Fresh Air – Best Of: Delroy Lindo / Tayari Jones on ‘Kin’

Date: March 14, 2026 | Hosts: Tonya Mosley | Guests: Delroy Lindo, Tayari Jones

Episode Overview

In this episode of Fresh Air, Tonya Mosley leads in-depth conversations with actor Delroy Lindo, celebrated for his Oscar-nominated role as Delta Slim in Sinners, and acclaimed novelist Tayari Jones, discussing her new book Kin. Both guests reflect on their artistic journeys, the importance of representation, grappling with personal and collective history, and forging chosen families. Lindo discusses embodiment and preparation for his blues musician character, industry challenges, and the impact of his Windrush heritage and upcoming memoir. Jones explores the origins of Kin, breaking creative blocks, and how her work is shaped by history, family, and the meaning of kinship.

Delroy Lindo: Channeling History and Blues in Sinners

Introduction to Delroy Lindo and Sinners

[01:34–02:29]

• Lindo discussed his role as Delta Slim, a hard-drinking, deeply knowing blues harmonica player in 1930s Mississippi.
• Sinners is a Southern epic set in 1932 Mississippi, centered around twin brothers and a supernatural plot involving vampires, hoodoo, and buried trauma.
• “Blues wasn't forced on us like that religion. We brought this with us… It's magic what we do. It's sacred and it's be.” (Delroy Lindo as Delta Slim, [02:13])

Advocating for His Character

[04:53–06:14]

• Mosley asks about Lindo’s desire for a more developed character arc.
• Lindo clarifies: "Since Ryan [Coogler] had introduced the character... so dynamically, I spoke with Ryan and I said, how can we enhance my presence in the second act of the film?... And he did." ([05:29])

Building Delta Slim: Research and Embodied Memory

[06:14–09:16]

• Lindo details his preparation—reading Blues People by Amiri Baraka and Deep Blues by Robert Palmer.
• Discusses the lived reality of itinerant blues musicians: "The constant for them is their music, so that there is this deep-seated connection to the music…"
• Mosley highlights an unscripted humming scene after a lynching is recounted. Lindo: "The humming… it was not scripted. It happened organically on probably the sixth or seventh take." ([09:17])
• Lindo credits the openness of the creative team: “Ryan kept the cameras rolling... it gave the scene more time to breathe and extra time. More time to be in that moment.” ([10:05])

Notable Quote:

"Sometimes... there are no words. For some things, there are no words. And when there are no words, that's where the blues comes in." – Tonya Mosley ([08:27])

Responding to Public Incidents: BAFTA and Race

[11:24–14:38]

• Lindo addresses the racial slur incident at the BAFTAs, expressing gratitude for community support:
  “I could stand there and feel safe, feel loved, feel supported... and I just wanted to officially, formally say thank you.”
• Shares a guiding Biblical verse sent by his wife: “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21)

Personal History: Windrush Childhood and Othering

[14:38–18:47]

• Lindo describes a formative childhood experience in England, separated from his mother (a Windrush nurse) and being the only Black child at an all-white school.
• Shares a vivid story of being "othered" at age five:
  “[He] throws my garment at me, grabs [his] from me and says, ‘I can't play with you.’ And that was the end of the game.” ([16:22])

Notable Quote:

“It was a signal of my undesirability. Right. So the answer to your question was not necessarily specific to being called the N word, but it was very specific to being racially othered.” – Delroy Lindo ([18:31])

Writing His Memoir and Honoring His Mother

[18:47–24:22]

• Lindo is working on a memoir (due 2027), exploring intersections of family, culture, and the Windrush experience.
• “I've been compelled to scrutinize myself... a very, very, very significant part... has to do with re-examining my relationship with my mom... I'm looking at certain passages of history through the lens of the Windrush experience.” ([19:25])
• He pursued higher education later in life to honor and understand his mother’s journey:
  “Stories about Windrush are not part of global cultural lexicon commensurate with its impact. The people of Windrush changed the definition of what it means to be British.” ([20:54])
• His mother, Anna Cynthia (Luna) Moncrief, is central to his storytelling mission: “My mom deserves a story about her... I know she's proud. I know she is.” ([23:14])

Tayari Jones: Family, Friendship, and History in Kin

Introduction to Kin

[31:29–33:00]

• Jones describes Kin as a novel about two motherless girls in 1950s Louisiana who become each other's chosen family after trauma.
• The titular question: Who is kin—blood or something more profound?
• Kin was written after a long creative drought and a serious illness.

