5 chapters across the catalog
A host recounts feeling like an "outsider" or "the other" for refusing to wear a mask at a Whole Foods during the pandemic. This experience is compared to the "double consciousness" theory described by W.E.B. Du Bois regarding the Black experience in America. The segment explores how propaganda weaponizes feelings of exclusion to enforce social compliance.
One host recounts a childhood memory from 1969 in Maryland involving a visiting Black family, reflecting on an early, unearned feeling of "feeling sorry" for them influenced by media portrayals. The conversation shifts to the psychological toll of "double consciousness" in corporate America, where minority professionals often feel they must constantly calculate how they are being perceived by others to avoid being discredited.
In a personal exchange, Adam Curry describes his self-consciousness about how he would be perceived by Mo Facts' family. Mo Facts explains the "double consciousness" of black people—trying to stay true to oneself while navigating how one is perceived by the white world. They compare Maxine Waters' interaction with Megan Thee Stallion to Hillary Clinton's "hot sauce in the purse" moment as examples of calculated pandering.
Mo explains his recent absence from the show as a period of self-reflection triggered by "double consciousness," a concept pioneered by W.E.B. Du Bois. This describes the internal conflict of seeing oneself through the eyes of a critical society. Mo discusses the pressure of "code-switching" and the burden of how his family and friends perceive his work on the podcast.
The concept of "double consciousness," as defined by W.E.B. Du Bois in 1903, is used to explain the split identity felt by black Americans. Du Bois used the metaphor of "the veil" to describe how racism prevents black people from seeing themselves as true Americans. Kanye West's declaration of being a "free man" is framed as an attempt to break through this veil and achieve a unified self.
