Most podcasts don’t last 200 episodes. Most podcasts don’t last 20 episodes. So, the fact that DetoxPod just crossed that major milestone is a cause for celebration and reflection. I decided to celebrate by answering questions posed to me by a group of friends and former guests. I talk about everything from being a hip-hop obsessed teenager to being open about your queerness even if (maybe especially if) you are hetero-presenting or in an opposite gender primary relationship. Thanks to everyone who recorded a voice note or asked a question via email. You can listen to that episode here.
As meaningful-or perhaps more meaningful to me, is Episode 201, in which I interview my friend Craig Chapman. Friend might be too loose a term to describe my relationship with Craig. Let’s put it this way. Of everyone I’ve encountered over the course of the 49 and change years I’ve been on this Earth, Craig is one of the five most important. He was the first (and only) real Black male mentor I ever had-I worked for him (at Nobody Beats the Wiz!) for seven years. He was the first adult to believe in me as an adult. He expanded my love of music. He’s part of the reason I did a radio show. He (inadvertently) led me to my diabetes diagnosis. He was the person who I cried to when I was desperate to find an apartment, thought I had something locked in, and then my potential roommate told me his landlord wouldn’t let me move in because I was Black (this was in Maspeth Queens, by the way, in 2000…not 1965). He was the person I got on the phone with when I was at South Station in Boston, right before I hopped on a train and accept the offer from my job to move back to NYC, because I needed a gut check. I still call or text him when I have tough decisions to make, or when I need someone to give me the real deal, and to do so with equal amounts honesty and love.
I’ve had two jobs since working for Craig, and each of the people who hired me at my subsequent gigs worked with Craig at some point.
So, the opportunity to speak to him and record it for posterity was quite meaningful. And I hope you enjoy it.
I also hope everyone has at least one Craig in their lives.