In this powerful episode of The Unfolding: Presented by The Loveland Foundation Podcast, host Rachel Keener sits down with playwright and director Aleshea Harris to discuss her film adaptation of Is God Is and the stories Black women are rarely given space to tell.

Aleshea shares how the film became a way to explore rage, grief, justice, and healing through the lives of twin sisters on a mythic journey. Drawing inspiration from Greek tragedy while centering Black voices and experiences, she creates a world where Black women can be complex, vulnerable, angry, and fully human.

Rachel and Aleshea also discuss the role of humor alongside pain, the challenges of releasing deeply personal work, and the importance of protecting mental health as an artist. Together, they reflect on how rage can become a catalyst for self-advocacy, change, and liberation, and why community remains essential through it all.

Listen in for a thoughtful conversation on storytelling, creativity, mental health, and the power of making space for the full range of Black women’s experiences.

More about Aleshea Harris:

Aleshea Harris is an award-winning playwright, T.V. writer and filmmaker. Her critically-acclaimed play, Is God Is, premiered at Soho Repertory Theatre, won the Relentless Award, an OBIE award for playwriting, and the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award. A film version adapted and directed by Harris is slated for wide release on May 15, 2026 under Amazon MGM’s prestigious Orion label. Her ritual response to anti-Black violence, What to Send Up When It Goes Down, was featured in American Theatre Magazine and received a special commendation from the Blackburn Prize. After a successful New York city run, the piece toured to D.C. and Boston. On Sugarland, a sprawling adaptive response to the ancient Greek play, Philoctetes, was a Pulitzer Prize Finalist and winner of the Kesselring Prize. Harris has also been awarded the Windham-Campbell Literary Prize, Hermitage Greenfield Prize, Alpert Award, Horton Foote Award, Samuel French Award and an Arts and Letters Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She is a two-time MacDowell Fellow and has enjoyed residencies at the Hermitage Artist Retreat, Hedgebrook, SPACE on Ryder Farms and Casa Ecco on Lake Como via the HawthorndenFoundation. She’s been featured in VOGUE and the NEW YORKER.

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The Unfolding: Presented by The Loveland Foundation podcast is an additional resource not only to the public but also to our therapy fund cohort members. The Loveland Foundation therapy fund and resources are only made possible through support from our community.

At The Loveland Foundation, we are committed to showing up for communities of color in unique and powerful ways, with a particular focus on Black women and girls. Our resources and initiatives are collaborative and they prioritize opportunity, access, validation, and healing. Since our founding, the Therapy Fund has provided financial support for therapy to over 26,936 Black women, girls, and non-binary individuals across the country.

Links:

Join The Abundance Collective: https://thelovelandfoundation.org/abundance
Support the show: https://thelovelandfoundation.org/donorbox/
Follow Aleshea on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleshea.harris/
Follow The Loveland Foundation on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelovelandfoundation/
Visit the Loveland Foundation’s website: https://thelovelandfoundation.org/

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