Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away last week at the age of 87. The conversation has quickly moved to the politics around her replacement, but what kind of legacy did she leave? In the award-winning documentary RBG , filmmakers Julie Cohen and Betsy West chronicle the life of Ginsburg, from her rise to the judicial branch to becoming the 'Notorious RBG.' NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg also joins this encore conversation with Sam, Betsy, and Julie. See pcm.adswiz...
Sep 24, 2020•32 min
This school year is proving to be unlike any other. Teaching might be a nightmare in schools doing hybrid learning, a success for those doing virtual learning, or vice versa. It all depends on which school district you're in and what resources and funding you might be able to access. So what's the experience been like so far for the teachers trying to make school happen? See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast s...
Sep 22, 2020•29 min
The movie industry is hurting. Most theaters in the U.S. are still shut down, and who knows when—or if—audiences will pack into theaters again. Adam B. Vary and Angelique Jackson of Variety talk about the state of the movie industry and how it's adapted, for better or worse, in this pandemic. Also, Sam talks to actor LeVar Burton about reading, why we like being read to, what he really wanted you to learn from Reading Rainbow , and the latest season of his podcast LeVar Burton Reads . Follow us ...
Sep 18, 2020•38 min
Larry Wilmore has a resume that could rival pretty much anyone's in Hollywood. Name a show and he probably had his hands in it. He created The Bernie Mac Show , co-created Insecure , wrote for shows like In Living Color , The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and The Office , and served as the "Senior Black Correspondent" on The Daily Show . He also had his own late night show called The Nightly Show . Now, Wilmore is back in the hosting chair with a new show on the NBC streaming service Peacock. Sam and...
Sep 15, 2020•25 min
The smoke, the flames, the creepy orange and red skies. It's fire season out west and it's already one for the books. Sam talks a resident of Napa County, CA, who had to flee her home because of the fires. Then he's joined by New York Times opinion writer Farhad Manjoo , who is convinced this is the end of California as we know it. Finally, comedian and SNL writer Sam Jay talks about her new Netflix special 3 O'Clock in the Morning . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and u...
Sep 11, 2020•37 min
Poet Claudia Rankine is back with a new book called Just Us: An American Conversation . Much like her acclaimed 2014 book of poetry, Citizen: An American Lyric , her new volume offers an unflinching examination of race and racism in the United States — this time in conversations with friends and strangers. Guest host Audie Cornish talks to Rankine about what she learned about herself and others in these conversations, why she doesn't mind educating others about race, and how we move forward toge...
Sep 08, 2020•33 min
Guest host Elise Hu looks at how the pandemic has exacerbated existing problems when it comes to the care of small children. A Massachusetts childcare center owner shares her story about reopening, while a public policy professor talks about the difficult choices women often have to make between their careers and caregiving. Also, a look at how mukbang and true crime collide in the world of Stephanie Soo, a YouTube star and host of the Rotten Mango podcast . See pcm.adswizz.com for information a...
Sep 04, 2020•35 min
Sam revisits his 2017 chat with Bill Nye the Science Guy. They discuss climate change (and climate change deniers), how Nye got his start in TV, and whether fame has changed him, for better or worse. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy
Sep 01, 2020•24 min
A special bonus feed drop from the KQED podcast Truth Be Told , hosted by Tonya Mosley . A conversation about parenting during the pandemic — there's no right way to do it. Tonya and two Wise Ones, Nancy Redd, author and mother, and Wajahat Ali, New York Times contributor and father, answer questions about parenting during this tricky time. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Pri...
Aug 31, 2020•39 min
This week we're talking protests, both old and new. On Wednesday, Milwaukee Bucks players refused to play their NBA playoff game in protest of racial injustice. Other pro athletes in the NBA, WNBA and more also walked off the job. Sam talks it out with Clinton Yates , columnist for The Undefeated . Then, we take it back 50 years to the Chicano Moratorium in Los Angeles on August 29, 1970. That march and rally against the Vietnam War ended in 200 arrests, many injuries, and three deaths, includin...
