Diva/Mensch pair for Oct 22, 2025

The 2021 Grammy for Best Music Film went to Questlove's documentary Summer of Soul. Did you see it? It was extraordinary. He put together footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival and paired it with people talking about the event and the performers themselves thinking back on it.

Diva: the performers

Mensch: the film itself

The performers are all superdivas: Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Mahalia Freaking Jackson, it goes on and on. Rising diva energy, endless diva fabulousness. But Questlove takes a total mensch take on the event - - he came at it from a position of gratitude, not only for the artists but for the footage of the event.

Run, don't walk!