As the two-year anniversary of the pandemic looms, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Dr. Uché Blackstock to discuss all things COVID-19—from why “Omicron is a gift” (she’ll explain) to the “pandemic privilege” that perpetuates the risks Black and brown communities face. Plus, Brittany takes on this week's Un-Trending news…starting with the real history of Black History Month. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-polic...
Feb 03, 2022•38 min•Ep. 48
What does the Great Resignation mean for women of color? Elaine Welteroth—the best-selling author and former Teen Vogue editor who’s built a career out of charting her own path—has a lot of thoughts. She sits down with host Brittany Packnett Cunningham to talk about why we’re leaving jobs (or being pushed out of them), and how “times of destruction are opportunities to reinvent.” Plus, she shares wisdom from legendary editor Harriette Cole, and remembers another Ebony alum: the late, great André...
Jan 27, 2022•44 min•Ep. 47
Why doesn’t the US have universal health care, paid leave, or plenty of seemingly basic public services many other countries do? Heather McGhee has an answer: it’s racism, and it hurts all of us. The author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, McGhee sits down with host Brittany Packnett Cunningham to explain her research, the “hypnotic racial story” fueling American injustice, and how we can do better. Plus, Brittany takes on this week’s UnTrending news....
Jan 20, 2022•48 min•Ep. 46
This week, President Biden and Vice President Harris traveled to Georgia to talk about voting rights—but LaTosha Brown was not celebrating. As co-founder of the Atlanta-based Black Voters Matter Fund, Brown explains to host Brittany Packnett Cunningham why she and other organizers sat out the event, arguing that these dangerous times demand bolder action from the administration. Plus, Brittany brings you your UNtrending News—including the coin that has the internet dragging the U.S. Mint. To lea...
Jan 13, 2022•36 min•Ep. 45
It’s been one year since the invasion of the U.S. Capitol—so how are we doing at holding insurrectionists accountable? Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham answers that question, revisiting archival interviews with Representatives Cori Bush and Ayanna Pressley, who lived through the riots, and going deep into the next coup at hand. Plus, a January 6-themed edition of your UnTrending News. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Lea...
Jan 06, 2022•26 min•Ep. 44
Back in May, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sat down with New York Times Magazine reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones to talk about how The 1619 Project—which Hannah-Jones created—has both changed this country’s understanding of slavery, and withstood a brutal, ongoing assault from the right. Since then, The 1619 Project has been banned explicitly in some states, and this conversation, about the truth of our past and our present, feels even more relevant. Originally aired May 13, 2021. UNDISTRACTED ...
Dec 16, 2021•30 min•Ep. 43
As SCOTUS weighs overturning the legal right to abortion, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down for a moving conversation on what’s most important: the people behind the politics. Her guests are two leaders separated by a generation but determined to put the emphasis on the humanity of people who seek abortions: legendary activist Gloria Steinem and the “Beyoncé of Abortion storytelling” Renee Bracey Sherman. They get into everything from their own personal stories to why the movement has ...
Dec 09, 2021•41 min•Ep. 42
UNDISTRACTED IS BACK! And so are abortion bans, the white women’s vote, and a whole Greek alphabet of viruses. Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham knew exactly who she wanted to unpack it all with: Dr. Brittney Cooper, professor and truth-teller. Together they get into why white women keep upholding white patriarchy (hint: it’s about motherhood), the “nightmarish” rollbacks to all of our rights, and how Dr. Cooper defies respectability politics on a daily basis. Plus, Brittany brings you the lates...
Dec 02, 2021•38 min•Ep. 41
You heard it here first: UNDISTRACTED is back for Season Two on December 2nd. Here’s a sneak peek at what host Brittany Packnett Cunningham has up her sleeve—as she and her newsmaking, rule-breaking guests get ready to delve into everything that’s happening right now, from abortion access to supremacist juries to what each of us can do to make change. Listen in, and let us know @themeteor who you want to hear from next! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://w...
Nov 24, 2021•2 min
Special for UNDISTRACTED listeners…it’s a sneak peek of the new podcast “Because of Anita”—a four-part series about the legacy of Anita Hill’s testimony in the Justice Clarence Thomas hearings exactly 30 years ago this fall. It’s about truth, gender, race, and power, with new insights and on-the-ground stories from guests like Tarana Burke, Kerry Washington and Professor Hill herself, in her first-ever public conversation with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who testified 27 years after her. From The...
