Sylly

Welcome back to Sylly, a podcast for the curious and critical. We’re your hosts, Mbiye Kasonga and Tembe Denton-Hurst. In this episode, I (Mbiye) sat down with acclaimed writer Kiese Laymon to talk about his novel Long Division, among other things.Kiese and I had a wide-ranging conversation, using Long Division as our primary text, alongside the fable of the City Mouse and the Country Mouse, to think through questions of origin, ambition, and self-love. We also get into the mechanics of Kiese’s process: how sound and rhythm came before sentences for him, how hip-hop taught him more about craft than his classrooms did, and why he believes in revision as an ethos.Books & authors mentioned:Long Division and Heavy by Kiese LaymonHomebodies by Tembe Denton-HurstFree Girls by Kristen McCallumFrindle by Andrew ClementsThe Catcher in the Rye and Franny and Zooey by J.D. SalingerPimp by Iceberg SlimThe Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha PhilyawWe Are A Haunting by Tariq WhiteThe Prophets by Robert Jones Jr.Goliath by Ronald Lee RobertsonDominion by Addie Citchens

Welcome back to Sylly, a podcast for the curious and critical. Today’s episode is a solo with just me, Mbiye, and I come bearing a gift: a summer playlist. Tune in to the episode to hear me chat about the highlights of my summer so far, which include watching DRC’s national team play in the World Cup soccer and reading as widely and voraciously as I can while still being as outside as possible. Check out the playlist on Spotify: The Sylly Summer SoundtrackAs always, if there’s anything you want us to talk about on the pod during our office hours, email us at: syllythepod@gmail.com.

Welcome back to Sylly, a podcast for the curious and critical. We’re your hosts, Mbiye Kasonga and Tembe Denton-Hurst. In episode 14, we’re coming to you with our annual summer reading special. Before we get to the books, we take stock of summer as a season and a feeling: the joy, the pressure, the ennui, and why August is, as Tembe puts it, “the Sunday of the year.” We also get into the song of the summer debate (is it Drake’s? Is it ever anyone’s anymore?), the lineage of Corinne Bailey Rae, Denise Williams, and Minnie Riperton, and why the Congolese national team’s airport fits deserve their own conversation.Then we get to the actual reading matrix: sexy vs. banal, short story vs. epic, and share our picks for the season, which range from a gorgeous Rastafari memoir to a 727-page Argentine horror novel, with stops at Zadie Smith, James Baldwin, and a very surprising debut. We also make a case for summer as the right time to read something devastating, something transportive, and yes, something sexy.We round things out with some relationship advice nobody asked for, and a reminder from Tembe that we owe each other everything.As always, if there’s anything you want us to talk about on the pod during our office hours, email us at: syllythepod@gmail.com.Sylly Summer Reading ListHow to Say Babylon by Safiya SinclairOur Share of Night by Mariana EnriquezOn Beauty by Zadie SmithIf an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor NagaLeave Your Mess at Home by Tolani AkinnolaAnother Country by James BaldwinOther Books We DiscussedThe Sisters by Jonas Hassen KhemiriSong of Solomon by Toni MorrisonSeven Days in June by Tia WilliamsThe Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke EmeziHomebodies by Tembe Denton-HurstPool House by Mary H.K. Choi

Welcome back to Sylly, a podcast for the curious and critical. We’re your hosts, Mbiye Kasonga and Tembe Denton-Hurst. In episode 13, we’re making the case for contemporary fiction and engaging with the present. Our culture is obsessed with nostalgia, and it often feels like we’re stuck in a loop of reboots and sequels. In the literary world, that nostalgia manifests in a reflexive distrust of contemporary novels or an insistent belief that books are getting worse.To counter that narrative, we created a list of 10 excellent contemporary novel recommendations, just in time for summer reading. You’re welcome.Listen to the full episode on Spotify or Apple.Subscribe to Sylly on Substack Ten Great Books From The Last Ten YearsThe Vanishing Half by Brit BennettOffice of Historical Corrections by Danielle EvansThe Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha PhilyawHeads of the Colored People by Nafissa Thompson-SpiresNickel Boys by Colson WhiteheadThe Rachel Incident by Caroline O’DonoghueTranscendent Kingdom by Yaa GyasiPatsy by Nicole Dennis-BennMartyr! by Kaveh AkbarNecessary Fiction by Eloghosa Osunde

