Bless Your Heart Transistor (https://transistor.fm) https://feeds.transistor.fm/bless-your-heart-aisha-nyandoro Bless Your Heart is a Southern expression. It sounds sweet on the surface, but it’s really our way of saying you’ve got it completely wrong. Hosted by Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard to Opportunities and architect of the longest-running guaranteed income program in the U.S., each episode is a deep conversation with a guest who helps set the record straight. This season we’re challenging everything you think you know about the South. © 2026 Aisha Nyandoro 47a13050-9f5e-561e-b55a-3d324f151cac yes Introducing 'Bless Your Heart' en Thu, 29 Oct 2026 06:00:13 -0400 Thu, 29 Oct 2026 06:02:49 -0400 https://img.transistorcdn.com/k5gYLqKfqfit-1aTuhwHf5sr-YGqd07yvNIX-CBrp8w/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9hMGVi/MzA1NWUzY2YzNTk5/NzFkMDExMzQ1OTY5/MzlkMS5wbmc.jpg Bless Your Heart episodic Aisha Nyandoro Bless Your Heart is a Southern expression. It sounds sweet on the surface, but it’s really our way of saying you’ve got it completely wrong. Hosted by Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard to Opportunities and architect of the longest-running guaranteed income program in the U.S., each episode is a deep conversation with a guest who helps set the record straight. This season we’re challenging everything you think you know about the South. Bless Your Heart is a Southern expression. Bless Your Heart, Aisha Nyandoro, American South Aisha Nyandoro jessicalplaczek@gmail.com No No Respectability and the Price of Nice with Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson 1 1 8 8 Respectability and the Price of Nice with Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson full 34967a75-5885-4a17-be49-b9334c677f68 https://share.transistor.fm/s/aa9b9f08 In this season finale, Aisha Nyandoro sits down with Reverend Dr. Starsky Wilson, pastor, theologian, and CEO of the Children’s Defense Fund, to ask whether Southern niceness is actually kindness or a survival strategy inherited from an era when Black dignity had to be earned. Together they trace how respectability politics moved from the church pew to the streets of Ferguson, why Marian Wright Edelman’s ministry became a nonprofit instead of a pulpit, and what it really means to preach Jesus without preaching what Jesus preached.

]]> In this season finale, Aisha Nyandoro sits down with Reverend Dr. Starsky Wilson, pastor, theologian, and CEO of the Children’s Defense Fund, to ask whether Southern niceness is actually kindness or a survival strategy inherited from an era when Black dignity had to be earned. Together they trace how respectability politics moved from the church pew to the streets of Ferguson, why Marian Wright Edelman’s ministry became a nonprofit instead of a pulpit, and what it really means to preach Jesus without preaching what Jesus preached.

]]> Thu, 29 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400 Aisha Nyandoro Aisha Nyandoro 1747 In this season finale, Aisha Nyandoro sits down with Reverend Dr. Starsky Wilson, pastor, theologian, and CEO of the Children’s Defense Fund, to ask whether Southern niceness is actually kindness or a survival strategy inherited from an era when Black dignity had to be earned. Together they trace how respectability politics moved from the church pew to the streets of Ferguson, why Marian Wright Edelman’s ministry became a nonprofit instead of a pulpit, and what it really means to preach Jesus without preaching what Jesus preached.

]]> Starsky Wilson, Children’s Defense Fund, respectability politics, Black church, Southern culture, Ferguson, Marian Wright Edelman, church and social change No The Smartest People are From the South with Kiese Laymon 1 1 7 7 The Smartest People are From the South with Kiese Laymon full 722d2643-b79c-4c53-922c-0ee37298f1de https://share.transistor.fm/s/6c24b5f0 What happens when the place that made you is also the place the rest of the country dismisses? MacArthur genius grant recipient and author of Heavy, Kiese Laymon grew up in a pink shotgun house on two acres of land in Forest, Mississippi — and he never felt big there. That smallness, he says, is exactly why his art resonates. Laymon sits down with Aisha Nyandoro to talk about Southern genius, memory, and the industries committed to making sure Americans don't look back at what the South has always contained.

]]> What happens when the place that made you is also the place the rest of the country dismisses? MacArthur genius grant recipient and author of Heavy, Kiese Laymon grew up in a pink shotgun house on two acres of land in Forest, Mississippi — and he never felt big there. That smallness, he says, is exactly why his art resonates. Laymon sits down with Aisha Nyandoro to talk about Southern genius, memory, and the industries committed to making sure Americans don't look back at what the South has always contained.

