Have You Heard "The Turn Around" podcast?
“I’ve been trying to figure out... How do you erase something that’s burnt into your long-term memory?”
This is a question my friend of almost 20 years, Stewart “Squirt” Holley, asked during one of our recording sessions for his biopic podcast "The Turn Around".
Squirt had just completed retelling stories of the abuses he endured both at home and in his earliest juvenile system interventions. The truth is a lot of us can’t forget. Especially when your trauma starts young and definitely when there is seemingly no one with the capacity to immediately improve your situation. For a lot of young people, the presence of chaos and confusion in the home can be a catalyst for a series of misguided choices and unfortunate events.
The Turn Around podcast is a retrospective coming-of-age story that has taken time, intention, and patience. “A lot of people have no idea whatsoever, that this is the road I walked and shapes me into who I am today.”
I first met Squirt in Durham, NC around 2002, while he was still actively pursuing a professional career in basketball (Season 2, coming in May will focus on that part of his life). In Season 1, we focused on the boy that would become a man with a storied life, worth sharing. Squirt has always used adversity as his compass and while he may have kept his darkest moments in life close to the chest – until now; he is genuine and honest with those he respects. The cause and effects of misdirection, environmental output, and Black rage are on full display throughout the stories you’ll hear in 8 out of 9 podcast episodes. As you listen, you’ll discover why Squirt’s life is both a cautionary tale and a hero’s journey.
Stewart “Squirt” Holley
“What doesn’t break you, shapes you”
The Turn Around Podcast is an audio story of how our lived experiences shape us. More importantly, it’s a story about how having enduring love for something… anything can be both a saving grace and medicine.
Be prepared to listen at your own risk. Squirt’s storytelling style is as raw as it gets. There are no pretenses or inhibitions. Our stories matter and telling them without concern for judgment can prove cathartic. Squirt used his recording sessions as therapy; often forgetting that I was on the other end of the mute button.
Disclaimer, if you’re looking for the gold standard of recorded audio quality, you might not like it here, but I encourage you to press on.
We had one mission; to create space and opportunity for Squirt to purge his heart and mind for the next level of his life where adversity no longer dictates his present or future. And, we accomplished that, regardless of the recording conducive environment. There were recordings done in parked and moving cars, open outdoor spaces, torrential rainstorms, 1-800 conference lines, and bad connections. Proudly, we prioritized achieving this project by any means necessary, and it’s on-brand for anyone who knows us - you’re going to get what you get.
In a podcast category, we’d have to choose sports, but it would be an injustice to try and fit “The Turn Around” within one genre. This biopic form of audio storytelling also exposes America’s school to prison pipeline and prison-industrial system, which disproportionately injures the lives of Black and Brown people.
Squirt shines a light on the effects of bullying and domestic violence that naturally produce reckless youthful behavior. You’ll hear stories about pure athletic talent, leadership, street justice, crime, Black boy joy, kinship, and critical thought. It’s everything and one thing... a life lived. I am thankful to my friend who allowed me to make good on a promise made years ago; that I would tell his story because it deserved to be told.
In 2019, I had just founded the Afros & Audio Podcast Festival inspired by the emergence of Black audio creatives and professionals. “Squirt” had no idea what a podcast was when I first introduced the idea, but he believed that his experiences could help someone else and agreed to the process.
The Turn Around podcast is a rare insight into the life of a skinny, tall Black boy born in Edenton but raised in Durham, NC. To know “Squirt” is to experience rawness, loyalty, authenticity, and respect. He’s an emotive human whose energy can cause a category 5 hurricane or usher in a supportive cool breeze…both on and off the court. This is a man in control of his evolved power and who chooses his words wisely.
This is the true story of Bull City’s living basketball legend, Stewart “Squirt” Holley.
Listen to The Turn Around Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or Google Play. Follow @theturnaround_podcast on Instagram.