Nell Irvin Painter is a leading historian of the United States. She is the Edwards Professor of American History Emerita at Princeton University. She was Director of Princeton’s Program in African-American Studies from 1997 to 2000. In addition to her doctorate in history from Harvard University, she has received honorary doctorates from Wesleyan, Dartmouth, SUNY-New […]
Apr 23, 2025•51 min
Dr. Michael Simanga grew up in Detroit and moved to Atlanta where he has lived and worked for 40 years. He is an Africana Studies scholar/educator and also a multi-disciplined artist who has written, produced and directed more than 200 artistic projects including music, theatre, film, festivals and exhibitions. He is married and the father […]
Apr 14, 2025•43 min
Peniel sits down with Laurence Ralph to discuss his latest book, “Sito: An American Teenager and the City that Failed Him.” Laurence Ralph is a Professor of Anthropology at Princeton University. He earned both a Ph.D. and also a Master of Arts degree in Anthropology from the University of Chicago, and a Bachelor of Science […]
Mar 19, 2025•43 min
Darrick Hamilton is a university professor, the Henry Cohen Professor of Economics and Urban Policy, and the founding director of the Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy at The New School. Considered one of the nation’s foremost scholars, economists and public intellectuals, Hamilton’s accomplishments include recently being profiled in the New York Times, Mother Jones magazine […]
Mar 07, 2025•44 min
P. Gabrielle Foreman, PhD, is an award-winning professor of English, African American Studies, and History. A leader in the field of Black digital and public history, Dr. Foreman has been recognized for co-creating projects that build community and institutions while addressing pipeline and equity issues. As a teacher, scholar, and mentor, Dr. Foreman is committed […]
Mar 28, 2024•44 min
Dr. Garcia-Rios was born and raised in Durango, México, but considers El Paso, Texas, his second home. His research investigates the formation and transformation of Latino identities as well as the political implications of these transformations. He also examines voter turnout, political participation and public opinion, especially among Latino immigrants. Dr. Garcia-Rios’s other academic interests […]
Oct 12, 2023•42 min
Michael Eric Dyson is a man of many talents. As a professor, he has taught at some of the most prestigious universities in the nation, including Princeton, Brown, and Georgetown. He is currently a Distinguished University Professor at Vanderbilt University, where he holds positions in both the College of Arts & Science and The Divinity […]
Mar 02, 20230
Julia Sweig is an award-winning author of books on Cuba, Latin America, and American foreign policy. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Washington Post, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, Foreign Affairs, the Nation, the National Interest, and in Brazil’s Folha de São Paulo, among other outlets. Her book Inside […]
Dec 15, 20220
Cass R. Sunstein is currently the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard. From 2009 to 2012, he was Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. He is the founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School. Mr. Sunstein has testified before congressional committees […]
Oct 25, 20220
A prolific and energizing speaker on a range of diversity, equity, and inclusion topics, Shaun Harper has delivered hundreds of keynote addresses around the world, to audiences comprised of thousands. He also is founder and executive director of the USC Race and Equity Center. Dr. Harper has published 12 books, and is author of more […]
Sep 26, 20220
Danté Stewart is a minister, essayist, and cultural critic. He is author of Shoutin’ In The Fire: An American Epistle. Named by Religion News Service as one of “Ten Up-And-Coming Faith Influencers”, his work has appeared on CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, ESPN’s The Undefeated, Sojourners, and more. He received his B.A. […]
Jun 21, 20220
Thomas A. Guglielmo is Associate Professor of American Studies at George Washington University. He has a PhD in History from the University of Michigan. His first book, White on Arrival: Italians, Race, Color, and Power in Chicago (Oxford, 2003), won the Organization of American Historians’ Frederick Jackson Turner Award and the Society of American Historians’ […]
Jun 16, 20220
Estevan Daniel Delgado (he/him) is the Director for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. Estevan has formal project management experience running large-scale government grants and program management experience fundraising and designing trust-based grant making opportunities and events for the Hispanic Impact Fund […]
Apr 07, 20220
Rodell Razor has over 10 years of experience in launching and coaching small and mid sized businesses. He has developed valuable skills in business strategy, operations, sales, leadership, and human resources through the businesses he launched as well as through corporate roles held at various firms. In addition to being CEO and Founder of X-Factor […]
Mar 15, 20220
Clint Smith is a staff writer at The Atlantic. He is the author of the narrative nonfiction book, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America, which was a #1 New York Times Bestseller and was longlisted for the National Book Award. He is also the author of the […]