]]> Thu, 22 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400 Aisha Nyandoro Aisha Nyandoro 1747 What happens when the place that made you is also the place the rest of the country dismisses? MacArthur genius grant recipient and author of Heavy, Kiese Laymon grew up in a pink shotgun house on two acres of land in Forest, Mississippi — and he never felt big there. That smallness, he says, is exactly why his art resonates. Laymon sits down with Aisha Nyandoro to talk about Southern genius, memory, and the industries committed to making sure Americans don't look back at what the South has always contained.

]]> Kiese Laymon, Heavy memoir, MacArthur Fellow, Southern genius, Mississippi, Black writers, Jackson Mississippi, Richard Wright, memory and history, storytelling No The South is America’s Future with Mitch Landrieu 1 1 6 6 The South is America’s Future with Mitch Landrieu full 5677b1c3-27b2-4965-a755-c4b51b6e1d42 https://share.transistor.fm/s/70bf4cd0 Former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu believes the South holds the keys to the future of American politics. Founder of E Pluribus Unum and host of the new show Long Play, Landrieu sits down with Aisha Nyandoro to discuss Southern political power, racial reckoning, and why the country keeps getting the South wrong.

]]> Former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu believes the South holds the keys to the future of American politics. Founder of E Pluribus Unum and host of the new show Long Play, Landrieu sits down with Aisha Nyandoro to discuss Southern political power, racial reckoning, and why the country keeps getting the South wrong.

]]> Thu, 15 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400 Aisha Nyandoro Aisha Nyandoro 1439 Former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu believes the South holds the keys to the future of American politics. Founder of E Pluribus Unum and host of the new show Long Play, Landrieu sits down with Aisha Nyandoro to discuss Southern political power, racial reckoning, and why the country keeps getting the South wrong.

]]> Mitch Landrieu, New Orleans, Southern politics, voting rights, E Pluribus Unum, political future No No One is Self-Made with Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon 1 1 5 5 No One is Self-Made with Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon full 3e8b9661-7dfa-4309-b173-a5de4c7f6e26 https://share.transistor.fm/s/7e2d7277 American’s love to say successful people are self-made, but this can create a dangerous myth that justifies poverty. Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon, founder of The Village Market and author of No One Is Self-Made, argues that individual success is actually a community project. A conversation about Black entrepreneurship, collective wealth building, and why the South already knows something the rest of the country hasn't figured out yet.

]]> American’s love to say successful people are self-made, but this can create a dangerous myth that justifies poverty. Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon, founder of The Village Market and author of No One Is Self-Made, argues that individual success is actually a community project. A conversation about Black entrepreneurship, collective wealth building, and why the South already knows something the rest of the country hasn't figured out yet.

]]> Thu, 08 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400 Aisha Nyandoro Aisha Nyandoro 1492 American’s love to say successful people are self-made, but this can create a dangerous myth that justifies poverty. Dr. Lakeysha Hallmon, founder of The Village Market and author of No One Is Self-Made, argues that individual success is actually a community project. A conversation about Black entrepreneurship, collective wealth building, and why the South already knows something the rest of the country hasn't figured out yet.

]]> Lakeysha Hallmon, bootstrap myth, Black entrepreneurship, community, wealth building, Village Market, No One Is Self-Made No Who Gets to Be Southern with Nini Nguyen 1 1 4 4 Who Gets to Be Southern with Nini Nguyen full fa8472f2-f2cb-451d-a9fd-77acbe19ef0d https://share.transistor.fm/s/6c79ada5 When most people picture a Southerner, they picture someone Black or white. Top Chef finalist and cookbook author Nini Nguyen is here to complicate that. Vietnamese people make up a quarter of Louisiana's commercial shrimpers and have been integral to many parts of the seafood industry. A conversation about Vietnamese American identity, Southern food culture, and belonging in New Orleans.

]]> When most people picture a Southerner, they picture someone Black or white. Top Chef finalist and cookbook author Nini Nguyen is here to complicate that. Vietnamese people make up a quarter of Louisiana's commercial shrimpers and have been integral to many parts of the seafood industry. A conversation about Vietnamese American identity, Southern food culture, and belonging in New Orleans.

