Maria and Julio discuss the record levels of heat in the world and the disappointing dismissal of reparations for survivors of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. In our roundtable, Julio is joined by Rebecca Nagle , a Cherokee writer and host of the award-winning podcast This Land, and Joseph M. Pierce , associate professor in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature at Stony Brook University, to talk about Indigenous rights in light of the Supreme Court ruling on ICWA. ITT Staff Picks: Jo...
Jul 12, 2023•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Maria and Julio are joined by Wesley Lowery , journalist and author, to discuss his new book “American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress.” They get into how the election of Barack Obama in 2008 led to an increase in anti-immigrant, white supremacist and racially-motivated violence in America. ITT Staff Picks: In this interview for Politico , Erin Aubry Kaplan talks to Wesley Lowery about how racial violence has been embedded in our culture since our nation’s founding. “And wh...
Jul 05, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos discuss the latest Supreme Court decisions and the Wagner Group in Russia. In our roundtable, Karlton Laster , Director of Policy and Organizing at Outfront Minnesota, and Marshall Martinez , Executive Director of Equality New Mexico, join Julio to unpack how Minnesota and New Mexico became sanctuary states for the trans community. ITT Staff Picks: Adam Serwer uses Moore v. Harper to identify the line that even the conservative Supreme Court is unwilling t...
Jun 28, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Maria and Julio discuss the latest with former President Donald Trump’s indictment, and Hunter Biden’s plea deal on tax-related crimes. In our roundtable, we’re sharing an episode from 2021, where Maria and Julio talk with fiber artist Bisa Butler about her quilted portraits that celebrate Black life. They also get into the history of Juneteenth and the push by Republican lawmakers to take critical race theory out of classrooms. ITT Staff Picks: Solomon Jones analyzes how Trump’s indictment has ...
Jun 21, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos talk about the indictment of former President Donald Trump. In our roundtable, Daniel Parra , Spanish-language editor and reporter for City Limits, and Claudia Tristán , immigration campaign director with MomsRising, join Julio to discuss challenges for migrants in NYC, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ anti-immigrant political stunt and the dangers of the asylum process. ITT Staff Picks: “In Albany, where more than 230 migrants were relocated in recent weeks, community-...
Jun 14, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos discuss Mike Pence launching his 2024 bid and the latest with Cop City in Atlanta. In our roundtable, Astead Herndon , national political reporter for The New York Times and host of The Run-Up podcast, and Sabrina Rodríguez , national political reporter for The Washington Post, join Julio to delve deeper into the growing number of Republican presidential candidates. They also unpack the likelihood of a Biden/Trump rematch in 2024 and the already growing ap...
Jun 07, 2023•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Maria and Julio talk about Uvalde, the fight for gun legislation and what to expect from the Republican presidential race. Then in our roundtable, they’re joined by Imara Jones , founder and CEO of TransLash Media and host of its investigative podcast, The Anti-Trans Hate Machine: The Plot Against Equality, to discuss the wave of anti-trans legislation across the country. ITT Staff Picks: Don’t miss Futuro’s new documentary with FRONTLINE about Uvalde. You can watch it here , and let us know you...
May 31, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Maria and Julio reflect on the one-year anniversary of the school massacre in Uvalde, Texas and the lasting impacts on the community. We go deeper in our roundtable to look at how families of victims– especially mothers, both past and present, bring about change. Maria leads the discussion with Keith Beauchamp , award-winning filmmaker and producer on the film “Till,” and Monica Muñoz Martinez , historian and associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin. ITT Staff Picks: A new FRONTL...
May 24, 2023•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos discuss the latest with immigration and the abortion ban in North Carolina. Then in our roundtable, Maria is joined by Josie Duffy Rice , journalist and writer, and Adam Serwer , staff writer at The Atlantic, to unpack what’s happening at the border, violence against unhoused people, and the growing issue of gun violence in this country. ITT Staff Picks: Adam Serwer talks about the fantasy of violence that drives right-wing Republicans, in this piece for T...
May 17, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Maria and guest co-host Fernanda Santos talk about former President Donald Trump being found liable for sexually abusing and defaming E. Jean Carroll. And they get into two recent tragedies in Texas that left multiple people dead. Then in our roundtable, Julio is joined by Kamau Franklin , the founder of Community Movement Builders, and Jacqueline Echols, board president of the South River Watershed Alliance in Georgia, to discuss the movement to stop the building of a massive police training fa...
