The state of Fox News today is thanks to Rupert Murdoch. A look inside the Murdoch media empire shows how media outlets can turn into right-wing political influence machines. Famed Fox News host Tucker Carlson got fired. The story is still unfolding, but initial reports claim that the decision came straight from media tycoon Rupert Murdoch after vulgar language and messages were attributed to Carlson. In a recent episode, our colleagues at On The Media took a moment to consider Murdoch’s history...
Apr 27, 2023•17 min•Ep. 273
A history of anti-Black fear has left everyone unsafe in a nation full of anxious gun owners. There are more guns than there are people in the U.S., and a lot of people seem to be afraid. According to historian and Emory University African American studies professor Carol Anderson , our nation’s history with guns is directly related to its legacy of anti-Black racism. She explains this history in her 2021 book, “The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America.” Anderson joins host Kai Wri...
Apr 24, 2023•50 min•Ep. 272
Filmmaker Lisa Cortés tells the inspiring and painful story of the Black, queer inventor of rock and roll–Little Richard. Richard Wayne Penniman launched rock and roll into pop culture and wrote a new set of rules for what it meant to be free as an American, but his own freedom is a much more complicated story. Filmmaker Lisa Cortés set out to capture his t ale in her new documentary, Little Richard: I Am Everything. She joins host Kai Wright to discuss the inspiration behind the film and how th...
Apr 20, 2023•19 min•Ep. 271
In a world that feels divided, two storytellers invite people to share what shapes their politics through poetry, using the prompt “Where I’m From.” Host Kai Wright –inspired by a listener voicemail–considers poetry as a potential vehicle for facilitating challenging conversations. He’s joined by poet and filmmaker Bob Holman , owner of the Bowery Poetry Club and original slam master of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and Steve Zeitlin , author of “The Poetry of Everyday Life: Storytelling and the Art...
Apr 17, 2023•32 min•Ep. 270
On the 55th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, one journalist examines the 1968 Holy Week which he calls one of the most consequential weeks in U.S. history. Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was buried on April 9, during what's commonly called Holy Week. In the runup to Easter Sunday and nothing about life in America would be the same after that week. Vann R. Newkirk II is a writer for The Atlantic and host of the new podcast “Ho...
Apr 13, 2023•19 min•Ep. 269
Brandon Johnson's mayoral election could change the national conversation about crime, schools -- and an aging Black establishment in big city politics. Chicago’s recent mayoral election saw two Democratic candidates–Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas–fight for their very different visions of how the windy city should be run. The race centered debates on crime and schools, issues with inevitable implications on race and class. Chicago-native Natalie Moore , WBEZ’s reporter for race, class and commu...
Apr 10, 2023•32 min•Ep. 268
A recent mass shooting at a school in Nashville added to the toll of death and injuries from the nation’s gun violence crisis. A reporter wonders if we’re grieving properly – or at all. Two mothers lost their daughters to gun violence but received disparate levels of attention. Now, they’re using their stories – and their grief – to inspire others. WNYC correspondent Tracie Hunte introduces host Kai Wright to Nelba Márquez-Greene and Celeste Fulcher , whose stories of loss teach us about the exa...
Apr 06, 2023•19 min•Ep. 267
In Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, one writer sees a model for amassing obscene wealth, pioneered in 19th century California, finally nearing its limits. Silicon Valley is notorious in the global economy and the American psyche. According to author Malcolm Harris , the Bay Area tech hub and California at large are a laboratory for the worst consequences of capitalism–centuries in the making. Harris unpacks this theory in his book “Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World.” H...
Apr 03, 2023•33 min•Ep. 266
White supremacist myths turn defeated leaders into heroic victors. Are Donald Trump and the MAGA movement the next Lost cause? Donald Trump is the lead contender for the Republican nomination for President once again. And with pending indictment looming in the headlines, the opportunity arises for the former president to yet again, control the narrative of his defeat. If we turn to history, we’ll see that this story isn’t unfamiliar. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Dr. David Blight , author of ...
Mar 30, 2023•29 min•Ep. 265
Ramadan Mubarak! We check in with people of the Muslim community, their intentions, traditions and plans for making the most of this holy month. Ramadan has begun, which means that close to two billion people worldwide will be abstaining from food and water from sunrise to sunset. But Ramadan is about much more than fasting. It is one of the most sacred periods for Muslims. The vastly diverse global community of Muslims spends the month of Ramadan exploring the deeper and personal meaning of the...
