In this episode, Layla and Tricia Hersey, founder of The Nap Ministry and author of Rest Is Resistance, dive deep into why we need to prioritize rest in order to thrive.

In this episode, our book club facilitator, Reema Zaman interviews host Layla Saad, about the journey that led to her role as founder of Become A Good Ancestor.

In this episode, Layla Saad interviews Priya Malhotra, the author of Woman of an Uncertain Age, which is a witty and poignant novel about a middle-aged widow during a time when the parameters and ideas of midlife are being challenged.

In this episode, Layla Saad interviews Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts, the author of Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration, which has been critically acclaimed and lauded by celebrities like Kerry Washington, literary writers like Kiese Laymon and Deesha Philyaw, and media outlets like Good Morning America, Essence Magazine, and USA Today.

In this episode, Layla Saad interviews Frederick Joseph, a two-time New York Times bestselling author, the International Literacy Association’s 2021 Children’s & Young Adults’ Book Award recipient, a 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 list-maker for marketing and advertising, an activist, and philanthropist.

In this episode, Layla Saad interviews Kate Johnson, writer, Buddhist meditation teacher, and facilitator, who leads courses and retreats integrating somatic movement, social justice, creativity, and the practice of wise relationships.

In this bonus episode, Layla Saad interviews Nina Everflow, an extraordinary instructional design, and course creation consultant. This course simply wouldn’t exist without her so get ready for a behind-the-scenes listen to the story of how this course came to be.

“Regardless of Kemi’s background or Brittany’s background or Muna’s background, the first thing you see is the color of their skin, their Blackness. But as you read the book you see that all three women have really nothing in common, they’re very different individuals. And that’s the point of the book: to show this multidimensionality to Black womanhood.”

—-Lola Akinmade Åkerström, Author of ‘In Every Mirror She’s Black’ , Episode Three, The Become A Good Ancestor Podcast

In this episode, Layla Saad interviews Lola Akinmade Åkerström, an award-winning visual storyteller, international bestselling author, and travel entrepreneur.

“I am interested in reclaiming a contemplation that is not exclusive to whiteness, intellectualism, ableism, or mere hobby. And as a Black woman, I am disinterested in any call to spirituality that divorces my mind from my body, voice, or people.”

– An excerpt from This Here Flesh by Cole Arthur Riley

In Episode 002 of Become A Good Ancestor, Layla Saad interviews writer, liturgist, and speaker, Cole Arthur Riley.

“To believe in the better, to believe in your future, to shout in the midst of a country on fire, to stare down the lions, to shake the foundations of the empire, to make meaning in the face of death, to fail, to create, to live, and to love–this is the stuff of hope.”

– Shoutin’ In The Fire: An American Epistle by Danté Stewart

In honor of the first episode in the relaunch of the Good Ancestor Podcast, Layla Saad interviews Danté Stewart, an African-American speaker and writer on the intersecting topics of race, religion, and politics.