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New Year's Resolutions, with the McLendons

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Samara Joy, center, with her father, Antonio McLendon (left) and her grandfather, Elder Goldwire McLendon (right), at Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia.

For our first episode of 2025, Nate and Josh talk through a few fresh New Year’s resolutions related to listening. And we’re sharing one of our favorite interviews in recent memory: a sit-down with Samara Joy, her father and her grandfather at Mother Bethel AME Church. Touching on deep gospel roots, strong family bonds and a spirit of service, it’s a special conversation that summons the energy we want to bring into the year.

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Nate Chinen has been writing about music for more than 25 years. He spent a dozen of them working as a critic for The New York Times, and helmed a long-running column for JazzTimes. As Editorial Director at WRTI, he oversees a range of classical and jazz coverage, and contributes regularly to NPR.
Josh Jackson is the associate general manager for programming and content at WRTI.