fare, like your episode on cooking collard greens, then dive deeper into the association between race and cooking, while others promise to be hard-hitting from the jump, like your episode on grief. How do you choose your topics, and how deep you should go?
This is my kind of deep question! So, the greens episode is interesting, because it appears light because we're talking about food, but really the whole episode is a way in to talking about slavery, Black physical health, tradition, generational sisterhood, the list goes on and on. I think when it comes to choosing my topics, this is something I love to do. Offer a surprise. Like come --- "come for the greens, stay for the life lessons you will never forget!" But then other times, as it is with the grief episode, you have to dig deeper to find the surprise. For instance, this episode is actually titled "The relief in grief." So, if you listen closely to these stories, you can hear that each person feels both mourning, and a bit unburdened by the loss of their love's ones. And that in experiencing these tragic deaths, they have kind of been brought back to life. Which is an insanely difficult thing to admit to yourself let alone the world --- so I truly respect my sources for this honesty and bravery with me. And as far as how deep you should go? I might be the wrong person to ask! haha. Until the well is empty. You should go until the well is empty. 

Your interview with Rachel Dolezal is one of your most listened to episodes, and you did a fantastic job as an interviewer. How do you prepare for interviews in general, and what did you have to do to prepare for Rachel's interview specifically, especially given that a good portion of your audience likely aren't fans of Rachel?
Thank you! I prepare from a place of compassion. I always give every interview that respect, and that grace. When it comes to Rachel in particular it was most important to me to keep compassion top of mind because A.) This isn't a breaking news story anymore and I refused to be a part of the sensationalism and B.) I wanted people to zoom out further than Rachel. I wanted Rachel to zoom out further than Rachel. This is an episode about the idea of choice in racial identity, the fine line between appropriation and activism, mental health, childhood trauma, other construct comparisons and at the end of the day --- a person who started a movement. You don't have to like it for it to be interesting. In fact, most things that are hardest to look at are the things we need to face full-on, and I believe I did this with the Rachel interview. 

What are you most excited for in this new season of Homegoings?
Well, if you can believe it, I think we have somehow managed to go deeper than Rachel Dolezal! Two episodes have dropped at the moment, one about taking care of your elders (I got to travel to Mexico for this one, so Homegoings went out of the country!) and one about being biracial (specifically Black and white biracial). From there I'm moving onto a two-part episode about stereotypes where I will be speaking with people about single-motherhood, life after incarceration, coming new to America, the big Black penis (yup we are going there!) and so much more. Some of my guests in this season are super famous and some are everyday folks. It's just a really round and special season, I think. 

What are you most hopeful for when it comes to dismantling racist systems in America?
Something shifted after George Floyd's murder. I think we are still trying to figure out how to name that shift? But in general, I think it does have something to do with a collective awareness. And people being more aware always makes me hopeful.

What are some of your must-listen podcasts that you recommend to podcast lovers?
My colleague Erica Hielman makes a podcast called Rumble Strip that I can't recommend enough. It's set in the state I grew up in, Vermont, which while it's sorely lacking in racial diversity is jammed packed with political and economic diversity. Erica captures this with the same insatiable curiosity and precociousness as Homgegoings does with race. Plus, she's way more of an audiophile than me. The show just sounds so beautiful. 

Thanks, Myra!