]]> Thu, 01 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400 Aisha Nyandoro Aisha Nyandoro 1611 When most people picture a Southerner, they picture someone Black or white. Top Chef finalist and cookbook author Nini Nguyen is here to complicate that. Vietnamese people make up a quarter of Louisiana's commercial shrimpers and have been integral to many parts of the seafood industry. A conversation about Vietnamese American identity, Southern food culture, and belonging in New Orleans.

]]> Nini Nguyen, Vietnamese American, Louisiana, New Orleans, Southern food, Top Chef, immigration, who gets to be Southern No You Don’t have to Leave to Succeed with Rita Brent 1 1 3 3 You Don’t have to Leave to Succeed with Rita Brent full ba59731a-1cca-44a7-9f5e-38f77787bafd https://share.transistor.fm/s/bae1e89c Comedian Rita Brent built an Emmy-nominated late night show from Jackson, Mississippi. She proves that staying in the South might actually be a competitive advantage. Aisha Nyandoro sits down with Brent to talk about redefining success, Black creativity in the South, and what Mississippi gives that nowhere else can.

]]> Comedian Rita Brent built an Emmy-nominated late night show from Jackson, Mississippi. She proves that staying in the South might actually be a competitive advantage. Aisha Nyandoro sits down with Brent to talk about redefining success, Black creativity in the South, and what Mississippi gives that nowhere else can.

]]> Thu, 24 Sep 2026 06:00:00 -0400 Aisha Nyandoro Aisha Nyandoro 1770 Comedian Rita Brent built an Emmy-nominated late night show from Jackson, Mississippi. She proves that staying in the South might actually be a competitive advantage. Aisha Nyandoro sits down with Brent to talk about redefining success, Black creativity in the South, and what Mississippi gives that nowhere else can.

]]> Rita Brent, Mississippi, Black comedian, late night, Southern identity, redefining success No Trust and Poverty with Brittney Cooper 1 1 2 2 Trust and Poverty with Brittney Cooper full e0411751-95ac-4b37-b496-70c4d5847cb0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/c3294462 Why is trusting poor people so controversial? Dr. Brittney Cooper, author of Eloquent Rage and professor at Rutgers, sits down with Aisha Nyandoro to discuss respectability politics and the ways poor Black women have had to perform worthiness just to be treated as legitimate. 

]]> Why is trusting poor people so controversial? Dr. Brittney Cooper, author of Eloquent Rage and professor at Rutgers, sits down with Aisha Nyandoro to discuss respectability politics and the ways poor Black women have had to perform worthiness just to be treated as legitimate. 

]]> Thu, 17 Sep 2026 06:00:00 -0400 Aisha Nyandoro Aisha Nyandoro 1857 Why is trusting poor people so controversial? Dr. Brittney Cooper, author of Eloquent Rage and professor at Rutgers, sits down with Aisha Nyandoro to discuss respectability politics and the ways poor Black women have had to perform worthiness just to be treated as legitimate. 

]]> Brittney Cooper, respectability politics, Black women, poverty, guaranteed income, welfare, Eloquent Rage No Everyone’s Doing the South with Tressie McMillan Cottom 1 1 1 1 Everyone’s Doing the South with Tressie McMillan Cottom full 3fc6d4cb-286d-4e2f-85de-a03eb497c43e https://share.transistor.fm/s/33a42d0d What's underneath the rest of the country treating the South as backward? Sociologist and New York Times contributor Tressie McMillan Cottom argues it's a ruse to help Americans avoid reckoning with their own faults. It also erases the massive contributions the South made to turn the US into a global superpower. A conversation about race, Southern identity, and American history with host Aisha Nyandoro.

]]> What's underneath the rest of the country treating the South as backward? Sociologist and New York Times contributor Tressie McMillan Cottom argues it's a ruse to help Americans avoid reckoning with their own faults. It also erases the massive contributions the South made to turn the US into a global superpower. A conversation about race, Southern identity, and American history with host Aisha Nyandoro.

]]> Thu, 10 Sep 2026 10:49:28 -0400 Aisha Nyandoro Aisha Nyandoro 3348 What's underneath the rest of the country treating the South as backward? Sociologist and New York Times contributor Tressie McMillan Cottom argues it's a ruse to help Americans avoid reckoning with their own faults. It also erases the massive contributions the South made to turn the US into a global superpower. A conversation about race, Southern identity, and American history with host Aisha Nyandoro.

