Identified with Nabil Ayers
Welcome to 'Identified', a podcast hosted by Nabil Ayers, music executive and author of 'My Life in the Sunshine'. This show explores the intricate and often complicated world of family and identity. In his memoir, Nabil shared his journey of understanding his mixed-race identity, navigating a distant relationship with his father, renowned jazz musician Roy Ayers, and discovering new family connections. 'Identified' continues this exploration, broadening the scope to encompass universal themes of family dynamics. Join Nabil as he engages in heartfelt conversations that traverse cultural histories, the impact of non-traditional childhoods, and the ways our relationships shape our identities. Through personal stories, the show confronts the challenges of loss and grief, while celebrating the unique bonds that define us. Each episode seeks to answer the profound question: What is family? Discover remarkable stories from individuals of diverse backgrounds as 'Identified' unravels the complexities that make family so unique. The executive producer for 'Identified' is Kieron Banerji, and is produced by Palm Tree Island.
Episodes
Have you ever found community through your art?
In this episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers sits down with musician Ryan Kattner to talk about growing up in an Air Force family, moving every three years, and never quite feeling rooted in one place. Ryan reflects on being mixed race, with a Filipino mother and a white father, and how navigating different cultural spaces shaped his sense of identity.
He shares what it was like to feel...
How much of who we are is shaped before we ever have a say? In this episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers sits down with musician Damon McMahon, formally Amen Dunes, to explore how family history, inherited trauma, and cultural identity shape who we become.
Damon reflects on growing up between two very different worlds: his mother’s side of European Jewish Holocaust survival and his father’s working-class Irish American ro...
What does it mean to raise yourself across cultures—and carry tradition forward through food? In this episode of Identified, chef and author Camille Becerra sits down with host Nabil Ayers for a heartfelt conversation about family, identity, and the life-shaping power of memory. Born in Puerto Rico to a Puerto Rican mother and Cuban father, Camille moved to New Jersey at just one year old and grew up between cultures, languag...
Is Blood Really Family? In this episode of Identified, host Nabil Ayers sits down with Traci Thomas, creator and host of The Stacks Podcast, to explore the deeply personal terrain of identity, family, and legacy. Traci opens up about growing up mixed-race with older parents, navigating loss at a young age, and the impact of her Black and Jewish heritage on how she views belonging.
Their conversation weaves through themes of grief, ...
In this episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers is joined by acclaimed comedian, actor, and musician Tim Heidecker for an unexpectedly candid conversation about ancestry, grief, and identity. Tim traces the impact of family tragedy across generations—from the death of his grandfather’s mother in childbirth, to the s...
What if your most formative identity traits come from people you didn’t grow up with?
In this powerful episode of Identified, rapper and queer icon Cakes Da Killa reflects on growing up in Teaneck, New Jersey, raised by his teenage mother and ...
In this episode of Identified, host Nabil Ayers speaks with Bandsplain host Yasi Salek, who shares a moving, honest account of growing up Iranian-American in 1980s Los Angeles. Yasi discusses her family’s immigration story post-Iranian revolution, her experience being the &ldq...
In this episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers speaks with Massima Bell—music producer, model, activist, and co-creator of Transa—about her journey through gender, place, and chosen family.
Massima grew up between two vastly different worlds: a 100-year-old farmhouse in rural Iow...
In this episode of Identified, host Nabil Ayers is joined by Jad Abumrad—artist, musician, journalist, and creator of Radiolab, Dolly Parton’s America, More Perfect, and
Nabil Ayers is joined by writer Casey Kahn, who opens up about her personal journey through adoption, identity, and ancestry. Casey was adopted at two days old, raised by a deeply loving family in a tight-knit home—but everything changed when she had her own children and began searching for answers about her origins.
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In this deeply personal episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers is joined by Dani Shapiro, the bestselling author and host of the podcast Family Secrets.
Dani shares the stunning revelation that changed her life: learning through a DNA test that the man...
In this episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers is joined by Devi Mambouka, the artist and producer behind Masma Dream World, for a reflective conversation on ancestry, spirituality, and chosen family.
Born in Gabon and raised by her mother’...
In this episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers sits down with David Cross—Emmy-winning comedian, writer, and actor, best known for Mr. Show with Bob and David, Arrested Development, and
In this episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers talks with Youngmi Mayer—comedian, author, and host of the acclaimed Feeling Asian podcast—about growing up biracial in South Korea, the long shadow of generational trauma, and the unresolvable contradictions that shape our identitie...
In this standout episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers sits down with EGOT-winning artist, activist, and cultural icon John Legend to talk about family, race, ancestry, and the stories that shape who we are.
John opens up about growing up in a tightly kni...
In this episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers is joined by Laura Lee, founding member and bassist of the globally acclaimed band Khruangbin, for a vulnerable and wide-ranging conversation about family, ancestry, identity—and what it means to raise a child while on tour.
Laura shares the emotional story of her parents’...
In this episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers sits down with acclaimed artist, author, and entrepreneur, Chase Jarvis, for a candid and deeply reflective conversation about family, memory, and the evolving nature of connection.
Chase talks about growing up as an only child in a tightly knit...
In this profoundly personal episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers speaks with musician, actor, and visual artist Tunde Adebimpe—best known as a founding member of TV on the Radio—about identity, ancestry, and surviving deep personal loss.
Tunde traces his journey from growing up...
In this episode of Identified, Nabil Ayers is joined by acclaimed musician and author Neko Case for a powerful, wide-ranging conversation about inherited silence, cultural disconnection, and what it means to choose your own family.
Neko shares the experience of growing up with emotionall...
In the premiere of Identified Season Two, Nabil Ayers speaks with musician and activist Tom Morello about his extraordinary upbringing and journey toward understanding his identity. Tom shares stories about his trailblazing mother—an adventurous white teacher from a small Illinois town who raised him alone as a Black child in a segregated suburb—and the complex legacy of his absent Ken...
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