Aug 28, 2020•35 min
Billy Porter is a force to be reckoned with. A Tony Award-winning Broadway performer. A fashion icon with unforgettable red carpet looks. An Emmy Award-winning actor (with another nomination under his belt this year). Currently, Porter stars in the acclaimed FX show Pose , all about New York's underground ball culture in the 80s and 90s. It's also takes place during the height of the HIV-AIDS crisis. Sam talks to Porter about the parallels between that crisis and the one we're living in today, a...
Aug 25, 2020•29 min
Everyone's talking about obstacles to voting this year, from the post office to the pandemic. Sam talks with NPR's Miles Parks about how everything's supposed to work with the election in November. Then, Sam calls up historian Martha S. Jones , author of the forthcoming book Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All . They talk about why voting looks the way it does even in a normal cycle, and what the U.S. Constitution actually says about voting. P...
Aug 21, 2020•35 min
We're in the homestretch of the 2020 presidential election campaign. Joe Biden announced Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate, Democrats have their national convention this week, Republicans next week, and each party's candidate is hoping to energize their voter base. Sam talks to The Atlantic 's McKay Coppins about Donald Trump's base and how his campaign's digital efforts have evolved since 2016. Then NPR political correspondent Asma Khalid turns the focus to Biden's eclectic coalition of vo...
Aug 18, 2020•32 min
Home sales are up, but the number of people facing evictions is also up. Sam talks to The Indicator 's Stacey Vanek Smith and Cardiff Garcia about the good and bad news of the housing market in a pandemic. Then, TikTok is massively popular around the world, but now it's under fire from the Trump Administration due to national security concerns. We hear from NPR tech reporter Bobby Allyn about the latest on the social media upstart and what a proposed ban has to do with China and user data. Follo...
Aug 14, 2020•35 min
One of the few companies doing well during this pandemic is Netflix. In the last few months, the streaming service has seen a huge uptick in new subscribers. Sam talks to Peter Kafka and Rani Molla, co-hosts of the podcast Land of the Giants , about the Netflix effect — how it got to where it is today, its win over Blockbuster, and the one TV show that launched a thousand binges (figuratively speaking). See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsor...
Aug 11, 2020•26 min
Sam revisits his chat with Regina King from 2019 after the actress' recent Emmy nomination for her performance on the HBO series Watchmen . In this encore interview, King talks about why she gravitates toward work that deals with race and policing, why she's still proud to call herself an American and why that also means demanding things to get a lot better than they are now. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podc...
Aug 07, 2020•29 min
"Karen" is not just a name. It's also a persona, an attitude, a label for a certain type of white woman determined to get what she wants—especially at the expense of Black people. Karens are part of a long lineage going back at least a couple centuries. This week we share an episode from Code Switch about the origins of "Karen" as an archetype, who her ancestors were, and why such a label even exists. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorsh...
Aug 04, 2020•25 min
A special bonus feed drop from The Los Angeles Times podcast Asian Enough : A conversation with Top Chef host, model and writer Padma Lakshmi about growing up Indian American in the San Gabriel Valley, cultural appropriation vs. appreciation in food, and her new Hulu show Taste the Nation . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy...
Aug 03, 2020•49 min
Should I wear a mask while running? How often should I wipe down my phone? Can I say hello to other people's dogs? Our listeners had questions about coronavirus, we have answers. Sam is joined by Short Wave host Maddie Sofia to dig into the science behind some of the decisions we have to make about everyday encounters in this pandemic. Then, Sam is all caught up in the buzz around Netflix's Indian Matchmaking , and he calls up journalist and former It's Been a Minute intern Hafsa Fathima to brea...
Jul 31, 2020•37 min
All relationships have a backstory, even friendships. Best friends Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman , hosts of the podcast Call Your Girlfriend , are out with a new book called Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close . In it, they write about their friendship story and they share lessons for all of us about how to keep our own friendships strong. Sam chats with them about going to friend therapy and what it's like to have a deep friendship with someone of a different race. Follow us: https://t...
Jul 28, 2020•27 min
We're in a recession, and it's hitting women especially hard. So how does it compare to the last recession, and how much of it has to do with childcare? Sam is joined by Planet Money 's Mary Childs and Stacey Vanek Smith to make sense of it all. Then Sam chats with Reverend Jes Kast , an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, about how faith and scripture provide solace in moments of uncertainty like this. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal da...
