Full Transcript for Introducing 'Bless Your Heart'

Aisha Nyandoro: I’m Aisha Nyandoro and I’m the host of Bless Your Heart… It’s a show about setting you right, because in the South, that’s what we say when you’ve gotten something a little wrong ‘Bless Your Heart’ And getting stories right is important, because stories shape our world. Stories change how we see people, who we see as deserving, who gets resources, who is allowed to dream…and more importantly, stories shape how we see ourselves… Which is why this season, I’m starting close to home, with the South. Because so many people don’t get it. For as long as I can remember, the rest of the country has gotten us wrong. Mitch Landrieu: Because they have a tendency to dismiss the South, they do that at their own peril. Aisha Nyandoro: We’re shifting narratives, like the South is not America’s problem, It’s America’s foundation. Tressie McMillan Cottom: Everyone is doing the south, right? But they can say they’re just not in the South Aisha Nyandoro: We’ll talk about the misconception that you have to leave your home to succeed… Rita Brent: I didn't win it in Atlanta. I won it here. Aisha Nyandoro: And we want to re-examine who is thought of as Southern NINI: If you're eating seafood from the Gulf, it's most likely been in the hands of a Vietnamese person Aisha Nyandoro: My guests this season are all southerners, all of them are people I am immensely impressed by… Brittney Cooper: But if this is what we could do with nothing, imagine what we could do with something. Aisha Nyandoro: And some of them are dear friends… Tressie McMillan Cottom: And here’s what happened when you walked in the room, Aisha, I was like, my standard just walked in! Kiese Laymon: She’s always at my events being like, how you doin? And I’m like, ugh, how YOU doin? I ain’t forget nothin. Aisha Nyandoro: and we are going to have some good times… Rita Brent: Say I was crazy as a road lizard... and somebody else said I was crazier than a betsy bug. Aisha Nyandoro: My new podcast - Bless Your Heart will start airing this September. Subscribe to not miss out.