Hanif Abdurraqib on Basketball, Ohio, and the Art of the Playlist

Reckon True Stories

Deesha and Kiese welcome acclaimed writer, poet, and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib, author of There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension. They talk about music—the significance of music to their youth and their lives now, their listening practices, and Abdurraqib’s process of creating playlists. They also discuss basketball and what is so special, so singular, about Columbus in terms of high school basketball. Deesha admits how she’s had to challenge her own notions of Ohio in regards to sports and to politics, and Abdurraqib talks about the joys and the frustrations of place, of community, and of notions of home.

Reading List: Authors, Stories, and Books Mentioned

• Hanif Abdurraqib
• Yona Harvey
• Brian Broome
• Hanif Abdurraqib Blog (Medium)
• There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension (Hanif Abdurraqib)
• “Nicki Minaj’s ‘Pink Friday’ Sequel is Pure Spectacle” (Hanif Abdurraqib, The New Yorker 2023)
• Diane Seuss
• Greg Tate
• Wanda Coleman
• Terrance Hayes

Listening List:

• “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Nirvana)
• “Funkytown” (Lipps Inc.)
• “Nothing from Nothing” (Billy Preston)
• “Kung Fu Fighting” (Carl Douglas)
• Parliament Funkadelic
• Hot Buttered Soul (Isaac Hayes)
• Celia Cruz
• Miriam Makeba
• Whitney Houston
• “Basketball” (Kurtis Blow)
• “Shoot Pass Slam” (Shaquille O’Neal)
• “(I Know I Got) Skillz” (Shaquille O’Neal)
• “Soul in the Hole” (3rd Bass)
• (7L & Esoteric, The Handle ft. Sadat X)
• “Hit ‘em High” (Busta Rhymes, Coolio, LL Cool J, Method Man)
• “Let’s Go Crazy” (Prince & The Revolution)
• “Human Made” (Kid Cudi)
• “The Pink Seashell” (Fall Out Boy, Ethan Hawke)
• African-American Sound Recordings
• BLK ODYSSY
• “Yellow Brick Road” (Lo Village)
• Flood City Trax (Nondi)
• Black Rainbows (Corinne Bailey Rae)
• Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? (McKinley Dixon)
• Pink Friday 2 (Nicki Minaj)
• Allison Russell

Read more from Deesha Philyaw and Kiese Laymon:

• The Secret Lives of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)
• Heavy (Kiese Laymon)
• Long Division (Kiese Laymon)
• How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: Essays (Kiese Laymon)
• Ursa Short Fiction podcast (Deesha Philyaw & Dawnie Walton)

Produced by Ursa Story Company in partnership with Reckon.

Hosted by Deesha Philyaw & Kiese Laymon

Show Producers: Dawnie Walton & Mark Armstrong

Associate Producer: Marina Leigh

Episode Editor: Kelly Araja

Reckon Editor In Chief: R.L. Nave

Reckon Deputy Editor: Michelle Zenarosa

Audience Director: Katie Johnston

Creative Strategist: Abbey Crain

Sr. Social Producer: Sid Espinosa