Mar 27, 2023•49 min•Ep. 264
Some believe that the religious right’s roots begin with Roe v. Wade . But there was an earlier court decision about the rights of segregated schools that first mobilized them. The recent surge in anti-trans legislation nationwide sparked a conversation on our show, about how the religious right has worked to deny the rights and existence of LGBT people for decades. This movement dates back to the early 1970s; to trace its history, producer Jessica Miller visits Mississippi and follows the bitte...
Mar 23, 2023•23 min•Ep. 263
State lawmakers across the country are introducing new waves of legislation targeting the transgender community. What’s behind this movement? To answer this question, we first turn to history. Host Kai Wright speaks with Imara Jones , founder of TransLash Media and host of the podcast The Anti-Trans Hate Machine: A Plot Against Equality . Jones shares the national picture of this surge in anti-trans legislation and centers this political moment in religious history. Then, Henry Seaton , the tran...
Mar 20, 2023•49 min•Ep. 262
Why do millions of people from around the world flock to Philadelphia, PA, to visit a statue….of a fictional character? We ask Paul Farber, host of the WHYY podcast The Statue . Many who have been to Philadelphia have visited the iconic plaza outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art that houses the Rocky statue. But what does a statue celebrating a fictional boxer tell us about how and why we create monuments? Paul Farber is a Philly native, director of The Monument Lab, and host of the podcast Th...
Mar 16, 2023•19 min•Ep. 261
Artist Michelle Browder lives in a city that is increasingly being altered by monumental works…including one she created herself. More than 30 years ago, as an 18-year-old art student in Atlanta, Michelle Browder came across a work of art that haunted her. The picture was meant as a tribute to Dr. J. Marion Sims, a 19th century doctor long known as the 'Father of Gynecology.’ His discoveries, only made possible by his experimentation on enslaved women, endowed his legacy in U.S. history, yet era...
Mar 13, 2023•32 min•Ep. 260
Our national story comprises all of us. We hear stories from listeners and The HistoryMakers founder Julieanna Richardson that capture the living history that often goes unmentioned. How can we craft a new version of our national history that includes people who have been written out of it? Julieanna Richardson is someone who is also asking this question. She’s doing the work through The HistoryMakers , a digital archive she founded that captures the oral histories of more than 3,400 African Ame...
Mar 09, 2023•25 min•Ep. 259
We continue our Black History Is Now series with Gina Prince-Bythewood , director of the hit films “The Woman King” and “Love & Basketball,” among others that center Black voices. “The Woman King” has received widespread acclaim and has inspired representation for women on the big screen. For Gina Prince-Bythewood , the film’s director, this movie is the latest in what has been a long career of promoting representation and excellent cinema. She joins host Kai Wright to talk about her experience ...
Mar 06, 2023•25 min•Ep. 258
Terrance McKnight , evening host on WQXR, unearths the hidden voices that shape our musical tradition s in the new podcast "Every Voice with Terrance McKnight.” McKnight has spent decades interrogating the classical world, raising questions about race relations in the genre and therefore introducing his listeners to often overlooked or forgotten music and voices. Kai Wright joins McKnight live from The Greene Space stage to celebrate the launch of McKnight’s new WQXR podcast “Every Voice.” We’re...
Mar 02, 2023•36 min•Ep. 257
We mark the end of Black History Month with a conversation about the people who are too often left out when we celebrate the past. What do we learn when we study the history of those considered wayward and existing outside of the norms of the day? Cultural historian and MacArthur fellow Saidiya Hartman introduces host Kai Wright to the young women whose radical lives were obscured by respectability politics. Hartman is the author of "Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Ri...
Feb 27, 2023•51 min•Ep. 256
Continuing our Black History Month series, ballet sensation Misty Copeland shares her journey to believing she was special. As the first African American woman to be a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater in 2015, Misty Copeland made history. Now, she continues to shape the future by inspiring young dancers and sharing not just her story, but also her inspiration in her memoir “The Wind at My Back: Resilience, Grace, and Other Gifts from My Mentor, Raven Wilkinson.” Copeland joins hos...
Feb 23, 2023•23 min•Ep. 255
Black studies is not about inclusion. It’s about disruption – which is why some fear it. Black studies is under partisan attack, not only in Florida but around the country. With the effort to eliminate the field of study comes the erasure of scholarship and activism. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor , African American studies professor at Northwestern University and author of the book “Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership,” has faced this firsthand. Taylo...
