Spotlight On: DESSA

ABOUT this week’s podcast guest + radio hour featured interview:

This week’s guest will tell you that her journey to becoming a performer and musician was a somewhat circuitous one. This could also be said of realizing her earliest dream of being a writer. But follow the thread of Dessa’s first and deepest love of language, and the rich tapestry of what has become a full fledged multi-hyphenate career perhaps doesn’t look as circuitous as it is actualized. From writing to poetry slams, from poetry slams to joining the Minneapolis independent rap crew Doomtree, and then her solo career, Dessa’s creative life encompasses not only major success as a singer, rapper, producer, and performer, but also - as published writer with pieces in The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler to her name, as well as two literary collections, and her 2018 memoir-in-essays, My Own Devices. A college philosophy major, Dessa’s fascination with the intersection of art, psychology, science and the human condition, has found its way into what she calls “the conversation arts” -she hosted a BBC and American Public Media podcast called Deeply Human, has hosted a TED Talk on her science experiment on how to fall out of love, and is a public speaker, academic and lecturer on art, science and entrepreneurship. Now back with her first full length album in five years, called Bury The Lede, I am thrilled to welcome Dessa as this week’s SHERO in the Spotlight.

A condensed version of this interview is featured on the SHEROES Radio hour this week. Here’s what else you’ll hear:

New music from Sarah Jarosz.

SO. MANY. Birthdays!!!

• Sinéad O’Connor - 12/8

• Imogen Heap - 12/9

• Joan Armatrading - 12/9

• Sheila E. - 12/12

• Taylor Swift - 12/13

• Beth Orton (NonComm only) - 12/14

Our Radio SHERO is Erin Wolf of Radio Milwaukee, WI.

Listen to the syndicated public radio SHEROES Radio hour, below: