Dissect - S6E13 - Finale: Lemonade by Beyoncé

Episode Date: July 14, 2020

We conclude our season-long analysis of Beyoncé’s Lemonade. We begin with a sweeping summary of the album’s narrative, followed by a detailed investigation of its major themes and recurring symbols. Finally, we hear from YOU - Dissect listeners -- sharing their biggest takeaways from the album and season. Stay in touch over the break by following us on social media @dissectpodcast. Limited S6 merch can be purchased at shop.dissectpodcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Spotify Studios, this is Dissect, long-form musical analysis broken into short digestible episodes. I'm Cole Kushna. And I'm Titi Shodeo. Today we conclude our serialized analysis of Lemonade by Beyonce. On our last episode, we dissected the album's final track formation, the culmination of Beyonce's emotional and spiritual journey that comprise the narrative of Lemonade. On today's finale episode, we're going to recap that narrative through a sweeping analysis of the entire album. Then we'll cover some of the main symbols and themes that Lemonade presents in both the music and visuals.

Finally, we're going to turn the mic over to you and hear a montage of dissect listeners sharing their thoughts and key takeaways about the album. And so, for the final time of the season, let's dissect. In Lemonade's first chapter, intuition, the film's protagonist Beyonce expresses her suspicion about her husband's infidelity. This betrayal triggers a crisis of identity as the chapter's poem expresses how Beyonce views herself as a failed homemaker, wife, and mother. We find her wandering tepidly around the ruins of the Civil War relic Fort McComb, one of many historical symbols that positioned Beyonce's story as interwoven into America's history of slavery, racism, and sexism.

The past and the future merge to meet us here. What luck, what a fucking curse. Beyonce presents her current situation as a curse she inherited from her family and history itself. In order to break the generational curse of broken relationships in her family and the broader curse of a society shaped by slavery, Beyonce can no longer ignore her husband's infidelity, nor can she ignore the racial injustices she, her community and door. Beyonce must confront these things head on if she ever wants to transcend

them. At the end of the chapter, Beyonce jumps from a rooftop in a pivotal leap of faith. Those scared and uncertain, Beyonce commits to confronting the curses she inherited, setting her on a journey of self-discovery and healing. Rather than hitting the ground, Beyonce falls into a large body of transformative water, leading us into the film's second chapter, denial. To change, closed my mouth more, tried to be softer, prettier, less awake. Denial begins with Beyonce recounting all the ways she denied herself for the sake of her husband and society writ large. Meanwhile on screen, Beyonce is seen undergoing another transformation underwater, ultimately emerging as the Yoruba water goddess Oshun. Donning a beautiful yellow dress and gold jewelry,

Beyonce expresses her jealousy, rage, and frustration triggered by her husband's betrayal. She allows herself to feel these emotions now rather than suppress them, and we watch as she joyfully bashes in car windows with a baseball bat. What's worst? Looking jealous or crazy, jealous or crazy? Or like being walked all over lately, walked all over lately, I'd rather be crazy. It turns out with hold up, Beyonce is just getting started. Her frustration evolves into a cathartic, all-out verbal assault in the film's next chapter, anger.

Beyonce reasserts herself and reclaims her agency as a strong, independent black woman. She flips stereotypical gender roles and places herself in the position of power, emasculating her husband and ultimately threatening to leave him for good. This leads us directly into the next chapter, apathy. It's here that Beyonce surrounds herself with powerful black women in another step to regain her agency. In the visuals, Beyonce and Serena Williams reclaim a slave plantation big house by dancing inside of it. Meanwhile, in the song Sorry, Beyonce and her friends go clubbing in hopes to make her husband feel the pain and jealousy she feels. Despite her claim not to be thinking about her husband, she clearly still is.

Her apathy is feigned, a facade she puts on in order to provoke her husband. At the end of the song, she returns home to an empty house. Her husband is nowhere to be found. And so Beyonce leaves a note informing him she won't be returning and leaves this time for good. Now on her own, Beyonce's apathy descends into all-out emptiness. We find her trapped inside an eerie, red-lit, haunted house that we understand to represent the curse that torment. her. It's from inside this haunted house and from a peep show stage that she performs the song Six Inch. As a standalone track, Six Inch is a powerful anthem for working women. But within the

context of Lemonade's narrative and the visuals we see, it becomes something much more complex. Beyonce is singing in third person, almost robotically, and she dances hypnotically on a peep show stage. Like the chapter title Emptiness Suggests, there's a hollowness beneath her actions, as if the grief she feels has left her completely emotionless. Toward the end of the chapter, Beyonce sets fire to the haunted house, and act resaw as an attempt to eradicate the curse it contained. This pivotal scene is juxtaposed with a pivotal moment in the song.

Beyonce reveals that despite her anger, apathy, and emptiness, she still longs for the love of her life. This signals a shift in the album's narrative and Beyonce's approach to justice. Until this point, Beyonce sought retributive justice, an attempt to make the perpetrator suffer as much as the victim did. This desire only left Beyonce empty, so she will now begin seeking restorative justice, which focuses on rehabilitation and reconciliation. The first step in Beyonce's new approach is to look to her past and examine her roots. She does this in the song Daddy Lessons, reflecting on a relationship with her father.

She comes to realize that her intuition to intimidate and threaten as a response to trauma was inherited from her father. She also understands that her father's hardened exterior was a defense mechanism in response to a racist society, one who instilled in him messages of unworthiness. Unfortunately, the protective walls he built around himself are the very walls that kept him from acknowledging his pain so that he could heal his wounds. Now understanding how the historical curse of racism in America, intersects with the familial curse of broken male-female relationships in her family.

Beyonce is able to see her partner with the empathy required to begin a process of restoring their relationship. She chooses to do the difficult work needed to break these curses so they're not passed down another generation to her children. Why are you afraid of love? You think it's not possible for someone like you, but you are the love of my life. The beginning of Lemonade's next chapter, Reformation, displays Beyonce's newfound insight into her husband's infidelity. Like her father, her husband too feels he's undeserving of true love. She empathetically opens herself up to him, repeating to him that he is the love of her life, attempting to penetrate his protective walls. This impassioned display of vulnerability continues into

the song, Love Drought. Beyonce expresses the potential she stood. still sees in the love shared between her and her husband. Something so strong that it could move mountains and calm wars. She offers him an olive branch and an opportunity to begin a process of reconciliation and healing together. There is a curse that will be broken. With the chapter of forgiveness, Beyonce puts it all on the line, finally opening up completely to the pain caused by his portrayal, but also expressing her belief that the love they share is strong enough to withstand

the flood that threatened their marriage. In the song Sandcastles, she requires her husband to show her his scars, or promise to be open, honest, and vulnerable. Her husband's accountability for his actions, Beyonce's empathy toward the pain that caused his actions, and the vulnerability they both commit to, allows Beyonce to forgive her husband

and begin the process of moving forward, together. This signifies the breaking of the familial curse of broken male-female relationships in our family. Together, the two will model their relationship like the Kinsugi bull we've seen in the film. The bull that was once broken in pieces is reassembled with gold lacquer and is made stronger and more beautiful than before. So how are we supposed to lead our children to the future? What do we do? How do we lead them? Love. Having restored her relationship, resurrection finds Beyoncé turning her attention to the historical

curse that plagues the broader black community. We hear an unidentified black woman suggest that love is the way to lead children into the future, the same love that allowed Beyonce and her husband to reconcile and resurrect their relationship. During the song Ford, we see the mothers of Treyfaxel. Ivan Martin, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown holding portraits of their murdered sons. They do so inside a former plantation mansion, linking the pain of these women to the historical pain shared by generations of black Americans who have suffered under the same curse of slavery and racism. By honoring and remembering these black men's lives and not their deaths, they are

resurrected and their stories are used to catalyze social action and change. It's this action of transforming pain into purpose and mourning into movement, that inspires the hope that one day all people will be treated with dignity and respect, that all people will truly be free. With the film's penultimate chapter, Hope, Beyonce sings an empowering anthem about freedom and forward movement. She performs the song on a slave plantation's theater stage to an audience of black women we've seen accompany Beyonce throughout her journey. She has brought them here to heal in this historical space, to overcome the generational wounds of racism and slavery they inherited. She empowers them to love themselves, to celebrate each other, to excel, achieve

greatness, and shine as the ultimate protest to oppressive forces. Take one pint of water, add half pound of sugar, the juice of eight lemons, the zest of half A lemonade recipe is described as Beyonce sits in a rocking chair on a slave plantation porch. We understand the recipe to be a metaphor about everything she's learned throughout the film. An education she ultimately credits to the generations of strong black women before her. Grandmother, the alchemist, you spun gold out of this hard life. conjured beauty from the things left behind found healing

where it did not live discovered Beyonce honors her ancestors who provided the recipe for survival and thriving in a world that was hostile to their race and gender by looking backwards she not only confronted the historical curse of slavery

but also finds the antidote to the curse in the black women before her She describes black women as having the supernatural powers of alchemists, making a way out of no way, spinning gold from impossible circumstances, breaking the curse with the strength of their own two hands. You passed these instructions down to your daughter, who then passed it down to her daughter. I had my oxen down, but I always find the inner strength.

The meaning of the album's title and the purpose of the film itself is showcased here in a single sequence. We first hear Beyoncé describe passing down the metaphoric lemonade recipe to future generations. We then see Jay Z's 90-year-old grandmother celebrating her birthday, giving a humble speech about persevering through the ups and downs of her life, also encompassing this message in a metaphoric lemonade recipe. In the audience is Beyonce and Jay's daughter, Blue Ivy. There are four generations here under a single root. roof, and the younger generations are inheriting this recipe from their elder, the same exact

recipe that Beyoncé just described being passed down through generations of the black community more broadly. And so we understand now that the visual album Lemonade itself is precisely the expression of this recipe, available to all those who are willing to follow its instructions. Beyonce has used her personal journey to share a universal message on how to break the curses you inherit, the curses that were given to you without your consent, the curses that can plague your life and drag you down if you're not willing to confront them. You can forever run from these curses, or you can take a leap of faith, open yourself up and do the necessary,

sometimes excruciating work to address your wounds, heal them, and come out the other side stronger, more beautiful, and free from the curses that once controlled you. With the film's final chapter redemption, Beyonce returns where she started, the ruins of Fort McComb. She celebrates the end of her full circle journey, now standing triumphantly atop the fort's tunnels, singing to the skies about finding redemption in the everlasting strength of true love. They say true love's the greatest weapon to win the war. caused by pain. The chapter's final shot is home video footage of Beyonce, JZ, and Blue Ivy.

We see them playing, dancing, and laughing in their backyard. We recall the critical line from the film's opening chapter. The past and future merged to meet us here. What luck. What a fucking curse. Here at the end of Beyonce's journey, the generational curses have been broken, and her family now moves into the future no longer burdened by the past, but propelled by it. Following the recipe of her ancestors,

Beyonce found a way out of no way and unlocked the transcendent power of true love to heal her and her family's wounds. Lemonade's Cota formation is Beyonce's clarion call to the women we saw throughout the film, and by extension to all those women watching her around the world. She encourages them to get in formation or unite around a shared vision of the future. In this future, marginalized communities band together and slay in the face of their adversaries. By placing formation at the end of Lemonade,

there's a narrative implication that the end result of Beyonce's personal journey is her blossoming into a leader around which these communities can unite. While the potential for this empowered leadership role was always inside her, it took an arduous spiritual journey and a direct confrontation of the curses in her life to fully unlock this potential. Thus, the parting message of Lemonade as a whole seems to be the idea that inside each of us lies the seeds of something great. But that greatness can often be suppressed by any number of things,

the baggage of our past, an unhealthy relationship, a dead-end job, the unjust constructs of a society itself, or a compound equation of more than just one of these things simultaneously. Though these burdens are many times unfair, involuntary, and undeserved, they can be overcome if only you do the often excruciating, intimidating, work required to confront them. It's certainly not easy, and likely the process is ongoing, but the recipe is there for those willing to take their own leap of faith, look deep inside oneself, and slay whatever dragon is interfering with you becoming the best possible version of

yourself. For Beyonce, the main ingredient in this recipe is love. It's the love for oneself that allows you to know you deserve better. It's the love for family that motivates you to be better for their future. It's the universal love of others that inspires you to fight unjust systems that tip the scales in favor of a few at the cost of many. It's with love as your greatest weapon that you transform curses into blessings, pain into purpose. Love is how you turn lemons into lemonade. We'll be back right after the break. Welcome back to Dysect. Having completed a more sweeping recap of Lemonade's narrative arc, we'll now begin to narrow our focus. We'll now begin to narrow our on some of the album's main themes and symbols.