]]> Tressie McMillan Cottom, Southern identity, race in America, American history, South backward No Introducing 'Bless Your Heart' 1 1 Introducing 'Bless Your Heart' trailer f42a5dc4-e339-4ad0-afc5-7623c1111af0 https://share.transistor.fm/s/32bd7fba The South is misunderstood and this podcast aims to correct the record. From who gets to be Southern, to why you don't have to leave to succeed, to why the South is America's foundation and not its problem, Bless Your Heart is having conversations that will change how you see this place.

 

Bless Your Heart is a Southern expression that sounds sweet on the surface, but delivers sharp critique with a smile. We're bringing this charming, cutting and distinctly Southern sensibility with us as we challenge false narratives.


Each episode is a deep, two-way conversation between lifelong Southerner Aisha Nyandoro and a guest whose life, work, or story challenges what we think we know about the South: including Tressie McMillan Cottom, Mitch Landrieu and Kiese Laymon. Aisha is one of the most important voices in the national conversation around poverty, narrative change and economic justice. And she's seen up close what happens when the stories we are told get it wrong. 

 

Aisha leads the Jackson-based nonprofit Springboard to Opportunities and is the architect of the Magnolia Mother’s Trust – the longest-running guaranteed income program in the U.S. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and PBS NewsHour. She is a Forbes contributor, TED Speaker, TIME100 Next honoree and Heinz Award winner. She also comes from a lineage of changemakers. Her grandmother was a former sharecropper turned Civil Rights icon, and Aisha has been carrying that work forward her whole life.

 

Subscribe to not miss out!

]]> The South is misunderstood and this podcast aims to correct the record. From who gets to be Southern, to why you don't have to leave to succeed, to why the South is America's foundation and not its problem, Bless Your Heart is having conversations that will change how you see this place.

 

Bless Your Heart is a Southern expression that sounds sweet on the surface, but delivers sharp critique with a smile. We're bringing this charming, cutting and distinctly Southern sensibility with us as we challenge false narratives.


Each episode is a deep, two-way conversation between lifelong Southerner Aisha Nyandoro and a guest whose life, work, or story challenges what we think we know about the South: including Tressie McMillan Cottom, Mitch Landrieu and Kiese Laymon. Aisha is one of the most important voices in the national conversation around poverty, narrative change and economic justice. And she's seen up close what happens when the stories we are told get it wrong. 

 

Aisha leads the Jackson-based nonprofit Springboard to Opportunities and is the architect of the Magnolia Mother’s Trust – the longest-running guaranteed income program in the U.S. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and PBS NewsHour. She is a Forbes contributor, TED Speaker, TIME100 Next honoree and Heinz Award winner. She also comes from a lineage of changemakers. Her grandmother was a former sharecropper turned Civil Rights icon, and Aisha has been carrying that work forward her whole life.

 

Subscribe to not miss out!

]]> Wed, 26 Aug 2026 16:49:33 -0400 Aisha Nyandoro Aisha Nyandoro 122 The South is misunderstood and this podcast aims to correct the record. From who gets to be Southern, to why you don't have to leave to succeed, to why the South is America's foundation and not its problem, Bless Your Heart is having conversations that will change how you see this place.

 

Bless Your Heart is a Southern expression that sounds sweet on the surface, but delivers sharp critique with a smile. We're bringing this charming, cutting and distinctly Southern sensibility with us as we challenge false narratives.


Each episode is a deep, two-way conversation between lifelong Southerner Aisha Nyandoro and a guest whose life, work, or story challenges what we think we know about the South: including Tressie McMillan Cottom, Mitch Landrieu and Kiese Laymon. Aisha is one of the most important voices in the national conversation around poverty, narrative change and economic justice. And she's seen up close what happens when the stories we are told get it wrong. 

 

Aisha leads the Jackson-based nonprofit Springboard to Opportunities and is the architect of the Magnolia Mother’s Trust – the longest-running guaranteed income program in the U.S. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and PBS NewsHour. She is a Forbes contributor, TED Speaker, TIME100 Next honoree and Heinz Award winner. She also comes from a lineage of changemakers. Her grandmother was a former sharecropper turned Civil Rights icon, and Aisha has been carrying that work forward her whole life.

 

Subscribe to not miss out!

]]> South, Mississippi, Aisha Nyandoro, Guaranteed Income No