The Secret Life of TK Dutes hits
Podcast: The Secret Life of TK Dutes
Genre: Personal Journal
Publisher: Keisha TK Dutes
About: The Secret Life of TK Dutes is the story of what it means to become when the system won’t let you be. One woman sets out into the world, looking for ways to get ahead as an Artist. Producer. Daughter, Sister. Partner. Together with those who bear witness, TK throws away the scripts and looks for answers, in airports, dentists offices, across borders. Each episode is a new world, pioneering the art of loose autobiography to build the picture of a life in a community of voices. What happens when you stop doing what is expected of you and start doing YOU? A better life can be a hustle. It doesn’t have to be a secret.
Some of TK’s credits include: Good Words with Kirk Franklin, HeadSpace’s HiberNation, Buzzfeed’s Thirst Aid Kit, Function with Anil Dash, Hear to Slay
Let me be honest. Initially, I couldn’t recommend this one without a proper listen, and so it happened. It was too good to pass up. However, while writing this post, two reviews popped into my view, thus giving The Secret Life of TK Dutes the proper curation for Great Pods.
I met TK Dutes at Resonate Podcast Festival week, first at the Off The Record Business Summit. The 45+ minute episodes demanded more attention than a festival hallway could give. So Quinn (Camera) and I still interviewed her, and I went home knowing I’d have to come back to this one properly.
The majority of my listening happened in LA traffic. One perfect hour drives that, for once, made me appreciate being behind the wheel. The downside? I wanted to take notes the whole time.
Here’s what you need to know about The Secret Life of TK Dutes: it’s raw, it’s open, and it’ll take you somewhere.
The episodes range from TK in the hot seat, doing the kind of work that honestly made me feel like I was the one in therapy, to TK interviewing others about their own breakthroughs. Episode one is split into two parts because you can’t do just one session. Being Black, being queer, being burnt out. Dr. Nicole Rawls, the episode producer Kristen Bennett, and TK keep it as real as it gets. TK’s voice, the anger, the tears, the emergence from it all, had me feeling things. If a podcast can evoke any emotion from me, I’m in. This one had me in from the jump.
What surprised me was the structure that I was not used to. Most of the time, it’s producers coming in at the end of the episode, but Kristen comes in between. The series moves in unexpected directions, and honestly, I respected it. Not every podcast has to fit a mould. As a creator, you get to decide how your art is experienced, and TK leans into that fully. Dang, Resonate, introducing me to the real art in podcasting for us.
In Minneapolis, she takes us to Nicole Crowder, a designer and curator who talks about how something as simple as chair upholstery can carry history, meaning, and be therapeutic. “Chairs were small enough to carry myself, but big enough to make a statement.”
That’s what this podcast is, really. A personal statement. And we get a window into it.
...her episodes are thoughtfully crafted first-person accounts about making career changes to conversations exploring mental health, boundaries, inner voice, and more...The show combines memoir, journalism, and experimental audio for an intimate listening experience...
Frank Racioppi | Ear Worthy
I may not live TK’s experience, but I felt it. Her transparency, the trust she extends to her audience, is something I aspire to do with Great Pods.
At the risk of sounding cheesy: it felt bold.
I told my sister this the other day, “BLACK WOMEN CAN TELL STORIES!”
BRB, I’m on my own God quest.
TK also has a Patreon if you would like to support, where she takes listeners behind the scenes of producing the podcasts with semi-regular updates on her journey.
Shoutout to the TK’s team:
Kristen Bennett
Tre' Jones
A. B. Nazareno (she/her/hers)
Mike Brown
Aseloka Smith
Mark Pagán
Siona Peterous
Post Production/Marketing & Art:
Manny Faces
Conscious Walker
Faybeon Mickens
Gabrielle A. Smith