The first symbol we must acknowledge is the setting of the film itself, the state of Louisiana. All the recurring sites like Fort McComb, the Maidwood, Destrahan, and Evergreen Plantations, and the Superdome are located in Louisiana, and even songs like Daddy Lessons, draw from Louisiana's rich and diverse musical history. To understand why Louisiana was likely chosen

as the film's predominant setting, we have to return to what Beyonce set out to achieve with Lemon to show the historical effects of slavery on Black love and what it has done to the Black family. Louisiana helps achieve this aim in two distinct and interconnected ways. First, as we've detailed throughout the season, the state holds a deep history of slavery, but also displays how the legacy of slavery still impacts lives today in events such as the governmental response to Hurricane Katrina. In this way, Louisiana is a prime example of how the past and the present converge, how

the curse of slavery continues to affect the lives of African Americans to this very day. But we may also wonder why Beyonce would choose Louisiana over, say, Texas, the state she grew up in, which also has a deep history of slavery. A possible answer to this question is Beyonce's mother, Tina Noles. Tina's ancestry is Louisiana Creole of color, and her family roots are in Boot, Louisiana. With so much of Lemonade's emphasis being on women of color, looking to the past, and finding guidance specifically through black female ancestors, it would seem that Louisiana was specifically chosen to symbolize, explore, and honor the female side of Beyonce's ancestry.

And so Louisiana becomes the perfect location to represent the intersection of slavery, the contemporary effects of the legacy of slavery, Beyonce's personal ancestry, and Beyonce's present-day relationship. Another likely reason why Louisiana was used ties into one of the most significant and preeminent thematic symbols of the film, water. Prominent topographic features of Louisiana include the state's wetlands, bayous, the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico. The state is among the most hurricane-prone

areas in the country and was the location of some of the biggest floods in U.S. history, including the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and the levee collapses that flooded 80% of New Orleans after Katrina. The state's ability to continually rebuild after such devastation speaks to the resilience of Louisianaans, itself a metaphor about the ability of African Americans to survive and thrive despite any number of forces that seek the destruction of their community. Water's dualistic ability to both destroy and give life is likely the reason it was chosen as one of the prominent symbols of lemonade. Water is seen, heard, or alluded to in nearly every chapter of the film, beginning with the opening chapter intuition. Ironically, the water symbolism

is introduced by the absence of water as we see Beyonce sitting inside an empty antique bathtub. With water traditionally symbolic of renewal, life, and growth, Beyonce in a waterless tub represented her initial state of suppression and lifelessness. After she takes her leap of faith off the side of the building at the end of the chapter, she lands in a huge body of water, signaling the beginning of her transformation. She emerges as Oshun, now in command of the water. Water then continues to appear in various forms throughout the film. It was alluded to subtly through the sample of When the Levy Breaks in the song Don't Hurt Yourself, and in more overt ways such as the song Love Drought, where Beyonce

likens her relationship needing love, like land needing water. And in the same song, we saw Mianzay and a group of women dressed in white, weighed into the Bayou waters for a communal baptism, signaling a rebirth of sorts. In the chapter of forgiveness, Beyonce compared her marriage to a sandcastle that was flooded and washed away by an ocean's tide. Furthermore, the verses of the song Freedom center around various metaphors about water. Beyonce describes raining on bitter love, waiting in water and commanding the tide. Finally, in formation, Beyonce sits atop a police car in the floodwaters of New Orleans, eventually drowning in solidarity with the victims of Katrina.

And so throughout Lemonade, water is presented as both a source of destruction and a source of healing and providing new life. This dualistic idea recalls the final lines of poetry we hear at the conclusion of the film. So we're going to heal. We're going to start again. You've brought the orchestra, synchronized swimmers.

You're the magician. Pull me back together again the way you cut me in half. Beyonce describes finding healing through the very thing that brought her pain. Through the lens of Beyonce's relationship, this expresses the way she found healing through her husband, the very person who betrayed her. Through the historical and social lens of the film, this line speaks to the way the history of slavery and racism inflict countless wounds on black Americans, but also how the same history

provides countless examples of the resilience and strength of black people who've endured and passed down a recipe of excellence despite their impossible circumstances. This duality recalls the Alice Walker quote, Healing begins where the wound was made. And it appears that water was chosen as the main symbol to represent this duality throughout lemonade. Like Beyonce's husband, like history itself, water can inflict pain through floods and hurricanes, and it can heal through its life-giving powers and restorative fertility.

It's up to us to learn how to control these powers, to survive the floods knowing that often the most traumatic events of our lives have the potential to make us stronger, to give us new beginning, a new life. We can forever be destroyed by a flood and spend the rest of our lives affected by its devastation and turmoil, or we can use it as an opportunity to grow and to find healing in the very thing that threatened to destroy us. It's the idea of getting handed a lemon, a curse, an unfair hand, and creating something beautiful from it. This is what we do as black people. This is our superpower. We will ourselves through the impossible. I recently saw a slow motion video of the crashing white waves of the ocean, and beneath its surface the water was pristine and quiet. And I thought to myself, how absolutely beautiful.

The ocean is not defined by the winds and the storms that may trouble. its surface because, like in life, these storms will pass and what is left is what the ocean has always been. When we talk about the ocean, we speak of the seemingly limitless life it possesses, its breath, and its depth. You have to go deeper to find the power and beauty it truly possesses. This can be seen as a metaphor for the story for a lot of black Americans, African Americans. It's one that's rooted in not the loss of identity, but its theft. When the European ships arrived to steal people from African land and treat us like property to be bought and sold, more than our bodies were taken. We were stripped of our identity, language, culture, family, and way of life.

We were forced into labor, forced to assimilate. These are our troubled waters. As the generations passed, African people became more American and language, culture, and customs than African, but were still treated as other. because of our skin. This is the dilemma, the great frustration of being black in America, forcibly brought to a place, tortured, our families torn apart, forced to endure and try and make a life in a system that even now functions to see us fail. When we look retrospectively, the weight of this can be crushing. But we have found our glory in this painful past. At once, we are African, we are American and we are African American. Baked into these complex layers is the beauty of the

limitless life, the breath and the depth that makes us powerful and absolutely beautiful. With lemonade, Beyonce is underscoring these same feelings, but taking an introspective approach to resolve her identity. She took us visually from the impenetrable walls of Fort McComb, plantation manners, and the quarters of the enslaved, and paralleled these places in song with times in her life, when she felt anxiety, depression, and uncertainty. Then using those same backdrops, she danced, sang, felt joy, and felt community. It's the juxtaposition of the great pain of the past with the great beauty and happiness of our present and future that showcases our pain and the strength that we possess in spite of it. The trauma of our history happened to us, but it is surely not of us.

