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Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death (Season 1)
Episode 21: A Son’s Reflection on Love, Loss, & Legacy with Russell Hornsby (Part 1)
In this deeply personal conversation, Jamal and David sit down with acclaimed actor Russell Hornsby to talk about the kind of loss that doesn’t always make headlines—but leaves a lifelong imprint. Known for his roles in Fences, Grimm, The Hate U Give, BMF, and many more plays, movies, and tv shows, Russell opens up about him and his brother, Jonevan, losing their mother, Eva Redd Hornsby, to complications from dementia, and growing up in Oakland without a consistent father figure in their home.
This episode isn’t about celebrity—it’s about sonship, memory, grief, and the quiet weight of family history. Russell reflects on his mother’s strength, her legacy, and the subtle grief of never fully knowing the woman behind the illness. He shares what he learned at her repast, the artifacts he discovered while clearing her home, and what he wants the world to know about Ms. Eva—both as his mother and as a woman with a story of her own.
Getting Back Up: Finding Life After Death is a podcast that explores the raw, unfiltered reality of surviving profound personal loss—and finding a way forward. The idea for the podcast was born after David and Jamal met in 2023. Both widowers, who had lost their wives to cancer, quickly found a deep connection through multiple conversations about pain, perseverance, and parenthood. They realized that while men often bond over music, sports, or TV, they rarely speak candidly about loss or emotional recovery. Getting Back Up was created to change that narrative—blending the everyday with the existential in a format that’s as relatable as it is real.
Thank you for your support!
Hosts: David McClain & Jamal Jones
Executive Directors: Marlon Jackson & Ted Winner (Like A Gazelle Productions)
Editing: Chris Gazzo (Reel Media)
Music:
- Grenada, "Treasure"
- McDonald, Otis, "Phife for Life", otismusic.com
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