One Day at a Time, Todd Mayfield, and SAINt JHN

Episode notes

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Photo: Jesse Thorn Gloria Calderon Kellett and Mike Royce on their new show One Day At A TimeGloria Calderon Kellett has been in show business as a writer, producer, and actor for almost two decades. She began her career writing on Andy Richter’s show Quintuplets. She also worked on How I Met Your Mother and Rules of Engagement. When Norman Lear, the legendary TV producer approached her about doing a reboot of One Day at a Time – his 1970s hit sitcom – she jumped at the chance.

She was joined by Mike Royce, a veteran TV producer of shows like Everybody Love Raymond and Men of a Certain Age, and Gloria. The two tell Jesse about how they began to conceptualize the new show, how Gloria avoided being being labeled as the “latina writer” during her career, and how they approached writing about marginalized communities in a sitcom format.

You can watch the reboot of the Norman Lear classic One Day At A Time by streaming it on Netflix.

Photo:Jesse ThornSAINt JHN tells us about The Song That Changed His LifeNew York based rapper SAINt JHN spent his youth travelling between Guyana and New York. He realized early on, following his older brother’s lead, that he wanted to be a rapper. He began his career as a songwriter, with credits that include Usher’s 2016 hit Crash. He’s now writing songs for himself and creating work for GØDD COMPLEXx, his music and art collective.

He knows the record that got him started – it’s a 1999 album: Jay Z’s Vol 3. He even remember the song that changed his life: Jay’s classic Dopeman.

You can listen to SAINt JHN’s latest single Roses on his Soundcloud and make sure to watch the music video that he directed and produced.

Photo: Self/TwitterTodd MayfieldYou might think that growing up the son of one of history’s most beloved R&B and Soul singers would be the greatest gift. But Todd Mayfield and his siblings didn’t always see it that way. Curtis Mayfield, who defined a whole generation of politically conscious music, left behind an incredible legacy of stories, music, and touched lives. Todd, despite his propensity to separate himself from his father in his younger years, felt it necessary to biographize his father’s life through anecdotes, interviews with friends and family.

This week, Todd and Jesse talk about what it was like growing up with Curtis Mayfield as a father, his musical transition from the 1960s to the more politically involved records of the 1970s, and the incredible music that he was able to create when he was paralyzed from the neck down during the late 80s to his final days in 1999.

Todd’s biography of his father, Traveling Soul: The Life of Curtis Mayfield is out now.

Photo: Daniel Boczarski / Stringer/Getty Images 

The Outshot: YGThis week, Jesse talks about LA rapper YG’s particular sound and philosophy.