It is a part of the story that makes us who we are, but it does not define us. And although our fight for equality is continuous and unrelenting, we are not defined by the storm, and we shall always overcome. And now we come to one of my favorite parts of every season, and that's hearing from you, dissect listeners. We asked you all to share your biggest takeaways from Lemonade, and what you're about to hear is a montage of very thoughtful people sharing what Lemonade and Beyonce means to them, and by extension, what music means to them.

I would ask that you listen to each person attentively and openly. Hearing from you all serves as a great reminder of just how many people in the world genuinely appreciate the power of music. It's like we're all friends that will never meet, and it's just nice knowing that there's so many reflective, motivated, honest, and passionate people out there in the world, and that music has the power to bring us all together. My name is Nicole, and I'm from Atlanta and Boston.

My biggest takeaway from Lemonade is just how essential it is for us as black people to understand our past in order to be liberated, not just in this world, but in our relationships. For so long, we haven't known what to make of the relationship issues in the black community. And Lemonade reminds us that, while it isn't our fault, it is still our responsibility to undo it in order for us and future generations to live truly liberated, love-filled, and abundant lives. transforming the systems we live within will mean nothing without the transforming of how we connect to one another. My name is Cassandra. I'm from Wisconsin. Beyonce does something that my own mother has done for a long time, which is to investigate the hurts that have inflicted pain and heartbreak in our family as a result of generations of decisions and missteps and turn that into beauty and art

and hope for what is to come. For Beyonce to connect her pain and her growth with the experiences of being a black woman in the United States is profound, and I am in constant awe of what she's been able to articulate sonically and visually for our own benefit as listeners and viewers and for our own growth as individuals and as members of the collective of the human race. Dicex Lemonade came at the perfect moment in the history of America. It was as if someone orchestrated a narrative for this season of rising up for social change. And I'm proud of Beyonce's art as both the black woman and someone dealing with personal history. Each chapter from intuition through redemption is a study in confront. confronting America's false narrative.

We can also choose to make lemonade from all of this bitterness. And I have everything I need, the ingredients of my life and the legacy of my ancestors. I can make lemonade too. I'm a music teacher in Queens, New York. This season of Dysect has given my high school students and me a lens to explore art as a tool of expression for ourselves, our ancestors, our community, and those that come after us. For my female students of color especially, I feel like this season has empowered and reaffirmed their voice. My name is Lakeisha Warren from Dover, Delaware.

I've always loved Beyonce, the artist, but with lemonade, she let me know that she loved me back. She saw me, she saw my blackness and my womanhood. With her older albums, she was always my inspiration, but on lemonade, she became my friend and my sister. I'll always be thankful and grateful that she opened her. us up to her world through Lemonade. And I saw that we are more alike than different. Hi, I'm Sierra from Atlanta, and the major takeaway I received from Lemonade center around the idea that we all have things we inherit from our families,

whether that be generational curses or recipes for how to break them. It's up to the next generation to decide what to do with them. We can hold tight to the things that brought harm because it's familiar, or we can try a new remedy. Hey Cole, this is Andrea Collin from Germany. One of my biggest takeaways from this season is kind of simple in general, but it is my now even deeper appreciation for relationships that are strengthened in facing the troubles and sadness of the heart and mind as a team. Having also dealt with multiple miscarriages as well as relationships that didn't live up to my previously held expectations,

I feel that this album shows us how we can come out on the other side, both holding glasses of lemonade if we put in the necessary hard work. Love this season and so valued Titi's input. and contribution. Thanks for all of your detailed insights and take care of yourselves. Hi, this is Abby from Akron, Ohio. Lemonade teaches that art can be a vehicle for personal and social change. Beyonce blended an understanding of the past with her own life experiences to create a body of work that confronts the very real challenges many black women contend with. She uses art as music, as costume, as performance to find a path forward for herself and for generations of black women.

for showing women how their creativity can change the world. I'm Becca from Pilsen, Chicago. Dysec provides a stimulating weekly ritual during my quarantine walks with life-changing and mind-altering content. It nudges me to ask more relevant questions than, who is Becky with the good hair? I now turn corners in Pilsson and see Beyonce's poetry, visual narratives, and vulnerability painted all over my vibrant neighborhood.

The gift of lemonade's critical, discussion will accompany me and be a template for all future cultural experiences I have. My name is Chanel Therville, and the biggest takeaway from Lemonade for me is seeing a representation of a black woman who gets to explore the full spectrum of her humanity and her feelings. Black women are often put in this pedestal of being able to emotionally endure all kinds of things, and it's freeing to see Beyonce be angry and vengeful and sad. and scared and move past that towards healing and restoration in her life. It's wonderful and rarely seen.

Hello everyone. I'm Dan Gonzalez from Manila Philippines. My biggest takeaway from this season is the idea that our sense of reality is increasingly structured by narrative. In the case of Beyonce, she has eloquently rewrite her own narrative, one that is personal and is so potent and moving for us the audience. By the way, I'm a literature teacher, and I would love to share this podcast to my students. Can't wait for the next season.

Hopefully it's from Solange. Stay safe and healthy. My name is Sierra and I'm from South Florida. I've learned that Lemonade reflects not only the experience of Beyonce and Jay-Z, but also the African-American community on a larger scale. We as black people have to deal with the repercussions of American history. Our culture, our families, our communities, our relationships, and our sense of self are all deeply affected by past oppression as well as the continued struggle for equality and justice today. It's an exploration of the past, present, and future of Black America.

Hi, my name is A. Natural. I'm an artist from New Jersey. When Lemonade first came out, I felt attacked. I thought this was yet another female empowerment male bashing album from Beyonce. But after taking the time to really listen and now getting some truly beneficial analysis from Dissect, I now know that I never should have felt attacked. I should have felt heard, empowered, and taken to task about the responsibilities black men have to protect, cherish, and truly see our black women. This album and dissect's research should be required learning for all black students young and old. James, Miami, Florida. Lemonade is an album with a movement of its own. Focus on the topics of feminism,

pride, and reconciliation. It allows us to see the ingrained institution of black culture in the U.S. it woke us up to the realization of ourselves and the country's ongoing problems with injustice and racism on the black community. Dissect allowed me to be socially conscious to the symbolic messages within Lemonade, revealing parts of the album I have never thought of before. This is Greg Horsdmeyer from Atlanta, Georgia. Cole and Titi, thank you so much for sharing your gifts with us and for choosing Lemonade this season. My biggest takeaway is how Beyonce so expertly weaves together her vulnerable experience. black experience, history and culture through the audio and visual album. She makes it artistic

