Popular Reviews of Blackbirds

Blackbirds is a must-listen! It is so easy to get lost in the story. The characters are engaging and very likeable . The narrator is amazing! She takes you back in time. You can almost imagine being there. This is definitely a moving look into this black family’s life. I can’t wait for more! I wasn’t ready for it to end!Take a listen - you’ll be glad you did!

The narration is emotional and moving, and the performances are all wonderful - the voice acting really brings this family and their hopes and challenges to life. The historical setting is fully fleshed out with cultural and social detail, and great use of diegetic music. The writing deftly moves several storylines and incorporates a whole community, using something as commonplace to a modern listener as a color TV as a focal point for the action. The quiet scenes of characters getting to know each other and the more dramatic emotional moments shine equally, and the surprising final episode will leave you eager for Volume 2.

An immersive historical audio drama about an African American family living in the Jim Crow South. The sound design and historical detail here is stellar, making it feel like you're right there along with this family, feeling the sweltering heat, discovering Elvis Presley, and fending off nosy neighbors. And of course the ever present disapproval and belittlement by white racists, spilling over into humiliating bullying and life-threatening violence, with no recourse for assistance. A very worthwhile listen.

This review and this podcast contain a content warning for violence against African Americans and discussions of same. The opening of the first episode is an emotional gut punch I won’t soon forget. It grabs you immediately and makes you feel raw, which is a difficult thing for a show to accomplish. The show follows an ensemble cast, the McCray family and others, as they go through their daily lives in the American south shortly before the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. The narration blended seamlessly with the different scenes and the dialogue, and the poetic quality of it reminded me of such greats as Sandra Cisneros and Alice Walker.