You Are The Genre

🔊: Apple - Spotify - NewsletterTim Barnes chats with Felipe Torres Medina (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) about growing up in Columbia, the impact comedic imports from America, and the everlasting power of being a moody boy. His book, America, Let Me In: A Choose Your Immigration Story was published March 2025 and has earned some pretty cool reviews from Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly. ORDER IT NOW! Felipe Torres Medina is an award-winning humorist and writer based in New York City. He is a writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert where he’s written bits for his boss and also some celebrities who don’t know him. His writing for The Late Show has earned him a WGA Award and a Peabody Award as well as five Emmy nominations. His book, America, Let Me In: A Choose Your Immigration Story was published March 2025 and has earned some pretty cool reviews from Kirkus and Publisher’s Weekly. ORDER IT NOW! His work has appeared on The New Yorker, BuzzFeed and BuzzFeed Español, McSweeney's, Reductress, and CollegeHumor. He trained as a writer and comedian at the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York and did many comedy shows in the basements of bars, grocery stores, and other places littered with fire hazards. He has also been published in several important media publications in Latin America such as El Espectador, KienYKe and Revista Arcadia. He once appeared on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, but in Colombia. His millions are in Colombian pesos.Listen to episodes a week earlier than the rest by selecting a paid subscription to the newsletter!Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.comCREDITS:* Host: Tim Barnes* Guest: Felipe Torres Medina* Theme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie Nunez* Music Engineer: Adam Smith* Podcast Art: Madhuri Shukla This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromafricanamerica.substack.com/subscribe

🔊: Apple - Spotify - NewsletterTim Barnes chats with Ryan Perez (SNL, The Tonight Show) about the impact of Scorsese films on his sensibility as a comedian, writer, and filmmaker.Listen to episodes a week earlier than the rest by selecting a paid subscription to the newsletter!Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.comCREDITS:* Host: Tim Barnes* Guest: Ryan Perez* Theme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie Nunez* Music Engineer: Adam Smith* Podcast Art: Madhuri Shukla This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromafricanamerica.substack.com/subscribe

Tim Barnes chats with comedian/director/photographer Rose Kelso about her early love of collecting things and how that ties into her many creative pursuits today.Rose Kelso is a Brooklyn based director, comedian, and photographer. She is the creator of multiple Comedy Central digital series such as: Boomer Stoop, Rose's Music Show, Rose and Brooks' Small World, and more... In February 2024, she was featured on The Tonight Show's Battle of the Instant Songwriters where she performed a song she wrote in an hour (and won!) She directed promotional ads for MTV's 38th annual Video Music Awards. She was named a Content Creator to Watch at the 2022 New York Comedy Festival​. Her satirical songs are regularly featured on Comedy Central's socials. A few hits include: European Boys, Essential Jerker, You Look Like Your Dad, and Nature is Healing. In 2021, she won a Shorty Impact Award for her Boomer Stoop episode Pronouns.​​ She has photographed editorial ads for: Outsider's Division, Von Dutch, Haus of Hands, and more. She has marginal TikTok fame which is, you know, nice...​ She is repped by WME and Authentic Talent & Literary ManagementListen to episodes a week earlier than the rest by selecting a paid subscription to the newsletter!Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.comCREDITS:Host: Tim BarnesGuest: Rose KelsoTheme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie NunezMusic Engineer: Adam SmithPodcast Art: Madhuri Shukla This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromafricanamerica.substack.com/subscribe

Tim Barnes chats with novelist Micaiah Johnson about following through with her early passion for books and science fiction.Micaiah Johnson is a Brooklyn-based author and scholar. She received her BA in creative writing from the University of California, Riverside, and her MFA in fiction from Rutgers-Camden. She received her doctorate at Vanderbilt university. On her mother’s side, she is a first-generation traditional high school graduate.Her debut novel The Space Between Worlds won the Compton Crook Award and was an Editors’ Choice at The New York Times. NPR named it one of best books of 2020 and one of the best science fiction books of the last decade. Her follow-up novel, Those Beyond the Wall, an eerily timely looked at violence during apartheid, was released March 12th, 2024.In her academic work she is concerned with questions at the intersection of race and technology, particularly as revealed in 19th Century America, a time punctuated by spectacular shifts in both. She also works in the necropolitical implications of preservation, both in centuries past and in our present moment of the Sixth Great Extinction.Listen to episodes a week earlier than the rest by selecting a paid subscription to the newsletter!Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.comCREDITS:Host: Tim BarnesGuest: Micaiah JohnsonTheme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie NunezMusic Engineer: Adam SmithPodcast Art: Madhuri Shukla This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromafricanamerica.substack.com/subscribe

Tim Barnes chats with Shannon Cason about fusing his early paths in marketing and rap with his current award-winning career as a storyteller with The Moth and Snap Judgment.Shannon Cason is a writer, podcast host, and award-winning storyteller with The Moth and Snap Judgment. He’s appeared on stages and platforms like TEDx, RISK!, and Podcast Movement, and hosts the long-running Shannon Cason’s Homemade Stories podcast. Known for his Brutally Honest Storytelling techniques, Shannon consults and educates companies, nonprofits, and individuals—including pro athletes and celebrities—on how to share their stories authentically.Shannon is originally from Detroit."Look close, and you'll sense some blues, some hard lessons, and real heartbreak behind that winning smile. Shannon Cason is a storyteller's storyteller." - Glynn Washington Snap JudgmentListen to episodes a week earlier than the rest by selecting a paid subscription to the newsletter!Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.comCREDITS:Host: Tim BarnesGuest: Shannon CasonTheme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie NunezMusic Engineer: Adam SmithPodcast Art: Madhuri Shukla This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromafricanamerica.substack.com/subscribe

Tim Barnes chats with the Center for Brooklyn History’s chief historian, Dominique Jean-Louis about her early love of libraries bridged into her interest in history.Dominique Jean-Louis is a doctoral candidate in U.S. history at NYU. She received her B.A. in Comparative Ethnic Studies from Columbia University, where she first developed her interest in researching race and education in New York City. She is passionate about the potential of historical narratives to empower young people, strengthen communities, and support social justice. Her dissertation work will focus on Caribbean immigration to New York City in the post-civil rights era, examining the impact of schooling on the formation of racial identity. During the Fellowship, Dominique will work with Queens high school and college students to document and share the history of Carribbean communities in the borough.Listen to episodes a week earlier than the rest by selecting a paid subscription to the newsletter!Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.comCREDITS:Host: Tim BarnesGuest: Dominique Jean-LouisTheme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie NunezMusic Engineer: Adam SmithPodcast Art: Madhuri Shukla This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lettersfromafricanamerica.substack.com/subscribe