and specific yet universal. It has moved me in so many ways over the past four years and I have still learned and had epiphany moments with you along the way. I'm Cam and I'm from Chicago. I've come away from season six of Dysect with a totally new perspective on and appreciation for lemonade as an album, film, and piece of social commentary. It feels especially fitting as a white woman in this moment to be educating myself on the black history of music and the pain and triumph that Beyonce weaves into some amazing music. Thank you for everything, T.T. Cole, and everyone else involved in this season. Hi, Cole. My name is Miguel. I'm 26 and I'm from Portugal. Lemonade is one of the most powerful albums I've ever heard in my life, mostly because of its messages, but also because

when it came out, I was going through one of the hardest breakups of my life, and the album gave me hope and help me heal. Also is one of the albums that connects me with my best friend, one of the most important man in my life. Thank you for this amazing season. Looking forward to the next one. Bye. Hi, my name is Elle Army, and I live in Charlotte, North Carolina. My biggest takeaway from Dysect is Beyonce's fearlessness. Her ability to lay her own pain and struggles on the line to heal herself for the empowerment of others is truly fearless and incredible. I will forever be a loyal dissect listener after the beautiful job they did diving into the visuals, musicality, artistry and history of this album. I am a stronger person because of listening to Kolkashna,

Titi Shodiyah, and Beyonce. My name is Bianca. I'm from London, England. My biggest takeaway from Lemonade is of images of women as a collective as a formation, signifying empowerment and strength and reinforcing the theme of healing throughout Lemonade. We have images of women as a group walking into the sea. Women sat in a plantation-style house. Women, the mothers of police brutality victims holding photographs of their sons portraying pain. And that for me, women as collective portraying strength is the biggest takeaway from Lemonade. I am Amy from St. Louis, Missouri. My first takeaway from this season is how refreshing and overdue. it is to see Beyonce heralded as a genius, a designation often reserved for white men.

Beyonce is often celebrated as an extraordinary performer, but to see her celebrated this season for her songwriting, producing, and composing was deeply satisfying. My next takeaway is how Beyonce perfectly demonstrates the connection between the interpersonal and individual with the societal and systemic, more so than any album I can think of. With the story of her own personal trauma, healing, and liberation, she ultimately heals and liberates so many others, just herself. Thank you so much, Colin Titi. Hello, Dysick. This is Edward from California. And my biggest takeaway from the season is that while heartbreak can be a crushing blow to unsold, once you climb up that mountain and you reach the top of it and you look out at the

view, it's very satisfying once you find yourself and you put yourself forward to move on and to forgive yourself and others. Thank you. Anna Grace, I'm from Nashville. When Lemonade came out, I was only 11. I listened to it and enjoyed singles like Sorry and Holdup, but something always bothered me like there was something larger in this surprise album. I've grown older with this album. I've fallen in love with writing about music and became obsessed with Dissect.

It's been an absolute joy to dive through this album, one that first gave me curiosity with learning more about great art. I wish I had more time to express everything I've learned from Beyonce this season, as she's taught me so much as a woman growing up in the South. Thank you, Cole and T.T. Love you guys. My name is Leah. I'm an art director living in Minneapolis. Lemonade meant everything to me. First of all, it's extremely frustrating that the media's narrative of Lemonade after its release was just all focused on who is Becky with the good hair and Jay-Z's infidelity. Once again, the focus was a black man and a white woman.

So once again, black women were erased in this very black woman-centric piece of art. So for me, also seeing Beyonce dig deeper. learn how to be vulnerable, learned forgiveness. It was a validation for me that I also could heal within my own relationships and intimacy. My name is David from Minneapolis. I'm sitting here with my six-week-old son, who just started smiling.

George Floyd was murdered about a mile away from our house. Through the pain, my marriage and my son have grounded me. I think about lemonade and the healing of Beyonce's marriage by overcoming oppression through love. I think about the sequence of sandcastles into forward into freedom. That's my hope for my son, my wife, my Minneapolis, my America. Hi, my name is Nick, and I'm from Lake Stevens, Washington. I couldn't have been happier about TT being a co-host for this season.

To dissect an album like Lemonade, you need the perspective of a black woman to fully understand its subject matter and what the visual album's message is beyond the lyrics. Her intellect, wit, and dedication to the truth made this season of Dissect one of extremely high quality. Thank you, Dysak, team for everything. Hi, I'm Mr. Kush. I'm Kevin Rodriguez from Monterey, Mexico. And what Nameda taught me stems from Beyonce's poem at The Run Tour, which says, and I quote, love is an act of endless forgiveness.

Forgiveness is me given up the right to hurt you for hurting me. Forgiveness is the final act of love, end quote. Because I used to think that reconciliation was. was impossible, that forgiveness wasn't ending, but instead it's a rebirth, healing starting over and knowing that true love cannot be threatened. My name is Luis Felipe and I'm from Brasilia, Brazil. The biggest takeaway for me was that Lemonade tells more than just a black experience in America. Listening to this album, I was able to see that the effects slavery had on black families in

the USA can also be seen here in Brazil, another country so deeply marked by a sad slave history. As such, Lemonade, a story so particular about Pianca's marriage ends up being so true to different places in the world. For that, Piances Lemonade is her artistic masterpiece. Hi, I'm Antonia and I am from Germany. Lemonade is actually the first album I ever bought after having seen her Super Bowl performance and having read the praise and reviews she got for Lemonade. And I remember watching the movie for the first time and crying, especially during four

I've always known that Lemonade was more than just an album about infidelity, and I learned so much about Black history and slavery by listening to your podcast. So thank you very much. I'm truly thankful for it. Hello, my name is Anthony, and I'm from Australia, and my biggest takeaway from Lemonade is how only through self-comprehension can we actually move forward in the world and impact the world around us. and I really loved how both introspective and extrospective this album was. And thank you, Dysect, for analyzing it so beautifully. I'm Oges Baga and I'm from Rochester, Minnesota. This season of Dysect has revealed to me how trivial little issues and annoyances truly are in the grand scheme of things and how essential patience, compassion, and resilience are

to create healthy relationships. I realized that for any issue going on within a person, there's probably a larger narrative playing out. For Beyonce and Jay-Z, it was the repercussions of slavery and systemic inequality. My big takeaway is simple. Forgiveness is freedom. Hello, my name is Fabiole and I'm from Peru. This isn't of the sect has been a very enlightening journey. I've learned a lot throughout each episode by the one takeaway that will stay with me forever

is that we have to confront history to learn. Only learning, understanding, and owning history, we can eradicate harmful and toxic behavior, both in ourselves and in our society in general. From the resurrection chapter, I realize that the shadows of the past can still be felt in the present, which is why Lemonade has also inspired me to be more vocal about race issues, especially in my home country where the fight against racism is only beginning. Hello, Kohl and Titi. My name is Kim. I'm from the Mojave Desert out in California. I just wanted to say I really loved this season to dissect. It was by far my face.

favorite and I've listened to all of them. I really love the addition of T.T.T. as a co-host, she gave some really great insights. I really love the breakdown of the visual elements. It really elevated the album for me. I had always thought of it as just like Beyonce working through her like major cheating Jay-Z thing. And instead, it was just major work on black history and black culture and female empowerment. And it was very timely and very well put together. You guys are amazing. Thank you for the thorough and great analysis. I love y'all. My name is Catherine, and I'm from Cleveland. Lemonade changed my life in 2016, and in 2020, this podcast has been revelatory.