Nov 17, 20210
Adam Serwer is an American journalist and author. He is a staff writer at The Atlantic where his work focuses on politics, race, and justice. He previously worked at Buzzfeed News, The American Prospect, and Mother Jones. Serwer has received awards from the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), The Root, and the Society of […]
Jul 13, 20210
Elise Hu is a host-at-large based at NPR West in Culver City, Calif. Previously, she explored the future with her video series, Future You with Elise Hu, and served as the founding bureau chief and International Correspondent for NPR’s Seoul office. She was based in Seoul for nearly four years, responsible for the network’s coverage […]
Jun 15, 20210
Vincent Brown is Charles Warren Professor of American History and Professor of African and African American Studies. He directs the History Design Studio and teaches courses in Atlantic history, African diaspora studies, and the history of slavery in the Americas. Brown is the author of The Reaper’s Garden: Death and Power in the World of Atlantic […]
Jun 08, 20210
Peter Beinart teaches national reporting and opinion writing at the Newmark J-School and political science at the CUNY Graduate Center. He is editor-at-large for Jewish Currents, a CNN political commentator, and a fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a nonfiction author and former Rhodes Scholar. His first book, “The Good […]
Jun 02, 20210
Cass R. Sunstein is currently the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard. He is the founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School. In 2018, he received the Holberg Prize from the government of Norway, sometimes described as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for law and […]
May 11, 20210
Michael Eric Dyson is a renowned scholar, ordained Baptist minister, and public intellectual born in Detroit, Michigan. His innovative scholarship, combining cultural criticism and biography, focuses on race, religion, popular culture, and contemporary issues in the African American community. Dyson’s most recent book is April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Death and How It […]
Apr 23, 20210
Brett Hurt is the CEO and co-founder of data. world, a Public Benefit Corporation (and Certified B Corporation) focused on building the modern catalog for data and analysis as well as the world’s largest collaborative public data catalog.
Feb 09, 20210
William Abranowicz has been a photographer for more than 40 years. His work is found in collections throughout the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Portrait Gallery in London, Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, and The Smithsonian Institute. His work has appeared in nearly every major publication in the United States, Europe, and […]
Feb 02, 20210
Charles L. Chavis, Jr. is Assistant Professor of Conflict Analysis and Resolution and History and Director of the John Mitchell, Jr. Program for History, Justice, and Race, at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University. Before joining the S-CAR, he served as the Museum Coordinator for the Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights […]
Jan 19, 20210
An internationally known cultural critic, journalist, activist, and thought leader in the area of hip-hop, youth culture, and Black political engagement, Bakari Kitwana is the Executive Director of Rap Sessions, which for the last fourteen years has conducted over 150 town hall meetings around the nation on difficult dialogues facing the hip-hop and millennial generations. […]
Jan 12, 20210
Dr. Don Carleton is the founding director of The University of Texas at Austin’s Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, which was organized in 1991. Prior to the creation of the Briscoe Center, he served from October 1975 through November 1979 as founding director of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center (HMRC), an urban history archives […]
Dec 15, 20200
Sudhir Hazareesingh FBA (18 October 1961) is a British-Mauritian historian. He has been a fellow and Tutor in Politics at Balliol College, Oxford since 1990. Most of his work relates to modern political history from 1850; including the history of contemporary France as well as Napoleon, the Republic and Charles de Gaulle. Hazareesingh is the […]
Dec 08, 20200
Ken Burns calls Jonathan Eig a “master storyteller.” Joyce Carol Oates calls his book, Ali: A Life, “an epic of a biography.” Eig is the author of five books, three of them New York Times best sellers. He was born in Brooklyn and graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. A former staff writer for […]
Nov 24, 20200
Dr. Maurice Hobson is an Associate Professor of African American Studies and Historian at Georgia State University. He earned the Ph.D. degree in History, focusing in African American History and 20th Century U.S. History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests are grounded in the fields of African American history, 20th Century […]
Nov 17, 20200
Lisa B. Thompson is professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of three books, Beyond The Black Lady: Sexuality and the New African American Middle Class(University of Illinois Press, 2009), Single Black Female (Samuel French Inc., 2012), and Underground, Monroe, and The Mamalogues: Three […]
Nov 11, 20200