Aisha Harris in conversation with Virgie Tovar

Award-winning podcaster Aisha Harris comes to Black Bird to discuss her new book Wannabe with bestselling author and podcaster Virgie Tovar. 

In Wannabe, Aisha probes the most personal aspects of her life, including her family, her adolescence, her relationships, and her work. In the opening essay, an interaction with Chance the Rapper prompts an investigation into the origin myth of her name. Elsewhere, Aisha traces the evolution of the “Black Friend” trope from its Twainian origins through to the heyday of the Spice Girls, teen comedies like She’s All That, and sitcoms of the New Girl variety.

Aisha Harris is a co-host and critic on the hit NPR podcast, Pop Culture Happy Hour. She previously held editorial positions at Slate and the New York Times. Aisha earned her bachelor’s degree in theater from Northwestern University and her master’s degree in cinema studies from NYU.

Virgie Tovar is an author, lecturer, and leading expert on weight-based discrimination and body positivity. She is a contributor to Forbes where she covers the plus-size market and how to end weight discrimination at work. She started the hashtag campaign #LoseHateNotWeight in 2013 and in 2018 gave a TedX talk on the origins of the campaign. 

1PM   |   FREE