Dysect has opened my eyes to a story that is much more than one of marital infidelity. Through ingenious vision and rich imagery, Beyonce breaks the chains that have defined the Black experience in America for far too long, one of slavery, subjugation, and racism. She carries the past with her into her future, and in doing so, redefines her. womanhood, children's futures, her relationship, and the beautiful essence of being black. Hi, I am Georgian. I am Georgian. Laminate has had an immense effect on me because it made me realize importance of love as a healing power of all the negativity. And also, it made me realize the importance of black lives. As a person from outside of the U.S., race is not discussed very often.

And thanks to Laminate, I found out how vital it is for me not only to think about racial inequality. but also to act accordingly. And thanks to dissect, I was finally able to fully understand the profundity of the album. So thank you very much for that. I'm Ace from Cebu, Philippines. My biggest takeaway from season six of Dissect featuring Lemonade is how much Beyonce's art has grown from pop domination to creating cultural artifacts that go beyond music charts. The album is a masterful conglomeration of poetry, music and cinema to convey a powerful message. The master's which tackles infidelity in marriage, systemic racism, black power, among others, felt timely and relevant when it was released in 2016, but it feels even more so now. It reminds us that Beyonce

is always on time. Boudaun. My name's Emily and I'm from England. Lemonade educated me on black history that isn't even taught in America, let alone in my country, educated me on the struggles the black people still face in today's society in America. It showed me an album that on the surface is about her husband cheating on her was actually a lot, lot deeper than that. And it made me feel empowered. Even if that album wasn't targeted at me, it made me feel empowered. And that's what I think Beyonce does. That is who she is. She makes women feel empowered. Hi, this is Kate from England. My main takeaway from Lemonade is just how wise and generous Beyonce is in giving us all a blueprint for self-healing.

She shows us you need to stop and really look in the dark, murky depths where your pain and hurt lie and only through acknowledging that can you soften towards it and start healing. And that leads you to joy and love. And I know I did not have the capacity to understand that in 2016 when the album came out, but now it could not be more timely or more needed. This is Allie from Colorado Springs. The biggest takeaway from lemonade for me was Beyonce giving us vocabulary around generational curses. I spoke with a friend recently about how we are our parents and we are not our parents. We are not doomed to repeat their lives, but putting vocabulary to it is powerful in recognizing and addressing inherited curses. So seeing unhealthy patterns in my own family and like how menry women reckoning with that was only, really possible for me after I had the words for it. Hi, this is Danielle and I'm from Virginia.

Episode 9 was my favorite from season 6 because it was so important with current events of police brutality. It was so chilling to see the mothers whose sons have died in the film and then listening to the history of slavery and then how Native Americans helped the slaves escaped. It was so informative but yet so relevant in today's world. The impact of lemonade really helped. a black community and Beyonce as an activist in music. And as an African-American woman, I can definitely identify with some of the hurt that she felt.

But I appreciate Beyonce bringing the history of slavery into this album and film. I'm Shaw Michael from Maryland. First off, I want to thank you for the season. I didn't know I needed until now. My biggest takeaway of it was probably the depth of the subject matter. Like, I knew Lemonade touched on infidelity, but I had no idea was about a black woman reversing her generational curses amongst many other things. And after being enlightened on damn last season, it makes more sense why Kendrick was featured, even though Lemonade came out earlier.

Once again, thank you both. Good luck. I'll definitely be listening to both your podcast. P.S. Cole, do a seasonal oral sweatshers, some rap songs please, and that's it. Hi, Dysect. I'm Filet and I'm from QC Philippines. Lemonade outlines how infidelity and lack of communication ruin marriages. It explores the generations of trauma from racism and sexism that affect black people and all as much. of their daily life today. These two aspects of its singular brilliance are inseparable, and as a non-black POC, to appreciate this album properly is to comprehend both aspects clearly. The fact that it is also a guide to personal and social healing

with full explorations of sorrow, anger, and forgiveness adds to its international resonance. My name is Ralph, and I've been a Beyonce fan since I was 12 and a little kid in Lebanon 16 years ago. I now live in New York. I thought I knew everything about B and her work, but after listening to this season of Dysect, I realized that I knew little to nothing. Learning the details behind Lemonade was especially important to me to make more sense of what is going on now in America

and how racism has shaped today's black population, especially the students that I serve. Thank you for making me cry, cheer, scream, question, and think about my role as an educator and what I can do to help. I'm Maggie. I'm from St. Louis. This. Eliminate has taught me that everything is going to be okay when I learn to forgive others and to forgive myself in the process. I listen to Lemonade literally every single week because it just brings center and calm to my life. I learn that I have to go through these stages to understand my emotions and my relationships with other people. My name is Ashley from Raleigh, North Carolina.

My biggest takeaway from Lemonade is how Beyonce paid attention to every single detail and intertwined it into a masterful work of art that was both personal and universal. And every woman could feel the story of her loss and pain and redemption. And I went to see her alive and she did formation. And all I could think was is I can't believe Beyonce exists. I can't believe she's real. And I still feel that way today. her magnetic presence and energy is something that will never be matched again, and lemonade is the

perfect example of that. I'm Glessel, and I'm from the Philippines. Beyonce proved that despite people expecting her to release music that will chart and cater to her audience, she took a risk and put out a visual album that was well researched and thought out, which is essential with the ongoing cycle of racism that has contributed negatively to the black community and their perception of themselves. We are one step closer to reformation because of Lemonade. Hello, my name is Adesville and I am from New York. My takeaway from Lemonade is that Black Sisterhood is an intrinsic healing component to the Black community. Beyonce finds solace with

her Black sisters as she processes infidelity and infertility in her marriage. Beyonce has always been attracted to the idea of Sisterhood throughout her life, from songs like Girl by Destiny Child to finding inspiration from the movie Daughters of the Dust. Beyonce insists that black women always found a way to heal after they experienced trauma. Lemonade is the celebration of the black woman. Her pain, her iniquities, and finally, her peace. RIP, Toyin Sublo Hello, my name is Juan.