Welcome back to Sylly, a podcast for the curious and critical. We’re your hosts, Mbiye Kasonga and Tembe Denton-Hurst. In episode 12, we’re taking stock of 2026 so far, and it’s been a disrespectful ass year, to say the least. Jerome Powell revised jobs numbers and told us what we already knew: there are no jobs. White ladies are playing majhong (again) and celebrating the Lunar New Year. Watching the movie Her feels like watching a documentary (what did Spike Jonze know?!). Watching Ex Machina feels like watching Melania. And through it all, someone online is telling you that your nervous system needs to be reset.We don’t really have any answers in this episode, but we do have a lot of jokes. Subscribe to Sylly on Substack As always, if there’s anything you want us to talk about on the pod during our office hours, email us at: syllythepod@gmail.com. Thanks for listening, and we’ll be back with a new episode in a couple of weeks!Books We Talked AboutSeduction Theory by Emily AdrianLoved One by Aisha MuharrarThe Wedding by Dorothy WestSugar by Bernice McFaddenBest Woman by Rose DommuWhat I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

Welcome back to Sylly, a podcast for the curious and critical. We’re your hosts, Mbiye Kasonga and Tembe Denton-Hurst. In today's episode, we're reflecting on 2025 and giving winter reading recommendations. Thank you for listening. Stay tuned for more in 2026!

Welcome back to Sylly, a podcast for the curious and critical. We’re your hosts, Mbiye Kasonga and Tembe Denton-Hurst. In episode 11, we’re discussing the transactional nature of modern dating. We’ve noticed a trend of women online who post content about finding rich men to date and marry, alongside conversations about how couples split their finances, and we wanted to explore the macro trends that might be informing this behavior. We leveraged two primary texts for this conversation. The first is a journal article by Megan Sawey that explores the reasons why women engage in sugar dating, while the second is, of course, Toni Childs. We use both of these ‘texts’ as a vehicle to discuss the dating market, how women invest in beauty to increase their perceived value, and how, ultimately, the “sprinkle sprinkle” mindset is a class mobility fantasy that could have negative outcomes for women.As always, if there’s anything you want us to talk about on the pod during our office hours, email us at: syllythepod@gmail.com. Thanks for listening, and we’ll be back with a new episode in a couple of weeks!Books We Talked AboutHeartburn by Nora EphronExit Lane by Erica VeurinkThe Wilderness by Angela FlournoyPerfection by Vincenzo Latronico

Welcome back to Sylly, a podcast for the curious and critical. We’re your hosts, Mbiye Kasonga and Tembe Denton-Hurst. In episode ten, we’re diving deep into our favorite contemporary fiction read of 2025 so far: Dominion. In this spoiler-filled episode, we delve into the book’s intricate characterizations, thematic complexity, and how it offers a rich commentary on patriarchy and gender roles within a tight-knit community. We also touch on Citchen’s compelling depiction of women’s roles in the church and their struggle for autonomy and self-worth. Thank you for listening! As always, if there’s anything you want us to talk about on the pod during our office hours, email us at: syllythepod@gmail.com. Thanks for listening, and we’ll be back with a new episode in a couple of weeks!Books We Talked AboutDominion by Addie CitchensLonely Crowds by Stephanie WambuguGwyneth by Amy OdellAnna: The Biography by Amy OdellThe Power Broker by Robert CaroBabel by R. F. KuangThe Mothers by Brit BennettSula by Toni MorrisonSong of Solomon by Toni MorrisonErasure by Percival EverettMy Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Welcome back to Sylly, a podcast for the curious and critical. We’re your hosts, Mbiye Kasonga and Tembe Denton-Hurst. In episode nine, we’re throwing it back to the very first podcast we ever recorded together. I (Mbiye) interviewed Tembe for my book podcast Unbound last summer. We dove deep into Tembe’s debut novel, Homebodies, her early reading habits, and her writing practice.As always, if there’s anything you want us to talk about on the pod during our office hours, email us at: syllythepod@gmail.com. Thanks for listening, and we’ll be back with a new episode in a couple of weeks! Books We Talked AboutErasure by Percival EverettHere Comes The Sun by Nicole Dennis-BennTheir Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale HurstonThe Color Purple by Alice WalkerNervous Conditions by Tsitsi DangarembgaHomebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst