In this show, the hosts contemplate a saying that touches on one of the most taboo images of negative stereotypes associated with Black people--monkeys. Listen in to learn more about how this turn of phrase is used across Southern cultures to encourage folks not to let distractions thwart progress. It is also a refrain that often comes up in African-American cultural productions like R&B songs and poems during the 50s and 70s.

If the South is known for anything, it's charm and making nice. In this episode, the hosts consider the pros and cons of being socialized to be polite at the expense of being transparent. The conversation also considers the nuances between being nice and being kind.

As a leader, how do you steward relationships and cultivate community capital that lasts for the long haul? You call upon the collective resources of your network judiciously and don't waste people's time. In this episode, the hosts tackle Chicken Little or Henny Penny syndrome and discuss how to call up reinforcements when life inevitably serves you a bowl of lemons.

Chilly Grits Podcast returns for Season 2 with a saucy phrase as the show opener. The hosts leverage their memories of this idiom and Toni Morrison's classic novel, The Bluest Eye, to dissect the origin story of the expanded phrase "They don't have a pot to piss in or window to throw it out of." Listen to learn about this class-conscious Southern saying, which is a roast rooted in the LGBTQIA culture of creative expression. Dedicated to the memory of Mrs. Sylvia Myers (1943-2023)

This one is for the ancestors, y'all! So many Southern mamas and grannies have passed this saying along--and they still are. Our hosts delve into their memories of using this phrase as both a genuine blessing, and a gentle form of dismissal and deflection. Join them as they unpack the connotations of these three simple words across various contexts.

Often times life and leadership is about placing with the hand you've been dealt. What happens when you are short a few cards, or have been dealt a terrible hand? In the tradition of the trickster figure, High John the Conquerer, you think, plan, laugh, persist and then proceed in "hitting a straight lick with a crooked stick" . This might be among the lesser known witticisms that Dr. Francis and Rev. Bowman have reflected on, and it's one well worth learning about. This episode is dedicated to the memory of Rudolph Byrd, PhD, (1953-2011) https://magazine.emory.edu/issues/2012/winter/register/tribute-byrd/index.html

What do TuPac and Master P have to do with financial planning? Tune in to find out how these classic rappers and business moguls used an old adage to engrain an ethic of financial stewardship in many Gen-xers living below the Mason Dixon line.

The Chilly Grits podcasters chew on an old-school phrase that embeds lessons on self-protection, self-preservation, and working in complex environments passed down in times when independence and agency for those with their subject positions were far more circumscribed than it is today.

Rev. Bowman and Dr. Francis consider what climate change has to do with the choices we make and how fragile personal determination can become in environmental justice communities. The podcasters also ponder the fact that not every saying that invokes God is religious.

Proving the vast range covered by Southern sayings, the Chilly Grits duo tackles the meaning of a sassy saying that might sound risqué to those who aren't in the know. This talk leans into the inevitably fraught differences in Northern and Southern expectations of what, exactly, it means to greet others kindly–whether you know them or not.