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Mavis Staples on Prince, MLK and a life onstage

Grammy award-winning soul singer Mavis Staples
Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images
Grammy award-winning soul singer Mavis Staples

This week, the legendary singer and civil rights figure Mavis Staples is turning 85 and there's no sign of her slowing down: She released a new song, "Worthy," and a children's book, Bridges Instead of Walls: The Story of Mavis Staples.

Today, Mavis joins host Brittany Luse to share stories from her life: what it was like to be mentored by Mahalia Jackson, how she helped create the soundtrack for the Civil Rights movement, how she was spurned by the church then welcomed back, and what it was like to collaborate with Prince.

Want to be featured on IBAM? Record a voice memo responding to Brittany's question at the end of the episode and send it to ibam@npr.org.

Copyright 2024 NPR

Brittany Luse
Brittany Luse is an award-winning journalist, on-air host and cultural critic. She is currently the host of It's Been a Minute from NPR. Previously, Luse hosted For Colored Nerds, The Nod and Sampler podcasts, and co-hosted and executive produced The Nod with Brittany and Eric, a daily streaming show. She's written for Vulture and Harper's Bazaar, among others, and edited for the podcasts Planet Money and Not Past It. Luse and her work have been profiled by publications like The New York Times, The New Yorker and Teen Vogue.
Jessica Placzek
[Copyright 2024 NPR]
Corey Antonio Rose
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Alexis Williams
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Liam McBain
Liam McBain (he/him) is an associate producer on It's Been a Minute. He's interested in stories at the margins of culture.
Veralyn Williams
Veralyn Williams (she/her) is a Peabody and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist who has been asking hard questions about our world since she picked up her first microphone in 2004. In her role as executive producer of programming at NPR, Williams brings her leadership (and editorial ears) to It's Been a Minute, Code Switch and The Limits with Jay Williams.