May 10, 2023•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Julio and guest co-host Jamilah King discuss Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s reaction to the horrific mass shooting in Cleveland, Texas and the lawsuit between Disney and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Then in our roundtable, Maria and Julio are joined by Danielle Moodie , host of the podcast Woke AF Daily and co-host of The New Abnormal and Democracy-ish podcasts, to talk about the 2024 presidential election, the impact of Twitter on the media, and the legal battle over access to the abortion pill, mifepr...
May 03, 2023•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Maria and Julio discuss President Biden’s reelection bid, the departures of Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon, and the latest on Uvalde. Then in our roundtable, guest host Fernanda Santos steps in to lead a discussion with Fernanda Echavarri , senior producer for Futuro Studios, and Tina Vasquez , editor-at-large for Prism, about their explosive two-part investigation, “Head Down,” which examines the abuse of migrant workers under the H-2A visa program. You can listen to the “Head Down” investigation...
Apr 26, 2023•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Fernanda Santos and Jamilah King step into the co-host chairs to discuss the shooting of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl and a New York Times report about migrant child labor in the U.S. Then in our roundtable, Maria and Julio get into the latest attacks on reproductive rights and the state of the Supreme Court with Jessica Mason Pieklo , senior vice president and executive editor of Rewire News Group, and co-host of the podcast Boom! Lawyered. ITT Staff Picks: “A white man shot an unarmed Black teen and...
Apr 19, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Maria and Julio discuss the ProPublica report about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepting luxury trips from major Republican donor Harlan Crow. They also talk about the Tennessee legislature’s expulsion of two Democratic members. Then in our roundtable, we get into the nuances of the Latino Muslim community with Rahim Ocasio, co-founder of the Latino Muslim organization Alianza Islamica , and Hazel Gómez , board member and faith-based community organizer with Dream of Detroit. ITT Staf...
Apr 12, 2023•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’re back with a brand new episode and new format! Maria and Julio break down the criminal arraignment of former President Donald Trump and discuss Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ comments on immigration. Then, we dive into President Biden’s immigration policy with Erika Pinheiro , executive director of Al Otro Lado, and Silky Shah , executive director of the Detention Watch Network. ITT Staff Picks: Dhruv Mehrotra writes about the potentially illegal tool that U.S. Immigration ...
Apr 05, 2023•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast This next episode of our Best of ITT series takes us back to 2016, and our conversation with Mike German , fellow with the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty & National Security Program. Maria and Julio talk to Mike about what he learned about the white supremacist movement during his time as an undercover FBI agent, and how the media is missing the real story. ITT Staff Picks: Nazgol Ghandnoosh writes about white supremacy’s hold on legal institutions and how it disproportionately affects...
Mar 28, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our Best of ITT series continues with this roundtable from 2019. Maria and Julio are joined by Shamira Ibrahim , culture writer on race, identity and politics, and Margari Hill , co-founder and executive director of the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative, to discuss how the intersecting identities of being a Black Muslim woman lead to anti-Blackness both within the Muslim community and in the United States at large. ITT Staff Picks: Shamira Ibrahim writes about the power of photography and photo a...
Mar 21, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our Best of ITT series continues with this episode from January 2017. Maria and Julio lead a discussion with legendary actress Rita Moreno about her star-turning role in “West Side Story” and her role in the reboot of Norman Lear’s classic television series, “One Day at a Time.” As they go behind the scenes of many of her most recognizable roles, both old and new, they get into issues of representation, accents, and race. ITT Staff Picks: Frances Negrón-Muntaner writes about Rita Moreno’s impact...
Mar 14, 2023•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast The next episode of our Best of ITT series is from July 2019, and it gets into the significance of Black feminism. Maria and Julio talk with writer and activist Feminista Jones about her book, “Reclaiming Our Space: How Black Feminists Are Changing the World From the Tweets to the Streets.” They also discuss the influence of hip-hop on women's sexual liberation, the importance of mental and spiritual health, and Black women speaking out on their experiences with sexual abuse in the #MeToo era. I...
Mar 07, 2023•43 min•Transcript available on Metacast We continue our Best of ITT series with this live episode from May 2018. Maria and Julio take the stage at DePaul University in Chicago with David Luis “Suave” Gonzalez , artist and a former juvenile lifer, to talk about Latinos and mass incarceration. Along with hearing Suave's story, Julio also interviews Maria, who at the time had been covering Suave's story for more than 25 years. ITT Staff Picks: In this bonus episode of the Suave podcast , Maria and Suave reflect on everything that has hap...