I'm from West Palm Beach, Florida. My biggest takeaway this season was realizing how monumental and intricate this album really was. I always knew, but Lemonade and Disseq Podcasts. have cemented the truth that black is beautiful, strong, and worthy. Beyonce didn't just release another album. She took her time, studied her history, confronted her pain, and came out fierce, uplifting the black community into formation. Thank you, Beyonce, and thank you Dyset podcast.

You definitely have another fan. Gian from Sacramento, California. And my takeaway from Lemonade is pain to power. Our past contains the blueprint that leads us to our healing. And once we're able to understand that, we can compensate. confidently reclaim the physical and mental artifacts of our past traumas, work to confront and break generational curses, and learn to celebrate the parts of us that society has conditioned us to hate.

Lemonade has changed my life. And lastly, Black women are simply magical. Thank you. Hey, I'm Alexa and I'm from Coffs Harbour, Australia. As a fan of Beyonce for nine years, when Lemonade dropped, I struggled to connect to the album it was exclusive to title. This season, though, of Dyserk has aided me in developing a deep appreciation for the album by connecting to Beyonce's story.

I listened to the lyrics and understood the effects of the hereditary infidelity, whilst also learning the importance of black culture. My name is Jane. I'm from Albany, New York, and watching Lemonade, the two visuals that I noted were the scene in Hold Up and the women walking into the water in love drought. I just thought they were gorgeous, and I only came to find out through listening. to dissect that Beyonce was evoking the goddess Oshun and the story of the Ebo people in love drought. And it's incredible upon listening how obvious these metaphors really are once you investigate

the source material. So through season six, I learned that there is this whole history that belongs to the black people of America that should be celebrated, but is currently rendered unknown by our white constructed education. And Lemonade is truly such a complex that this is the black struggle in America and the beautiful roots that it comes from. So thanks for a great season. My name is Megan and I live in Los Angeles. And I've been a huge fan of dissect. since season two, and I've loved Beyonce since day one. Never did I expect how much my love for both of you would grow over this last season and how timely this release would be. I've referenced these episodes in almost every single conversation I've had about racism in the last month.

Learning how slavery has impacted black love for generations, has been mind-opening, and helped me really educate others. Bravo on an amazing season that I know I'll be sharing and referencing for years to come. Hi, this is Kristen from Los Angeles. One of my biggest takeaways from this season of dissect is the power of owning your own narrative. Beyonce forgave Jay, but she did it on her own terms. She knew people were going to talk, but instead she told her own story and made them listen. She drew on forces larger than herself to find her own power and then use that power to create something larger than anyone could have imagined, something that I think should be required viewing or listening right now. Thank you, Cole and T.T.T. for this season. It couldn't

have come at a more important time. Hi, I'm Joanna from Boston, Massachusetts. My biggest takeaway from Lemonade was the idea that we don't have to inherit the curses of our ancestors. Is the oldest daughter of immigrants learning about the concept of generational trauma was such a freeing, liberating, and validating experience? It allowed me to begin to envision a future for myself and for my kids one day to live a less complicated life.

This healing is hard sometimes, but Lemonade has really shown me the beauty that can come of it. Thank you so much. for another great season and thank you TT for representing women of color and STEM. You make me so proud. Hi, this is Eliza from Ireland. In the powerful connections between Black history and Beyonce's art lies a moment which hits differently for women who have been betrayed. There is massive catharsis in Beyonce torching her husband's behavior and going so hard in don't hurt yourself. However, I found its impact is in the shameless factory resetting of her own worth, allowing her to move from a place of strength into the difficult healing phases of her relationship.

Apart from the themes of black womanhood and infidelity, Beyonce makes another personal statement about herself as a singer. Although some may say that she holds back on showcasing her vocal skill on this album, Lemonade demonstrates that Beyonce can delve into many genres of music other than R&B or trap. The country and rock songs, Daddy Lessons and Don't Hurt Yourself, further prove that Beyonce's vocal ability spans across various genres. It also creates a sense of longing, if not expectation from her fans. A rock album maybe, a country album? We won't be surprised and she definitely won't disappoint. My name is Anne Marie and I am from El Paso, Texas. Lemonade and this season of dissect has had so many meanings for me. This season of dissect could not have

been more timely and I am reminded of one thing. If black people out of their pain and hope can create movements like Black Lives Matter, then we need to listen. And if Beyonce can create an album, tell her story of pain and hope and how, in her own words, she broke her curse, then as a young woman of color from Texas, so can I. Thank you, Colin Titi. Hey, it's John from Cleveland. This season I learned how generations of racism and oppression negatively affect romance and the black family.

A black man's pride keeps him from displaying vulnerability, and his partner is forced to attempt to break down his wall of insecurity, while also healing from her own past of broken bonds of trust. I finally realized Beyonce's true strength, her ability and conscious decision to be a light of hope for her family, black women, and all fans of her art. Also, I was thrilled to witness the evolution of the show this season with the addition of TT's positive energy. Cole, I appreciate you and your team's hard work. Chris Alda from Hayward, California. Something had changed when Beyonce released lemonade.

It became apparent that this woman creates with purpose, shining a light on what it is to be black. Their stories are ones to be heard, amplified, and acknowledged by us all. I appreciate Beyoncé for sharing her art with us, to let us know that there is a lot of learning and work to be done. Beyonce's Lemonade is her true stamp in history. We must always have our eyes on everything she does from now on, because not only do we know that that shit will slap, but because there's always a deeper message. Hi, I'm Jenna, and I'm Beehive from L.A. To me, Lemonade is the greatest album of all time in this season of Dysect Proofed it beyond measure. Beyonce truly poured all her love, energy, and dedication into every single detail from the musical samples to the individuals and the visuals.

Everything has the historical significance. Lemonade's really a cultural landmark that will stand the test of time and puts B and a league of her own. We all know she could roll the charts forever as a pop vocalist, but I stand a stand the same. in her because she truly chooses to push the culture and celebrate and commemorate both the universal and her personal black experience. My name is Danielle Butler from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. My biggest takeaway from season six is that Beyonce essentially had to tear herself down just to build herself back up, not only for her marriage, but for herself.

And I think that's something we all struggle with. We want to become better people for those around us and for ourselves, and we want to be whole in who we are. But in order to do that, I think we have to take a deeper look into our past and analyze patterns that could create a better future for ourselves and for those who will experience us. These are all things I didn't think about until listening to this season of Dysect, but I'd like to think that this was a part of Beyonce's goal with Lemonade.

