Early voting for the Nov 5 election began on Oct 18, so Hy and Christopher start the show with the message Go Vote! They interview Connie Payton, whose mother memorized and flawlessly recited the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution to earn her right to vote before the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1964, which eliminated barriers preventing millions of non-white Americans from voting. In light of the Nov. 5 election, Connie and her mother’s great grandchild, student filmmaker Daryanna Barrett, are sharing a powerful personal story in a four-minute short film, "Make Your Vote Count," now available for free and sharing on YouTube.

Then we turn to culture in this “First City of Opera” with our main guest, Raehann Bryce-Davis. The Award-winning mezzo-soprano comes to New Orleans on Oct 22 and teaches the first-ever opera masterclass of students invited from all local universities and HBCUs at Gallier Hall. An evening concert will follow at 2504 Prytania St. in the garden of Opera Guild Home at 5:30 PM—which is open to the public.

She will return to New Orleans on on November 8 and 10 in her role debut as the famed Biblical seductress in Samson and Delilah at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre of the Performing Arts. NOOA's upcoming performance of Samson and Delilah celebrates the North American premiere of the Camille Saint-Saëns work in New Orleans just over 130 years ago.

Bryce-Davis shares her expertise and perspectives as one of the world's leading African-American mezzo-sopranos with Hy and Christopher.  She tells her story of how a girl with Jamacian roots who grew up in Mexico became one of the leading lights of opera. On Tuesday, October 22, 2024 to teach some of the most gifted vocal students from several local universities including Xavier, Dillard, Southeastern, UNO, Loyola, and Tulane.  Afterwards her private garden concert for these students as well as patrons of the New Orleans Opera Association at 2504 Prytania St. is also open to the public.  A limited number of tickets remain available at neworleansopera.org or by calling the box office at (504) 529-3000.

Here are the two excerpts which Hy and Christopher play on the show: a classical piece Azucena's aria, Condotta ell'era in ceppi from Verdi's lI Trovatore with pianist Kamal Khan at the National Opera Center, and a modern English language piece “The Beauty in my Blackness”.