Feb 21, 2023•32 min•Ep. 254
Down in the Mississippi Delta, the Lester Family made a space for themselves and claimed their land–and they didn’t need “40 Acres and a mule” to do it. In February 2023, Pearline Lester passed away peacefully. We’re revisiting this story about her family’s legacy in her honor. Her husband, Elbert Lester has lived his full life in Quitman County, Mississippi, on land their family owns. That’s exceptional for Black people in this area today, but at one time, Black farmers owned the majority of th...
Feb 16, 2023•43 min•Ep. 253
Boy meets girl, boy’s an immigrant, they go on a first date. The date does not go well. 17 years later, the boy discovers that being an immigrant played a role, on both sides. What happened? Senior Digital Producer Kousha Navidar guest hosts a conversation about coming of age as an immigrant in the U.S. He shares the story of his failed first date, a rare second chance and what the experience revealed about what it means to be an immigrant. Then, Sabaa Tahir , author of the National Book Award-w...
Feb 13, 2023•49 min•Ep. 252
From the “Southern Strategy” to the civil rights movement, we’re surfacing what is true about our nation’s past, and what is propaganda masquerading as history. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has made headlines again after striking down the College Board’s Advance Placement course on African American Studies in the state. Simultaneously, the College Board was making changes to the curriculum that some critics claim, omits key details from the history. Schools are common sites of cultural provocat...
Feb 09, 2023•24 min•Ep. 251
In the spirit of the Grammys, Emil Wilbekin, a founding editor of VIBE, offers a first-person history of Black popular music, from Soul Train to Beyoncé. On Notes from America we focus on Black history regularly, but to celebrate this year’s Black History Month, we’re thinking about it in the present tense. In our series Black History Is Now, we’ll bring you conversations with people who consider their work to be a continuum of Black history, all month. Emil Wilbekin, culture journalist and a fo...
Feb 06, 2023•27 min•Ep. 250
When it comes to police reform, a retired NYPD detective argues that policing as a profession must evolve or go away completely. The problem of police violence, and the excessive use of force in Black and Brown communities in particular, has spanned centuries and retired NYPD detective Marq Claxton says that the force’s stubborn, insular culture was built to last. Claxton, co-founder of the organization 100 Blacks In Law Enforcement Who Care and member of the Black Law Enforcement Alliance, join...
Feb 02, 2023•18 min•Ep. 249
The release of brutal footage of the killing of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols by police officers in Memphis furthers an all-too-familiar conversation about accountability and police violence. The Black community in Memphis and nationwide is processing the details of Tyre Nichols’ killing at the hands of law enforcement - from the race of the police officers to the footage of the beating and why this is a persistent problem in America. To help unpack the story, host Kai Wright speaks with Karanja Ajan...
Jan 30, 2023•32 min•Ep. 248
A mass shooting in Monterey Park, California – on the eve of Lunar New Year – sent shockwaves through the predominantly Asian American ethnoburb and the Asian American community nationwide. The toll of mass shootings this year in the U.S. is already in the dozens in just the first month of 2023. In Monterey Park, California, a majority Asian American community shaken by loss of lives at the hands of an armed gunman, emotions are high given the circumstances. The victims were at a celebration for...
Jan 26, 2023•19 min•Ep. 247
Estrangement isn’t linear. For those who have severed ties or been cut off, it can be necessary, empowering, devastating and confounding—all at once. A recent series from WNYC’s Death, Sex & Money podcast explores the complexities of estrangement, which they define as an experience of feeling cut off from a relationship or a community that once felt like home. Death, Sex & Money host Anna Sale teams up with Kai Wright to expand on the topic in a listener-driven episode. Together with Rebecca Mar...
Jan 23, 2023•47 min•Ep. 246
What made Louis Armstrong’s music so groundbreaking? And after he broke that ground, why were later generations of Black people reluctant to embrace him? From his renditions of “On The Sunny Side Of The Street” to “What A Wonderful World,” trumpeter and vocalist Louis Armstrong is cemented in history as a jazz icon. But for many Black people – especially those in the mid-twentieth century – his presentation was degrading and received as minstrelsy for white audiences. Filmmaker Sacha Jenkins tra...
Jan 19, 2023•19 min•Ep. 245
How does Martin Luther King Jr.’s generation of young, gifted, and Black people inspire today’s changemakers and their ideas for how to achieve racial justice? The Apollo has a decades-long tradition of serving as a convener for local community residents as well as people from across New York City and the world. That tradition continues as The Apollo partners with WNYC for the annual celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his enduring legacy on the culture. The 17th annual Apollo Upt...
Jan 16, 2023•58 min•Ep. 244
