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The Ethically Immoral Podcast

The Ethically Immoral Podcast

By: Hosted by: Mike Payne
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About this listen

The Ethically Immoral Podcast is a program dedicated to long-form conversations with poets, spoken word artists, authors, and creatives who use language as a tool for truth-telling, healing, and resistance. Hosted by Mike Payne, the show travels beyond the typical interview to explore the personal histories, artistic philosophies, and cultural contexts that shape the voice of the Creatives we welcome.


It’s not just about poetry or performance — it’s about the people behind the pen. We talk about identity, healing, joy, frustration, and the journey of becoming. Some moments are deep, others are funny, but all of them are authentic. If you’re someone who values storytelling, vulnerability, and good conversation, this space was created and cultivated for you.

© 2025 The Ethically Immoral Podcast
Art Entertainment & Performing Arts Literary History & Criticism Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Volume Six: Chapter Eight: Our Conversation with Destiny Birdsong
    Sep 15 2025

    In Volume Six: Chapter Eight of The Program, we sit down with Shreveport-born Writer, Poet, Essayist, and Author Destiny Birdsong,

    In our conversation, we trace Destiny’s creative journey from her childhood love of storytelling to the spark that ignited her lifelong devotion to poetry. We talk about how her early awareness of difference shaped her imagination, and how writing became a way to transform both beauty and pain into art.

    Destiny reflects on her university years, when writing full-time felt impractical, and how she eventually committed fully to the literary path. We explore the influence of Cave Canem, a transformative community for Black poets, and the pivotal advice from writer Chris Abani that pushed her toward a deeper honesty in her work—an honesty that shaped her acclaimed poetry collection Negotiations. She opens up about the vulnerability of writing for others versus writing for herself, and the revelations that came with seeing her first book in print a decade after completing her MFA.

    We also dig into her award-winning debut novel Nobody’s Magic, a powerful triptych that follows the lives of three Black women with albinism in Shreveport, Louisiana. Destiny shares insights into character building, the emotional complexities of writing characters she loved—and even some she initially hated—and why she chose to tell three distinct but interconnected stories.

    This is a thoughtful, vulnerable, and inspiring conversation with a Creative which I really enjoyed.

    Contact Destiny:
    Instagram:
    @bird_songoftheyear
    Website: destinybirdsong.com

    Recorded Spoken Word Performances Featured Include:

    Ephraim Nehemiah – Inheritance of a Broken Home
    Instagram: @ephraimnehemiah Website: ephraimnehemiah.com

    Porsha O. – Trigger
    Instagram: @porshaolayiwola Website: porshaolayiwola.com

    William Evans – For My Wife Who Fell In Love With a Ship Buried at Sea
    Instagram: @williamevanswrites Website: williamthe3rd.com

    Destiny Birdsong – Killing White (working title)
    Destiny Birdsong Mythicana

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    2 hrs and 15 mins
  • Volume Six: Chapter Seven - Our Conversation with Gregory Betts
    Sep 8 2025

    In Volume Six: Chapter Seven, we are joined by Vancouver-born poet, writer, educator, and editor Gregory Betts. A professor of English at Brock University and Literary Arts Residency Lead at the SETI Institute, Greg has authored or edited more than 25 books, including his most recent collaboration Muttertongue: What is Word In Utter Space, co-written with Lillian Allen and Gary Barwin.

    In our conversation, we trace Greg’s creative journey—from his earliest poems being published without his knowledge, to discovering the power of poetry in community through a George Bowering book and an Al Purdy reading that changed how he saw writing. We talk about his commitment to literary communities, his take on experimental versus avant-garde writing, and why he believes the difference between the two matters.

    Contact Gregory::
    Website:
    gregorybetts.wordpress.com
    Purchase Muttertongue: here

    Recorded Spoken Word Performances Featured Include:

    Ebony Stewart – Mental Health Barz
    Instagram: @gulleyprincess Website: ebpoetry.com

    Jus Marvin – My Depression
    Instagram: @jusmarvinpoetry

    Natasha Miller – The Difference Between a Girlfriend and a Woman
    Instagram: @natashatmiller

    Elizabeth Acevedo – Afro Latina
    Instagram: @acevedowrites Website: acevedowrites.com

    Asia Samson – As I Am
    Instagram: @theasiaproject Website: theasiaproject.com

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    1 hr and 44 mins
  • Volume Six: Chapter Six - Our Conversation with Drew Carroll
    Aug 25 2025

    In Volume Six: Chapter Six of The Program, we welcome back Chicago-based writer, poet, and blogger Drew Carroll. It’s been over five years since our last conversation, and a lot has changed. Drew has traded powerlifting for building worlds—through poetry, short fiction, and most recently his new digital platform, The Blog of Drew, launched in June.

    In our conversation, we discuss his journey from writing poetry during some of the hardest times in his life, to creating his own short fiction universe, to stepping away from social media and eventually returning with new projects. Drew shares his thoughts on the idea of therapy, seeking therapy, vulnerability, and masculinity—especially for Black men—and how those ideas have shaped his creativity.

    We also dive into his passions outside of writing, including professional wrestling and the state of the industry today.

    Contact Drew:
    Instagram:
    @drewbcarroll
    Website: theblogofdrew.com

    Recorded Spoken Word Performances Featured Include:

    Ajanae Dawkins –When Viola Davis Won
    Instagram:
    @moonsatdusk
    Website: ajanaedawkins.com

    Darius Simpson – Genocide
    Instagram:
    @_dariussimpson
    Website: dariussimpson.com

    Alysia Harris – In Situations Like This
    Instagram:
    @poppyinthewheat
    Website: alysiaharris.com

    Taalam Acey – Affirmation For Black Men
    Instagram:
    @taalamacey
    Website: taalamacey.com

    Prentice Powell – True Love
    Instagram:
    @prenticepowell1908

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    2 hrs and 34 mins
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