Bonus: Pay Black Women and Triple It with Jamie Broadnax (Black Girl Nerds Podcast)

In this bonus episode of Black and Snerdy, Ode (@thatsod.e / @thatsod_e) and Mo AKA Kid Licorish (@licorishislegit) welcome Jamie Broadnax, founder and editor of Black Girl Nerds, for a conversation that traces the site's origin back to a 2012 Google search that returned nothing representative of Black women in nerd spaces. Broadnax walks through her path from journalism student to established cultural interviewer, the early business mistakes that reshaped how she runs Black Girl Nerds, and a reversed stance on going it alone that pushed her toward collaboration and community building.

The three also dig into her decision to stop undervaluing her own worth in negotiations, inspired by Shonda Rhimes' The Year of Yes, which turns into the episode's recurring refrain to pay Black women and triple whatever the number is. From there the group breaks down what separates a healthy fandom from a toxic one, pointing to the Black fan community around House of the Dragon as a bright spot while calling out the fallout around the Harry Potter franchise's creator, misconceptions about Black cosplayers and roller derby skaters, and the influence of organizations like Black Girl Gamers and Black Girls Code.

The episode closes with a run of segments covering first fandoms, with Broadnax naming X-Men, Mo naming Star Wars, and Ode naming Star Trek and Captain Sisko, along with Broadnax's approach to protecting her mental health through League of Legends and a Black Girl Nerds book club pick called Sista Samurai. During We Big Mad, Broadnax vents about missing an Odyssey press screening, Ode rants about New York City event planners skipping air conditioning during a heat wave, and Mo goes after the trend of AI-generated real life versions of Simba, Chucky, and Kim Possible, tying it back to Netflix's use of AI to recreate Gene Wilder's voice.

The hosts wrap with what is making them happy, including X-Men '97, House of the Dragon live chats on Threads, and a trip to Baltimore for crabs and family, before Broadnax plugs and a meetup planned for San Diego Comic-Con. Website: Twitter: @BlackGirlNerds Facebook: YouTube: Instagram: Podcast iTunes Channel Substack: @blackgirlnerds Connect with the Snerdy CrewWatch, Listen, or Sponsor the show: ⁠