Sep 24, 2021•6 min•Ep. 42
Forty episodes, baby! With our first season under our belt and a mini-hiatus ahead of us, the UNDISTRACTED team is looking back on some highlights from Season One. Featuring Nikole Hannah-Jones, Rep. Cori Bush and more. See you in the fall! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices...
Aug 19, 2021•7 min•Ep. 41
Season finale! Fifteen years ago, Tarana Burke started using two simple words to empower young Black and brown girls who had experienced sexual violence. Today, MeToo has exploded into a global movement that is both exactly what its founder imagined—and also, as she tells host Brittany Packnett Cunningham, often misunderstood. Now, with her debut memoir “Unbound” about to hit shelves, Burke sits down for an intimate, feature-length interview about the origins of the movement—and her own personal...
Aug 12, 2021•58 min•Ep. 40
As we head into the last stretch of summer, Brittany catches up with the guru of feeling good, writer adrienne maree brown. Together they get into how the philosophy of Pleasure Activism shaped adrienne’s pandemic experience—and why her new book Holding Change has the conflict-resolution skills we all need right now. It’s a spirit-soothing episode about holding each other in hard times. Plus, Brittany brings you the latest Un trending news. To learn more about listener data and our privacy pract...
Aug 05, 2021•40 min•Ep. 39
Fresh on the heels of Simone Biles’ decision to put her mental health over Olympic gold, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with sportscaster Jemele Hill to ask a key question: Can the Olympics be saved? And should they be? Together they get into everything from harsh penalties handed to Black women athletes to the absence of child care to the reasons the Olympics trails the rest of the sports world on equity issues. Plus, Brittany reflects on good strategies to get more people vaccinat...
Jul 29, 2021•41 min•Ep. 38
On Tuesday, Jeff Bezos became the latest contestant in the “billionaire space race,” prompting a million memes—and serious questions about how exactly this makes life better for those of us here on earth. Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein has thoughts on that—she’s a physicist, Black feminist theorist, and cosmos expert, and she sits down with host Brittany Packnett Cunningham to talk about patriarchy in the lab, and how we should be thinking about space. (She also explains dark matter, in case you’v...
Jul 23, 2021•38 min•Ep. 37
Mass graves found on the sites of former residential schools in Canada. Disturbingly high rates of murder and disappearance for Indigenous women across North America. These headlines have woken many in the U.S. up to the realities Native communities face—but award-winning Cree journalist Connie Walker (host of the podcast Stolen ) has spent decades shedding light on these issues. In this episode, she sits down with Brittany Packnett Cunningham to unpack these crimes, their solutions, and what th...
Jul 15, 2021•40 min•Ep. 36
In recent months, Republican lawmakers in close to a dozen states have been trying to stop schools from teaching Critical Race Theory—or really any examination of America’s history of oppression. So what is CRT, why are legislators obsessed with it, and how worried should we all be about these attacks on teachers? Law professor Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw has the answers—because she helped develop Critical Race Theory to begin with. Listen as host Brittany Packnett Cunningham sits down with Crenshaw (...
Jul 01, 2021•37 min•Ep. 35
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has been speaking up for sexual assault survivors in the military for the better part of a decade. The military currently “addresses” (or fails to address) thousands of assault claims a year against its personnel keeping the cases outside of criminal courts. But now, the legislation Gillibrand is championing may finally be at a tipping point—with unprecedented bipartisan support from her colleagues. She sat down with host Brittany Packnett Cunningham to explain wh...
Jun 24, 2021•30 min•Ep. 34
This week, Congress voted to designate Juneteenth a federal holiday—something Opal Lee has spent years trying to make happen. The 94-year-old Texas-raised activist and author—known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth”— even walked from Fort Worth to Washington D.C. to raise awareness about the holiday. And now—156 years after slavery was ended in Texas—her dream of “Juneteenth National Indepedence Day” is coming true. Brittany talks to Miss Opal about her tireless quest, and brings us some summer ...
Jun 17, 2021•31 min•Ep. 33
2021 has already been declared the worst year in U.S. history for legislative attacks against the LGBTQ community...and we’re not even halfway through! Against that backdrop, ACLU lawyer Chase Strangio—named one of Time ’s “most influential people in the world” in 2020—sits down to talk to host Brittany Packnett Cunningham about why the GOP is obsessed with anti-trans legislation, and what we can do in response. Plus, Brittany reflects on the lessons of FX’s Pose and brings us the Un trending Ne...