Hey, Cole, hey Tiri. This is Alexandra from Arecibo, Puerto Rico. And my biggest takeaway from Dysak's sixth season is this. At its core, lemonade isn't really about infidelity. It is the story of Beyonce freeing herself of societal expectations and oppressions about how a woman should act in order to be loved by a man and embracing who she truly is, a strong, independent African-American woman. It is through her liberation that she is able to heal herself, her marriage, and her community.

Hi, my name is Augustine Gonzalez-Martinth, and I'm from Tilly in South America. And my biggest takeaway from the Lemonade album is that I got to truly understand the meaning of forgiveness and the marvelous things you can do with it. But it also teaches me to love my roots and to be proud of where I come from. So I couldn't be more grateful for this album, and I'm very thankful for this season as well. So thank you very much.

You did an amazing job, and I'm looking forward so much for the next season. Bye. My name is Sophie, and I'm in Chicago. My biggest takeaway from the analysis and the album itself was the fact that some spaces are not meant to be entered alone. When thinking about the album itself, Beyonce talks about the fact that sometimes

in order to braid these generational curses, you have to go back into your past with people that have hurt you in order to move on to the future and process that trauma correctly. I'm so grateful that Titi was invited and that she signed on to come on and helps tell the story because her voice as a black one was just so essential to the storytelling and inherently much more persuasive. Hello, Colin Titi. This is Aisha Su from Istanbul, Turkey. For me with Lemonade, the genius of Beyoncé gave a new to the phrase, what's more personal is most universal. And thanks to you, I learned details about black history that I could never learn by myself as a person who was born and raised halfway around the world. It's amazing how songs like freedom resonates with a woman like me

that lives in a Muslim country at the edge of the Middle East and helps me get back up whenever I feel the burden gets heavier. Thank you for making me feel that strength even more. We hope you all enjoyed hearing those as much as we did. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts. If you didn't get a chance to submit your clip, we're going to give you your 30 seconds now. Be it a feeling, a particular theme, a memorable song or moment, wherever you are, whatever you're doing. Take this opportunity to think about your biggest takeaway from Beyonce's Lemonade. All right, thanks, everyone.

I'd like to end this season by briefly sharing my biggest takeaway from Lemonade. and that is one of supreme and ultimate respect for Beyonce and our incredible creative team for their vision that ultimately became the album and film Lemonade. Beyonce is that rare superstar that has not only survived the avalanche of extreme fame that has crushed so many, but she's found a way to thrive, to use her massive platform to teach and to inspire millions through her own honesty, vulnerability, intelligence, and creative vision. Lemonade to me is one of the great artistic achievements of the 21st century.

Beyonce has interwoven threads of history throughout Lemonade that when unraveled, connect the personal to the historical, connect America to Africa, connect contemporary racial inequities to the historical weight of slavery, connect the past to the present and the past present to the future. Not since season one of this podcast have I learned so much about an experience that not mine. And this is my favorite thing about music, why I find it so valuable, why I have dedicated the majority of my life to it. Music demands us to listen, truly listen to someone sharing their experience and perspective. And to truly listen requires the listener to enter

the conversation with empathy, the ability to set aside what you feel in an honest attempt to understand how someone else feels. Music is a great practitioner and conveyor of of this principle. Of course because inherently the act of consuming music is one of listening, but also because music makes us feel, viscerally and emotionally, perhaps more than any other art form. Music's invisible airwaves penetrate more than our ears. They stir our blood. They excite our bodies. They awaken the mysteries of our deepest emotions. They reach our very souls. And perhaps this is the greatest descriptor of music itself. It's a conversation of our amongst souls, which are themselves invisible.

And when you combine music's innate power to communicate the invisible with a historical, personal, and inspirational message like Lemonades, well, it represents the pinnacle of art, of human emotion. And when you combine this with true, concentrated, empathetic listening, that's when you understand the power of art to connect us, to transform us. Because to see and feel the world through the eyes of another will undoubtedly change how you move in the world. It will impact the decisions you make because you have a better understanding of how your decisions affect others. And when you understand that,

you ultimately come to realize what Beyonce tells us in the conclusion of Lemonade, that to live harmoniously, to progress past our personal and communal transgressions, to transcend the sins of history, our actions must be rooted in accountability, and empathy and compassion and love. In other words, we must listen. This season of Dysect would not have been possible without the help of some very talented people, so I'd like to take this opportunity

to give them the credit they deserve. First, I'd like to thank Maggie Lacey. Maggie was a silent but ever-present and essential contributor to this season, as she researched and wrote about half the episodes. You'll be able to hear from her directly in a special episode we're going to publish after this one, but I can't express how irreplaceable her insights and writing was

for making this season what it was. Thank you so much for your great work, Maggie. I'd also like to thank Michael Bundalo, who provided some original analysis that we used throughout the entire season, and who created the beautiful visual guides for each episode you can find at our website. Thank you to all the writers and scholars that we quoted throughout the season. There's too many to name here, but you can find them all listed in the visual guides on our website. Thank you to Gail Acosta, who conducted tons of preliminary research on

Lemonade and Beyonce. Thank you to Andrew Atwood, who makes all the song recreations you hear on the podcast. Thank you to Eric Bass, who assembles and edits all the audio for Dissect. And of course, thank you to Birocratic for the Killer Original Theme Music. You can hear more of his music on Spotify, including all the original themes he composed for Dysect over the years. Just search Birocratic, B-I-R-O. C-R-A-T-I-C. Thank you to Arianna, Robert, Hannah, Alex, and Julietta at Spotify, whose work behind the scenes keeps pre-and-post production on this show smooth and easy.

And last but not least, thank you to T-T-T-Shodea for co-hosting this season. Bringing on another host was a big and somewhat scary step for me, but I honestly can't imagine this season without you. Your voice, your insights, your work ethic, your bravery to try something new, was all inspiring and absolutely essential to this season. Our trip to Louisiana in preparation for lemonade was one of the most valuable and memorable experiences of my life, and I'm honored to now call you my friend.

Shout out to your husband Jimmy too, as I know his support was essential, knowing how much time and energy you had to give to this season. Finally, I'd like to thank you, the listeners. There's not a day I take for granted that I'm able to do this for a living, and that would not be possible without your passionate support of the season. podcast. So truly, thank you. All right, that's all I got, everyone. I'll talk to you guys in a few months. One will dissect another musical masterwork, because great art deserves more than a swipe.