Jul 24, 2020•34 min
Sam revisits his 2019 conversation with actress and writer Michaela Coel, who is the star and creator of the new critically acclaimed show, I May Destroy You. Before that show, Coel made waves in the hit British sitcom Chewing Gum. Her work as the creator, writer, and lead actress on the show earned her a BAFTA. She tells Sam about the emotional transparency that comes from shaving her head and how she once embraced the Pentecostal faith. They also bond over their feelings about Black Mirror: Ba...
Jul 21, 2020•28 min
Colleges and universities are getting ready for a new year, but like everything else, coronavirus is complicating everything. Some are closing campus and moving online, others plan to bring students back with social distancing. Sam checks in with Tressie McMillan Cottom , associate professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and author of Lower Ed: The Troubling Rise of For-Profit Colleges in the New Economy , about the state of higher education and why not all colleges are created equal when it comes to prior...
Jul 17, 2020•35 min
The newsrooms that covered the protests for racial justice are now being forced to confront racism and inequity within their own organizations. Black journalists and other journalists of color are sharing their experiences on social media and leading a public debate over what it means to be "objective," whose stories are told, and how whiteness still dictates newsroom practices, opportunities and compensation. Sam chats about this reckoning within newsrooms with The Undefeated 's Soraya Nadia Mc...
Jul 14, 2020•43 min
Four months into the pandemic, it seems like we're no better off in dealing with the coronavirus. There are still so many questions and few definitive answers about how this all ends, and for a lot of us, that's turned into anger and frustration. Sam talks to comedian Laurie Kilmartin about how she used Twitter and her iPad to process her mother's illness and death from COVID-19. Then he chats with Houston bar owner Greg Perez about how he's trying to keep workers and customers safe while also k...
Jul 10, 2020•36 min
Last year, comedian Chelsea Handler made a documentary on Netflix called, Hello Privilege. It's Me, Chelsea , where she explored the idea of white privilege. Which happens to be a thing that a lot of people are talking about again... right now, in 2020. Sam talks to Chelsea about what she's learned since then, her latest book — Life Will Be the Death of Me...and You Too! -- and coming to terms with both her own white privilege during the protests... and herself, in therapy. See pcm.adswizz.com f...
Jul 07, 2020•25 min
It's summer without a lot of the usual summer fun because, you know, pandemic. But we've got music and TV recommendations to keep you company. Joining Sam are All Things Considered co-host Audie Cornish and Code Switch co-host Gene Demby to chat about their TV picks — Netflix's Bojack Horseman and HBO's I May Destroy You — and to play a special summer songs version of Who Said That. Then, Sam chats with gospel musician, songwriter and author Kirk Franklin about how his music and faith are a balm...
Jul 03, 2020•37 min
Ever wonder what it would be like to take hundreds of photos of yourself for a giant coffee table book ... wearing only a bikini? Comedian Nicole Byer has. And did, for her new book: #VeryFat #VeryBrave: The Fat Girl's Guide to Being #Brave and Not a Dejected, Melancholy, Down-in-the-Dumps Weeping Fat Girl in a Bikini. Sam talks to the "Nailed It" Netflix host about what it was like to make the book, what it taught her about her body, and why the store Lane Bryant touches a nerve. See pcm.adswiz...
Jun 30, 2020•25 min
How much has Big Tech changed since the 2016 election? Sam is joined by Washington Post tech reporters Elizabeth Dwoskin and Tony Romm . They chat about Facebook and Twitter and how their platforms and views on free speech have evolved since the last presidential election. Sam also chats with Washington Post columnist and satirist Alexandra Petri about her book of essays Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why and how she uses humor to uncover bigger truths. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about ou...
Jun 26, 2020•35 min
Actress Tracee Ellis Ross has been acting for years — from the early 2000s sitcom 'Girlfriends' to her Golden Globe winning role on ABC's 'Black-ish.' She talks to Sam about pushing back against Black stereotypes on and off-screen, pursuing success at any age, finding Black joy during a tumultuous time, and sharing her singing work in her latest film 'The High Note' with her mother, music legend Diana Ross. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for spo...
Jun 23, 2020•29 min