Jun 10, 2021•36 min•Ep. 32
After last month’s devastating violence in Palestine and Israel, global public opinion began to shift in support of the Palestinian people. That’s long-overdue, says Amani, the Palestinian-American activist and founder of the online platform Muslim Girl. She tells host Brittany Packnett Cunningham exactly why—and what social media and feminism have to do with it. Plus, Brittany reflects on the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre and brings us the latest Un trending News, featuring Naomi...
Jun 03, 2021•32 min•Ep. 31
In a week that marks one year since George Floyd's death, there’s no better time to talk about cultivating the world we deserve. Queen Sugar author Natalie Baszile believes that true Black freedom is tied to land ownership, food sovereignty, and a renewed dedication to the soil. She talks to Brittany about her new anthology that’s been making waves, We Are Each Other’s Harvest, and how a new generation of young, Black farmers are returning to the land and building upon the legacy of their ancest...
May 27, 2021•36 min•Ep. 30
Feminism is not just about changing the ways we raise girls—in the words of host Brittany Packnett Cunningham, “men need to be freed too, y’all!” And Travon Free, the filmmaker who just won an Oscar for his short film, “Two Distant Strangers,” has a lot to say about that. He and Brittany sit down to talk about the prison of masculinity, and what happens when men (especially Black men) dare to question old norms. Plus, Brittany reflects on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and brings us the latest...
May 20, 2021•36 min•Ep. 29
New York Times Magazine reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones is the creator of The 1619 Project, a multimedia effort about the legacy of slavery, and how it still informs American life. It won her a Pulitzer Prize, much praise—and relentless ire from the right, including an ongoing assault from Mitch McConnell, who wants it banned from school curriculums. In today’s episode, Hannah-Jones sets the record straight about the Project, and why Black Americans should feel proud of building this country. Plus,...
May 13, 2021•34 min•Ep. 28
In the year of our lord 2021, we need all the faith we can get—so it felt like the perfect time to invite comedian/actress Yvonne Orji (Molly from HBO’s Insecure ) onto the show to share her lessons from “Da Good Book” a.k.a. the Bible. Author of the new advice guide, “Bamboozled by Jesus,” Orji joins Brittany Packnett Cunningham for a laugh-out-loud conversation about her rise in comedy, kicking it with God, and Issa and Molly’s big fight. Plus, Brittany brings you the latest Un trending news. ...
May 06, 2021•37 min•Ep. 27
The state of our blue planet can feel dire—because it is. California wildfires, Midwestern droughts, Southern floods, and global food insecurity. But marine biologist and climate justice expert Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson believes we can still make a difference—and that women are the reason why. This week, she talks to host Brittany Packnett Cunningham about the need for an intersectional feminist climate movement, President Biden’s plan to get America on renewable energy, and how to center joy ...
Apr 29, 2021•37 min•Ep. 26
In a week that brought us Derek Chauvin guilty verdicts but also a relentless wave of police killings, it can feel like not much has changed since Billie Holiday sang “Strange Fruit.” Andra Day—up for an Oscar for playing the iconic singer—joins Brittany to talk about how Holiday’s life, as a “great-godmother of the reinvigorated civil rights movement,” provides powerful inspiration today. They get into everything from Day’s whirlwind film education (this is her first major acting gig) to the ne...
Apr 22, 2021•37 min•Ep. 25
Sophia Bush ruled the small screen in TV hits like “One Tree Hill” and “Chicago PD”—but on both those sets, the workplace abuse was real, she tells host Brittany Packnett Cunningham. Together, they unpack what three-plus years of #MeToo has and hasn’t changed for working women, and get into Sophia’s activist work—including how white women can better show up for women of color. Plus, Brittany brings you the latest Un trending news. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit...
Apr 15, 2021•35 min•Ep. 24
Headlines are already calling 2021 “the year of anti-abortion legislation.” State lawmakers have so far introduced more than 500 bills restricting the procedure. Host Brittany Packnett Cunningham speaks to Alexis McGill Johnson, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, who says “abortion access is hanging on by a thread.” Plus, Brittany brings you the latest Un trending news. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn mor...
Apr 08, 2021•31 min•Ep. 23
People may believe that gun violence went away during the pandemic because mass shootings slowed down—but in reality, gun violence overall hit a two-decade high in 2020, killing 20,000 Americans. On the heels of mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, host Brittany Packnett Cunningham speaks to Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action and self-described “worst nightmare of the NRA.” They shed new light on the crucial questions: Will this moment actually be different? Is gun reform possible? P...
Apr 01, 2021•33 min•Ep. 22