Feb 28, 2023•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Our Best of ITT series continues, as we celebrate our 7th year anniversary! In this episode from July 2020, Maria and Julio are joined by authors and historians Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross to talk about their book “A Black Women's History of the United States.” They analyze the history of Black women in America and their legacy of activism, resistance and entrepreneurship. ITT Staff Picks: Olivia Lapeyrolerie writes about the incredible life’s work of Marvel Cooke, a Black reporter a...
Feb 21, 2023•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast We’re continuing our Best of ITT series to celebrate seven years of In The Thick with this episode from June 2022. Maria and Julio are joined by Ibram X. Kendi , founding director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, for a conversation about his book “How to Raise an Antiracist.” They discuss the evolution of his antiracist scholarship, the rise in mass shootings and white supremacist attacks, and how Black and brown communities can work together in solidarity. ITT Staff Pick...
Feb 14, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast To celebrate ITT’s 7th year anniversary, we’re going back into the vault to share some of our best episodes that have helped shape our show. In this episode from our first year in 2016, Maria is joined by ITT all-star Terrell Jermaine Starr , host of the Black Diplomats podcast, Zak Cheney-Rice , a features writer for New York Magazine, and Tracey Meares , the Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law at Yale University, to discuss policing in America, and whether reform is possible. ITT Staff Picks...
Feb 07, 2023•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Julio and guest co-host Renée Graham , opinion columnist and associate editor at The Boston Globe, discuss Tyre Nichols’ funeral and the white supremacy behind the undercounted number of police violence cases in the U.S. They also discuss the College Board’s amendments to its AP African American Studies course, which were made shortly after Gov. Ron DeSantis rejected the course in the state of Florida. And, they unpack the recent vote to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Comm...
Feb 03, 2023•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast This week, we’re talking about the second season of “La Brega,” a co-production from WNYC Studios and Futuro Studios. Julio is joined by Alana Casanova-Burgess , co-creator, host and producer of “La Brega,” and Jeanne Montalvo , grammy-nominated audio engineer and radio producer with Futuro Studios, to talk about the series, which takes us through the Puerto Rican experience in eight songs. They discuss how Puerto Rican artists, like Bad Bunny, have raised awareness for political and social issu...
Jan 31, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Julio and guest co-host Fernanda Santos , editorial director of Futuro Media, discuss the recent mass shootings in California, two of nearly 40 that have happened this year so far. They also unpack the anti-government protests in Peru that have resulted in a nationwide state of emergency, and they get into Meta’s decision to reinstate former President Donald Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts after two years of being banned. ITT Staff Picks: “Mass shootings — where four or more people, not ...
Jan 28, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast A year after the Twin Parks fire in the Bronx, Maria and Julio are joined by Amir Khafagy , a journalist and Report for America corps member with Documented, to discuss the systemic issues exposed by this tragedy, such as the ongoing housing crisis. They also talk about what the victims and families are still owed one year later, and get into the intersections between labor issues and immigration policy within immigrant communities. ITT Staff Picks: Amir Khafagy writes about what the victims of ...
Jan 24, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Julio and guest co-host Renée Graham , opinion columnist and associate editor at The Boston Globe, discuss the latest with the House GOP, including the recent House committee assignments under new Speaker Kevin McCarthy. They also get into the arrest of Republican ex-candidate Solomon Peña in New Mexico and the response to the new sculpture of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King in Boston. ITT Staff Picks: Eric Cortellessa writes about why Congressional Republicans are comparing th...
Jan 20, 2023•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this rebroadcast episode from 2021, Maria and Julio are joined by Jeanne Theoharis , distinguished professor of political science at Brooklyn College, historian, author and co-editor of “Julian Bond’s Time To Teach: A History of the Southern Civil Rights Movement.” They talk about the legacy of activist, politician and educator Julian Bond and the lessons from his lectures - compiled in the new book - on the civil rights movement and what it teaches us about the fight for racial justice and r...
Jan 17, 2023•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Julio and guest co-host Renée Graham , opinion columnist and associate editor at The Boston Globe, get into the implications of classified documents found at President Biden’s home and former office. They also talk about the severe storms and flooding that have impacted California over the last few weeks and the growing pressure on the Biden administration to expel Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, who has been staying in Florida. ITT Staff Picks: Russ Choma writes about Attorney General...
Jan 13, 2023•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
