Local Limelight: Musician Shirlette Ammons is out with a new podcast
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The Durham-based host of the new podcast "Tending" introduces herself the same way each time.
- "My name is Shirlette Ammons. I'm a musician and storyteller," she drawls, pausing momentarily. "Most importantly, I'm the granddaughter of a Black farmer."
Why it matters: The six-episode series — now available on the Southern food podcast Gravy — digs into the stories of Black farmers and their fight for equal treatment from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
- Ammons zeroes in on the 1999 discrimination lawsuit Pigford v. Glickman, whose namesake plaintiff farmed corn and soybeans in eastern North Carolina but was repeatedly denied a loan to buy his own land.
- The government settled the landmark case by promising over $2 billion in payouts, making it one of the largest class-action settlements in history. But Ammons found it didn't fix things — not even for those who got paid.
Zoom in: Ammons grew up in Mount Olive, then moved to Raleigh to attend N.C. State before settling in Durham around 2008. She is now a fixture of the local arts scene.
- Her creative pursuits have included music, poetry and TV production. This is her first-ever podcast.
We talked with Ammons for our latest Local Limelight conversation. This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
🍝 Favorite place to eat? I love Gocciolina. I love sitting at the bar. Love how cozy it is. I love that it's not downtown. Me and Laura, my wife, it's our favorite place to go just to recap the day.
🏙️ What do you think the Triangle is missing? Multidisciplinary art spaces that combine different mediums under one roof, which is what we're trying to do (with Boarding House Arts, a community space providing affordable studio space and programming to artists that's scheduled to open next year).
- And an arts community that is invested in paying artists consistently, and paying artists a livable wage.
📱 What's your first read in the morning? I do not get out of bed without listening to "The Daily." And doing Strands, Connections, Wordle, the Mini Crossword and the Spelling Bee, every morning, in that order.
🎧 What are your other go-to podcasts? Phoebe Judge (host of "Criminal") is that chick. I love her voice. She could read me to sleep every night. I also like "The Midnight Miracle" with Dave Chappelle. I'm always on the hunt. My favorite podcast of all time is "S-Town." It's brilliant.
- I think I have a problem. Because I really love that medium.
🎙️ Makes sense that you'd make one of your own, then. What did you find out in the production process? It's not a solitary process, like making music can be, or writing a poem can be. And it's not an all-hands-on-deck process the way a TV production can be. It's just its own, different thing.
📚 What is the last great book you read? I'm reading "Demon Copperhead" (by Barbara Kingsolver) right now. It's really good.
🍿 What is the last great movie you saw? "One Battle After Another"
🎶 How do you unplug at the end of the day? I play ukulele. Swear to God. Ukulele is my favorite s--- right now. I have three ukuleles. (The baritone is her favorite.)
⛱️ Favorite place to go for a long weekend? The beach. I like Emerald Isle, Surf City, because there's a bunch of dive bars down there that I like hanging out at. The Trailer Bar is the best thing.
🍼 What's something you're looking forward to, unrelated to your work? Oh gosh, this little baby. (Her wife is expecting in the spring.)
🚜 What were your sources of inspiration for the podcast? I grew up in eastern North Carolina working in tobacco fields, digging sweet potatoes, and usually our family worked for this particular white family in the summertime, something that had been happening for generations.
👀 What advice would you give someone interested in starting a podcast? The producers I worked with, they both said: "Why are you the person to tell this story?" I think it's a question you have to ask yourself. If you can't answer that question in a justifiable way, then I don't think you should tackle that story.