Breaking Through Creative Block

[33:00–35:30]

• Jones describes the pressure after the success of An American Marriage and attempts to write a modern novel about gentrification, which didn’t come together.
• “I felt like I was using hammers and nails and saws and I was making a racket when I should have been making music.” ([33:30])
• The story for Kin arrived unexpectedly when Jones began writing by hand for comfort during a difficult time.

Notable Quote:

“It just was not. I felt like I was using hammers and nails and saws and I was making a racket when I should have been making music... It just didn’t have that swing.” – Tayari Jones ([33:30])

Embracing History and Writing About the 1950s

[35:30–37:09]

• Jones, typically a contemporary novelist, found herself writing about the 1950s.
• She reflects on moving home to better understand her parents as adults and realizes her imagination drew her back to their era.
• “I think this was me not meeting my parents where they are, but meeting them where they were.” ([36:54])

First Novel: Leaving Atlanta and the Shadow of Violence

[37:09–41:35]

• Jones recalls knowing she’d write her debut, Leaving Atlanta, during college, inspired by trauma from the Atlanta child murders.
• She shares the panic of momentarily losing a child she was babysitting—a trauma interlinked with her childhood fears.
• Mosley contextualizes the murders (1979–1981) which shaped Jones’s childhood: “Two of the kids who were killed were students at my elementary school...” ([38:58])
• Jones emphasizes that children live through trauma while still being children: “You do not need ideal circumstances to be human.” ([40:03])

Civil Rights Legacy and Early Entry into Academia

[41:35–44:16]

• Both her parents were young civil rights activists; Jones “grew up with an expectation that whatever one chose to do... needed to be in the service of, like, race work.”
• She skipped grades and entered Spelman College at 16.
• “I do not recommend that people skip children in this way, because you really encourage children to build their identity around something that becomes less significant with every passing day.” ([43:18])

Literary Mentorship and Becoming a Writer

[44:16–48:23]

• At Spelman, Jones benefited from legendary Black women visiting campus and from mentorship with writer Pearl Cleage.

• Recounts an awkward but memorable solo breakfast with Toni Morrison:
  “She inhaled on that cigarette... and said, ‘No, ma’am, I was not aware [today is the Great American Smokeout].’” ([46:00])

• On becoming a writer: “She [Cleage] became my first audience and she took me seriously. And so I took myself seriously. And that is when I feel like I became [a writer] because I became one in my own head and I had an audience.” ([47:40])

Notable Quotes

• “I have never taken my marbles and gone home as a result of whatever disappointments, the vicissitudes of the industry.” – Delroy Lindo ([00:38])
• “When you're friends with someone you know, your name will not be listed in any obituary. But it breaks your heart to lose your friend.” – Tayari Jones ([01:06])
• “Where there are no words, that's where the blues comes in.” – Tonya Mosley ([08:27])
• “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” – Romans 12:21, cited by Delroy Lindo ([13:50])
• “It was a signal of my undesirability.” – Delroy Lindo ([18:31])
• “You do not need ideal circumstances to be human.” – Tayari Jones ([40:03])
• “She [Pearl Cleage] became my first audience and she took me seriously. And so I took myself seriously.” – Tayari Jones ([47:40])

Key Timestamps

• 00:38: Delroy Lindo on theatre, persistence, and not letting awards define him.
• 04:15: First meeting scene from Sinners.
• 07:03: Lindo discusses influences and research for Delta Slim.
• 09:17: Unscripted humming in a lynching scene.
• 11:24: Lindo’s response to BAFTA racial slur incident.
• 16:22: Lindo recounts being racially othered as a child.
• 22:07: Lindo’s mother’s Windrush story and representation in film.
• 31:29: Introduction to Tayari Jones and Kin.
• 33:30: Jones on creative struggle and the breakthrough to Kin.
• 38:58: Childhood in the shadow of the Atlanta child murders.
• 41:35: Civil rights legacy and entering Spelman at 16.
• 45:33: Breakfast with Toni Morrison.
• 47:40: Finding her writing voice through mentorship.

Fresh Air continues to document, with empathy and depth, the personal histories and creative visions shaping contemporary culture. This episode emphasizes the significance of ancestry and artistic kin, as Lindo and Jones reflect on what it means to carry, share, and choose family—on the page and on the screen.